Harris v. Farmers Insurance Exchange

If You Had a Farmers Insurance Exchange or Mid-Century Insurance Company Auto policy in California at any time between August 18, 2015 and March 31, 2017 and had been insured by those companies for 9 or more years, You May Be Eligible for a Payment from a Class Action Settlement.

Haga clic aquí para leer el Aviso en español.

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Update December 14, 2022:

The Court granted final approval of the Settlement on September 4, 2020, and awarded Epiq Class Actions & Claims Solutions, Inc. (“Epiq”) $573,246 in compensation for its services administering the Settlement. On September 16, 2022, following a request made by Epiq, the Court authorized (Order Amending Judgment) an increase in Epiq’s compensation from $573,246.00 to $661,190.00. The parties previously agreed that $661,190 was the cap for Epiq’s fees and expenses, as set forth in the declaration of Cameron R. Azari, submitted to the Court on May 21, 2020 (link to Declaration). Epiq’s request for additional compensation was based on additional costs incurred to administer the Settlement, including larger than previously estimated quantities of class member inquiries and re-mailings and re-issuances of Settlement distribution checks returned with postal forwarding information. The increase in Epiq’s compensation does not impact the amount paid to Class Members, as Class Members have already been paid their share of the Settlement Fund.

After payment of Epiq’s additional compensation, all amounts remaining in the Settlement Fund will be transferred via a cy pres payment to the Center for Auto Safety. It is anticipated that this matter will be fully closed in the near future.

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On April 22, 2015, Plaintiffs filed a class action complaint in the Superior Court of California alleging five causes of action pertaining to Farmers’ alleged use of price optimization/elasticity of demand (a.k.a., a method of taking into account an individual’s or class’s willingness to pay a higher premium relative to other individuals or classes) as a rating factor in violation of California’s Unfair Competition Law, Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 17200 et seq. (“UCL”), the California Insurance Code, and as unjust enrichment.

Subject to approval by the Court, the Settlement Agreement will create a $15,000,000.00 Settlement Fund to make payments or give policy credits to eligible Settlement Class Members as well as to pay Class Counsel’s attorneys’ fees, costs, notice and administration expenses, and Service Awards. The maximum estimated amounts for the deductions from the $15 million Settlement Fund are as follows: Class Counsel’s attorneys’ fees ($4,950,000.00), costs ($275,000.00), notice and administration expenses ($573,000.00) and Service Awards ($15,000.00). After these fees and costs are deducted from the Settlement Fund, the remaining funds (approximately $9,187,000.00) will be divided by the total number of Settlement Class Members (approximately 609,000) to calculate the payment amount for each Settlement Class Member.

All Settlement Class Members will receive an equal payment amount (estimated at $15.09). Settlement Class Members who are “Renewing Current Policy Holders” will receive a credit at the time of renewal of their policies. “Non-Renewing Current Policy Holders” and those Settlement Class Members who are no longer Policyholders will receive their Settlement Class Member Payment by paper check. In no circumstance will any portion of this Settlement Fund revert to Farmers.

Excluded from the Settlement Class are (a) officers, directors, and employees of any member of the Farmers Insurance Group of Companies; (b) the judge overseeing the proposed settlement and the judge’s immediate family and (c) all Policy Holders who make timely election to be excluded.

Your legal rights are affected whether you act or do not act.

Summary of Your Legal Rights and Options in This Settlement

Exclude Yourself from the Settlement	Get no benefits from the Settlement. This is the only option that allows you to start or remain part of any other lawsuit against Farmers about the claims in this case.
Object	Write to the Court if you do not like the Settlement.
Go to a Hearing	Ask to speak in Court about the fairness of the Settlement.
Do Nothing	If you received a notice by email or in the mail about this Settlement, a policy credit or check payment will automatically be issued to you for the amount you are eligible to receive. You will give up your rights to sue Farmers about the legal claims in this case.

These rights and options — and the deadlines to exercise them — are explained on this website.