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Settlement Near for Insurer Accused of Overcharging Blacks

By Kenneth N. Gilpin

The Life Insurance Company of Georgia is close to settling a lawsuit that accused it of routinely charging black customers higher premiums for life insurance than white customers, regulators and insurance company representatives involved in the discussions confirmed yesterday.

Under the terms of the proposed settlement, which the people involved in the talks said were likely to be formally announced by the end of the month, Life Insurance of Georgia, a subsidiary of the ING Group, will pay black consumers $45 million to $60 million.

''We have a Christmas package that is all wrapped, but we don't have the ribbon yet,'' said John Oxendine, the Georgia insurance commissioner. ''Our part, the administrative fine and restitution to consumers, is pretty much done.''

Mr. Oxendine did not disclose how many customers would be covered under the settlement. He said about three million policies were involved. Some customers had up to half a dozen policies, he said.

Life Insurance of Georgia does business in 11 states in the Southeast.

Diane Bernez, a spokeswoman for ING Americas, which is based in Atlanta, said, ''We are very confident we are going to reach a settlement in the near future.'' She declined to comment on the restitution payment but said that ''if $45 million was way out of the ballpark, we would say so.''

The pending settlement was reported yesterday in The Wall Street Journal.

The class-action lawsuit against Life Insurance of Georgia was filed in Florida in December 1999, said John Stoia, a partner in the law firm of Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach, lead counsel in the case.

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