Insurance Company Pays Big
On Tuesday, August 16, 2022, U.S. District Judge Wendy Beetlestone of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania issued final approval on a Settlement Agreement in Stockdale v. Allstate. The case alleged that insurers had been using household exclusions to prevent policyholders from seeing the full range of benefits of uninsured and underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) coverage as early as 1990. Thanks to a 2019 Pennsylvania Supreme Court case, Gallagher v. Geico, Allstate is one of few insurance companies to become a victim of its own illusory, deceptive actions.
Gallagher v. Geico invalidated the “household vehicle exclusion” provision used in many motor vehicle policies, claiming that Geico, in fact, used the exclusion to stack UM/UIM coverage and barred benefits of the policy if a policyholder suffered an accident. Gallagher provided a path for Plaintiff attorneys, including Shub Law Firm’s own Jonathan Shub, to successfully navigate the Stockdale v. Allstate case to a prosperous settlement.
According to the terms of the settlement outlined earlier this month, Defendant would pay $3.25 Million to claimants in damages not including an additional $750,000 awarded for attorney’s fees. While Defense counsel declined to comment, Plaintiff attorneys were happy to maximize the recovery allotted to claimants. Though the putative class represented in the Stockdale case was fairly small, it allowed members to have each of their claims evaluated by an adjuster resulting in a wide and satisfying range of recoveries. “People got what they paid for finally,” Shub said.
In a novel judgement, Stockdale v. Allstate sets a precedent for other misleading insurers who have taken advantage of policyholders using a household exclusion provision. Judge Beetlestone’s ruling has solidified the Gallagher opinion piece as one to remember. Click here to read more on the Judge’s decision.
