A federal judge found that a $52 million class-action settlement by Farmers Group Inc. was fair and that the parties should proceed with sending notices to auto insurance policyholders who will share part of the settlement.
The dispute was over the Farmers Smart Plan Auto policy, launched in 2016, that the plaintiffs claimed offered new Texas customers identical coverage at a lower price than the insurer’s current policy for existing policyholders, said the Oct. 22, 2018, amended complaint. Also, Farmers raised rates on those existing policyholders.
There’s still about six months to go until a final fairness hearing to approve officially of the settlement—comprised of $40 million for the class and about $11.5 million in attorney fees and $500,000 in expenses—but the ruling begins the process by approving of the steps and deadlines to finish the case by May 2020. Farmers will pay class members through account credits or checks rather than making them submit claims, said a Dec. 11 motion for settlement.
Read the source article at Law.com
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