$28M U.S. Bank Force-Placed Insurance Settlement Gets Approved

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A federal judge granted final approval of a $28 million settlement wrapping up a U.S. Bank force-placed insurance class action lawsuit.

U.S. District Judge Federico Moreno granted preliminary approval of the settlement last December. Final approval comes following a fairness hearing held on August 30.

Judge Moreno found the settlement agreement “fair, reasonable and adequate” and ordered the parties to implement it as approved.

This U.S. Bank class action lawsuit addresses the bank’s practice of imposing force-placed insurance on mortgage borrowers.

Force-placed insurance, sometimes referred to as lender-placed insurance, is an insurance policy that goes into effect when and if a mortgage borrower fails to maintain homeowner’s, flood, hazard, or similar insurance on their home.

Plaintiffs alleged that U.S. Bank colluded with insurer Assurant Inc. and its affiliated companies to receive commissions, described as “kickbacks,” in exchange for linking Assurant force-placed policies to U.S. Bank loan agreements.

The plaintiffs claimed these deals caused mortgage borrowers to pay excessive premiums for unnecessary coverage.

Under terms of the settlement, borrowers who were charged for a hazard force-placed policy during the class period may receive a credit of between seven and 12.5 percent of the net premium paid on the policy, depending on whether the policy was for hazard, wind, flood, or flood-gap coverage.

Each of the six named plaintiffs will receive a case contribution award of $5,000.

Class Members will be subject to a release of any claims against U.S. Bank and the Assurant defendants.

The Assurant companies will be subject to a five-year ban on paying commissions and other forms of payments to U.S. Bank.

Notice of the settlement has been sent to more than 139,000 Class Members.

Judge Moreno says the court received only one objection, which was later withdrawn.

The settlement Class consists of all persons who from Apr. 8, 2009 through June 30, 2015 were charged by U.S. Bank under a hazard, flood, flood gap or wind-only lender-placed insurance policy for residential property, and who within that same period either paid U.S. Bank the net premium for that policy or did not pay that premium and still owe it to U.S. Bank.

Those who want to file a claim for the U.S. Bank settlement have until Oct. 30, 2016 to do so.

Class Members from Stephen Ellsworth v. U.S. Bank NA, et al., Case No. 3:12-cv-02506-LB, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, are specifically excluded from participating in this class action settlement.

Judge Moreno appointed law firms Kozyak Tropin & Throckmorton PA, Podhurst Orseck PA, and Harke Clasby & Bushman LLP to represent the settlement Class.

The U.S. Bank Force-Placed Insurance Class Action Lawsuit is Philip Jackson, et al. v. U.S. Bank NA, et al., Case No. 1:14-cv-21252, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Join a Free California Force-Placed Insurance Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

If you are a California homeowner who stopped paying or failed to obtain acceptable homeowners, flood or other type of insurance and were subject to a force-placed insurance policy in the last two years, you may be eligible to join a FREE class action lawsuit investigation to seek reimbursement and additional compensation for the improper charges you paid. Find out if you qualify.

GET A FREE CASE EVALUATION NOW