UPDATE:
- The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) declined to hear State Farmโs appeal to a lower courtโs ruling upholding a $34 million jury trial award on Monday, April 27, 2021.
State Farm was hit with a $34.3 million trial verdict over class action allegations that the insurer took more from universal life insurance policyholdersโ accounts than permitted.
The State Farm universal life insurance deduction class action lawsuit claimed that the company used prohibited factors to calculate the cost of the universal life insurance products, leading to overpayment by policyholders.
The lead plaintiff alleged that he had overpaid by $3,000 for his $100,000 life insurance policy.
The insurance giant fought back and succeeded in getting punitive damages trimmed, arguing that it had not acted with reckless disregard or evil motive in assessing the policyholdersโ rates.
However, the company also argued that the State Farm universal life insurance deduction class action lawsuit should have been dismissed because it advertised maximum costs, but did not charge policyholders over the amount advertised.
โBecause State Farm charged Plaintiff COI rates consistent with the terms of his policy, there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact, and State Farm is entitled to judgment as a matter of law on all of plaintiffโs claims,โ stated the motion to dismiss the State Farm universal life insurance deduction class action lawsuit.
However, a federal court judge refused to toss the State Farm universal life insurance deduction class action lawsuit in its entirety.
After a four-day trial, State Farm was hit with the $34.4 million jury verdict. The jury found that the company engaged in breach of contract and conversion as alleged in the State Farm class action lawsuit.
The company had also asked the federal court to decertify the Class in the State Farm universal life insurance deduction class action lawsuit. Class Members who were not injured by State Farmsโ fee assessing practices should be removed, argued the insurer, as opposed to simply not receiving an award.
Further, argued the company, some members of the Class in the State Farm insurance class action lawsuit would actually be assessed at a higher rate.
According to the State Farm universal life insurance deduction class action lawsuit, the lead plaintiff purchased his universal life policy from the company in 1999.
The plaintiff alleged that although State Farm used age, sex, and race to determine his policy rates, the company also used โunauthorized factorsโ that led to a higher rate.
According to the plaintiff, this action led to him and other Class Members paying higher rates over long periods of time, 14 years in the plaintiffโs case, leading to thousands in damages.
State Farm fought the $34 million jury verdict. The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the juryโs decision and SCOTUS declined to hear the insurerโs arguments.
โAfter employing every appeal and delay tactic available to it, State Farm will finally be obligated to pay the jury verdict returned nearly three years ago,โ a lawyer representing the plaintiffs told Law360 of the Supreme Courtโs decision not to hear the case.
Top Class Actions will continue to monitor this lawsuit for further developments.
Are you a Class Member in the State Farm universal life insurance class action lawsuit? Tell us about your experience in the comment section below!
The lead plaintiff and Class Members are represented by Patrick J. Stueve, Norman E. Siegel, Ethan M. Lange, and Lindsay Todd Perkins of Stueve Siegel Hanson LLP and John J. Schirger, Matthew W. Lytle, and Joseph M. Feierabend of Miller Schirger LLC.
The State Farm Universal Life Insurance Deduction Class Action Lawsuit is Vogt, et al. v. State Farm Life Insurance Co., Case No. 20-1008, in the U.S. Supreme Court.
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249 thoughts onJury Awards $34.3M in State Farm Life Insurance Fees Class Action
CASE Rogowski v State Farm I received settlement check 7/3/2023 from Huntington National Bank for final approval order on 4/18 2023 is this a scam. please verify
state farm customer for 35 years.
Does anyone know how much the checks are going to be for the Rogowski vs State Farm lawsuit? I was told that we will have to pay taxes on that money just curious to see how much taxes they are talking about, the settlement for this case was much larger.
I took out a Universal Life insurance policy with State Farm Insurance at age 45 years of age. I am now 79 years old. I received a notice from State Farm in March 2023 stating the current premium that I am is not adequate enough to fund my policy long term and to cover future insurance cost. After contacting State Farm they offered the following illustrations; pay the same amount and decrease my death benefits from the current amount to 25.000, Pay much higher premiums of $150 and $371.00 with reduced benefits. None of this was recognized in my original binder.
We live in GA the Universal Life
insurance policy originated in GA. We were told and withdrawals would reduce death benefit amount and tge were loans on the policy. We paid into policy $58,564.00 we withdrew/ borrowed $26,200.00.
Our agent kept asking us to change option from 1 to 2 then back to option 1 ? She said by doing this it would never lapse based on our loan just reduce the death benefits.
We received notification of larger amount due or lapse would occur. Our Agent would not return calls quickly. When we engaged the agent she advised the HDQ didnโt have her change recorded yet and not to worry. Letter came again warning on lapse called agent who chimed if we paid amount on letter we would be all trued up and no further addition payment would be required. Our agent then blamed interest rates on increase. She did not explain any methodology or detail. We received another letter / request for addition payment again or lapse . This policy was misrepresented to us Corporate is no help.
Our agent sent us a payment schedule which increases over years until age 85.
This is shocking to seniors on fixed income.
In short our agent misled us on policy mechanics, withheld truth regarding withdrawals , and outright lied to us when we made that payment subsequent to threat of lapse.
Please add me to the class action lawsuit. They keep raising premiums to cover cost of insurance.. Doing again for 2023x
Looking for Attorneys representing the state of Oklahoma ?
Please add me to the class action law suit. My name is David Thomae. I bought a 50,00.00 life insurance policy. I borrowed 5000.00 from the policy after I had it 10 years. I went on to pay 75.00 a month for another 10 years. Then they said they had added interest to the 5000.00 and I no longer had a policy. So, I paid 75.00 a month for 20 years and then policy was worth nothing. The agent told me I didnโt have to pay the 5000.00 back. It would come out of the end payment when I died. State Farm out of Brookhaven MS. Bobby Britt was our agent at the time. Sarah told me this didnโt have to be paid back. I think I deserve ALL MY 75.00 payments paid back to me
This is sickening. They turned me down for life insurance bc the intake person was a bored foreigner and took down wrong info. Glad to know their incompetence. The broker doesnโt have anything to do with how deceptive the company is tho I suspect!
Please add to lawsuit โ State Farm universal life insurance keeps increase all of the comments is exactly what happened to me. Took this policy out in 1986 increased the amount in 94. They keep increasing the monthly amount with the same bs everyone stating
I have several universal life policyโs with state farm i put in the maximum amount allowed on each one i am not happy with my policyโs i opened them in the 90โs and thay are not all that thay clamed to be very disappointed please add me to the lawsuit or tell me how to join thanks
Please add me to the State Farm Universal Life. Got a phone call stating the policy would lapse
if I didnt up the monthly premium. I am in Canada and I am trying to figure out the next steps to this. Please direct me. Thank you
Please send me information on the class action lawsuit against State Farm.