Avid readers of this blog who follow developments in life insurance class actions will recall my posts earlier this year about cases claiming that life insurers improperly used “checkbook” accounts whereby, instead of issuing a check to a beneficiary for the full amount of the policy proceeds, they provide an interest-bearing account from which the
Life Insurance
Amount in Controversy Under CAFA: New Ohio Decision Illustrates Importance Of Tailoring Data To The Proposed Class Where Possible
One challenge defendants and their counsel face early in defending a putative class action filed in state court, assuming they would prefer to litigate in federal court, is how to show that the $5 million amount in controversy requirement is satisfied. This must be done quickly so that the removal can be timely filed within…
Does State Law Vary on Breach of Contract? Yes, as a Recent Denial of Certification Recognizes
In seeking to certify multistate and nationwide class actions against insurance companies, plaintiffs’ attorneys often argue that the law of breach of contract is essentially the same nationwide, and therefore class certification is proper. This argument has some appeal to some judges, at least at first blush. As I think back to my contracts class…
Life Insurance Class Action Involving Sales Practices: Denial of Class Certification Affirmed By California Court of Appeal
The California Court of Appeal recently affirmed a denial of class certification in Fairbanks v. Farmers New World Life Insurance Company. The plaintiffs alleged that Farmers violated the California Unfair Competition Law in connection with its marketing and sales of universal life and flexible universal life policies. The central claim was that Farmers designed…
Life Insurance Class Actions Involving Insurers’ Obligation to Search for Death Information: New York Insurance Department Issues New Requirement
I previously posted about new class actions against life insurance companies alleging that they should be required to determine whether their insureds have died where no claim for policy proceeds has been made, through searching the “Death Master File” of the Social Security Administration. I raised a number of issues about the viability of these…
Life Insurance “Checkbook” Accounts: Massachusetts Federal Court Grants Class Certification
I’ve previously posted regarding class actions against life insurers involving the use of “checkbook” accounts to pay policy proceeds, including posts about the denial of a motion to dismiss in a case against Prudential in Massachusetts federal court and the denial of a motion to dismiss in a case against MetLife in Nevada federal court…
New Life Insurance Class Action Alleges That Life Insurers Must Determine Whether Their Insureds Have Died
Do life insurers have an obligation to check databases to determine whether their insureds have died? I recently came across a new class action filing in Stevenson v. Western & Southern Mutual Holding Company, No. CV 11 755966 (Ohio Court of Common Pleas, Cuyahoga County) that makes such a claim. (E-mail me if…
Paying Claims With “Checkbook” Accounts: Motion to Dismiss Denied in MDL Against Prudential
Any insurer that issues payments by making “checkbooks” available to insureds should pay careful attention to a new trend of class actions. I’ve posted a couple of times on the growing trend of class actions against life insurance companies involving the use of “checkbooks” to pay policy proceeds to beneficiaries (see my posts from May…
Life Insurance “Checkbook” Accounts: Nevada Federal Court Rules for Plaintiff
I previously posted on class actions involving life insurance “checkbook” accounts, where an insurer, instead of paying the proceeds of a life insurance policy in one payment, provides a beneficiary with a “checkbook” from which they can draw on the policy proceeds all at once or over time. On April 27, 2011, a Nevada…
Life Insurance “Checkbook” Accounts: Truly a Basis for a Class Action?
A recent posting on Robert Berg’s Class Action Blog suggests that life insurance companies are “secretly profiting” by providing beneficiaries with a checkbook from which they can draw on the proceeds over time, instead of paying a lump sum. Of course, unless there is some unusual provision in the life insurance policy to the contrary, the beneficiary…