D.C. Judge Approves Expanded Class vs. Insurer
In a case in which Tom Minton is acting as co-counsel for a class of D.C. residents, Judge Louis Oberdorfer of the U.S. District Court in D.C. has determined that the certified class of Allstate Insurance Company automobile policyholders in D.C. can be expanded to include a large group of people who had accidents after the D.C. Consumer Protection Procedures Act was amended to permit an award of statutory damages of $1,500 per violation. Notice will be sent to all new class members before the end of January 2007. The case is entitled Eunice Wells v. Allstate Ins. Co.
Ms. Wells, the lead plaintiff, has an automobile liability insurance policy with the Allstate Indemnity Company. In 1998, she was badly injured in a “hit and run” accident. As a result, she made a claim for “uninsured motorist benefits” with Allstate under her policy. In March 2000, Ms. Wells sued Allstate in the Superior Court for the District of Columbia in order to obtain those “uninsured motorist benefits.” Allstate denied liability, and removed the case to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, where it is now pending.
Ms. Wells alleges that her claim for uninsured motorist benefits was not settled by Allstate until over three (3) years after the date of her accident. Her complaint against Allstate alleges, among other things, that Allstate violated the D.C. Consumer Protection Procedures Act by failing to disclose to her and other policyholders and the public that: (a) it had changed the way it does business by engaging in a course of action designed specifically to deny or delay timely payment of uninsured motorist benefits; (b) that uninsured motorist benefit claimants would be required to retain counsel and fully litigate their claims in order to collect their full benefits; and (c) that Allstate had a corporate policy of extending low offers of settlement and adopting a “scorched earth” litigation tactic, making it as difficult as possible for Allstate policyholders to receive their uninsured motorist benefits.
When Judge Oberdorder certified Ms. Wells’ claim for class action treatment (a certification that was later upheld on appeal) he imposed a cut off date for class membership based on amendments to the Act that took effect in 2001. Those amendments permit recovery by a consumer of up to $1,500 in statutory damages, even if he or she suffered no actual losses. In 2005, Ms. Wells was joined in the suit by Mr. Charles Rawlings, an Allstate policyholder who was injured in a hit and run accident in October 2001, after the amendment of the Act took effect. Mr. Rawlings asked the court to permit expansion of the class to include all policyholders who made uninsured motorist claims through counsel after that date. After discovery and protracted motions practice before Judge Oberdorfer and Magistrate Judge Deborah Robinson, the court has granted that motion. The case is set to go to trial in late 2007. Tom Minton is acting as class counsel with Mr. Tompkins, Mr. Chapin, and with George Croner of the Philadelphia class action firm of Kohn, Swift and Graf.
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