Plaintiffs Seek OK for Prudential Military Death Benefits Settlement

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Prudential Insurance Co.’s $39.2 million settlement of a class action lawsuit alleging the insurer failed to pay death benefits to military service members, veterans and family members in accordance with federal law should be approved, the plaintiffs urged a Massachusetts federal judge on Friday.

U.S. District Judge Michael A. Ponsor preliminarily approved the Prudential military death benefits class action settlement in August. On Friday, the plaintiffs argued that the vast majority of Class Members supported the deal and that there were a miniscule number of objections and urged the judge to grant final approval to the deal.

“There is virtually no opposition to the settlement by Class Members, indicating a strong acceptance of its terms by the Class,” the plaintiffs wrote in their memorandum. “Of the 67,027 Class Members, only 25 have excluded themselves from the Class (0.04%),” and only 11 Class Members filed objections to the Prudential class action settlement, the plaintiffs stressed.

If approved, the military death benefits class action settlement will resolve cases that had been consolidated into multidistrict litigation (MDL) and alleged that Prudential failed to honor its obligations to make “lump sum” payments to the plaintiffs and other beneficiaries when it settled benefits through a retained asset account (also known as an Alliance Account).

Prudential has denied the allegations and maintains that its conduct did not violate the law. However, it has agreed to settle the military death benefits class action lawsuit to avoid the expense and uncertainty of ongoing litigation. Prudential maintains the beneficiaries were not injured in any way because had full access to their funds.

In August, the court preliminarily approved the Prudential class action settlement and certified a Class of individuals who were beneficiaries of the group life insurance contract between the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Prudential Insurance Company of America for Servicemembers Group Life Insurance (SGLI) and/or Veterans Group Life Insurance (VGLI), who made claims (or on whose behalf claims were made) for lump sum benefits prior to November 2010, and whose claims were settled by Prudential through an Alliance Account.

If the Prudential class action settlement is approved, Class Members will receive a cash payment of $125. In addition, Prudential has agreed to pay $20.5 million over five years in charitable contributions to organizations that support veterans and their families. Class Members will automatically receive benefits from the military death benefits settlement and do not need to submit a Claim Form.

Further information about the Prudential military death benefits settlement was not immediately available. Keep checking TopClassActions.com or sign up for our free newsletter for the latest updates. You can also mark this article as a “Favorite” using your free Top Class Actions account to receive notifications when this article is updated.

The Class is represented by Kerr & Wagstaffe LLP, the Daniel D. Law Firm PLLC and Scott & Scott LLP.

The Prudential Military Death Benefits Class Action Lawsuit is In re: Prudential Insurance Company of America SGLI/VGLI Contract Litigation, Case No. 3:11-cv-02208, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.