There have been an unusually large number of significant decisions in insurance class actions over the last couple of weeks. I will not be able to discuss all of them in detail but thought you would like to have shorter summaries of them. Here is the first installment regarding recent P&C class action decisions:
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Last week a Pennsylvania federal judge ruled that auto insurers must make determinations about which vehicles have passive antitheft devices qualifying for a premium discount under Pennsylvania law, and give discounts for such devices automatically if the vehicle has such a device, regardless of whether the insured asks for a discount. All insurers writing auto…
Do insurance companies charge premiums for coverage that can never be triggered? That is the essential allegation in Keeling v. Esurance Ins. Co., 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 26998 (S.D. Ill. Mar. 1, 2012). In my October 4, 2011 blog post, I wrote about a Seventh Circuit decision finding federal jurisdiction in this case…
I recently came across two new auto insurance class actions filed in West Virginia and Oklahoma, which I thought would be of interest to readers of my blog:
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Numerous class actions have been brought against auto insurers on the theory that they should be required to pay under collision coverage not only for the cost of repairing damage to a vehicle but also for the diminished value that a vehicle might sustain because it was in an accident. This claim for diminished value…
Insurance companies’ subrogation departments are rarely faced with class action lawsuits regarding their practices, but such cases occasionally arise. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court recently upheld the dismissal of a class action focusing on whether an insurer was entitled to reimburse only 90% of the insured’s deductible where the insurer had recovered 90% of its loss…
Several notable recent class action filings against insurers have come across my desk (or computer screen) and seem worthy of interest to readers of this blog. I will summarize and comment briefly on them. If you’d like a copy of any of the complaints, just e-mail me.
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The Colorado Supreme Court recently issued several new decisions on class certification, one of which was in an insurance class action – State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company v. Reyher, Case No. 10SC77, 2011 Colo. LEXIS 844 (Colo. Oct. 31, 2011). This was one of many putative class actions that have been filed involving…
The recent denial of class certification in Fosmire v. Progressive Max Ins. Co., 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 117366 (W.D. Wash. Oct. 11, 2011) is the second opinion I’ve seen post-Wal-Mart that applies the new standards in detail in an insurance class action. This putative nationwide class action alleged that Progressive improperly failed to…
I recently wrote a post regarding a new class action in Pennsylvania against Erie Insurance Exchange. The suit alleges failure to pay expense reimbursement coverage under auto policies, which provides for reimbursement for expenses and/or lost wages incurred by the insured in assisting with defending a lawsuit. One of my readers helpfully pointed out…
