Pethealth Agrees to $5.5M Robocall Class Action Settlement

Pethealth Inc. has reached a settlement deal with customers who claimed the pet insurer violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act by pestering more than 700,000 people with robocalls.

The proposed settlement deal is $5.5 million, and would provide between $40 and $90 to each Class Member.

Attorney fees and costs would also be covered under the proposed $5.5 million settlement. Approximately 731,173 people allegedly received robocalls from Pethealth Inc. and could be eligible for compensation.

Class representative Christopher Legg expressed approval for the proposed settlement deal saying that reaching a settlement with Pethealth Inc. provides a way for Class Members to receive some compensation while avoiding the risks and expenses of continuing to litigate the issue.

However, Legg asserts that his claim against the company would eventually have been certified had he continued litigation.

Further expressing approval of the proposed settlement deal, Legg says that the benefits from the settlement are better than or equal to other settlements given to TCPA claims.

However, Legg notes that the settlement deal is the result of “highly adversarial” negotiation, and says that the company and the consumers differ on many points.

Reportedly, negotiations for the settlement deal involved “arm’s-length” negotiations between the attorneys for both parties, two mediated sessions, and years of litigation.

He states that “this action involves sharply opposing positions on many issues and was not resolved until after years of litigation including after this court twice denied class certification and while the third motion for class certification was pending.”

The Pethealth class action lawsuit was filed in December 2014 by Legg, who says that the company placed two or more robocalls to people who gave their numbers as part of a pet adoption process. These robocalls allegedly were placed between Oct. 16, 2013 and Nov. 30, 2016.

Legg claimed that these robocalls violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, a law that aims to protect individuals from bothersome calls, texts, and messages from businesses advertising goods and services.

The Pethealth class action states that the TPCA prohibits businesses from placing calls to consumers using an autodialer, or using a prerecorded messages, if the consumer has not given their express written consent.

Legg says that Pethealth Inc’s practice of placing robocalls to consumers violate the TCPA because the company allegedly did not obtain the customers’ express written consent.

The plaintiff argues that Pethealth knew or should have known that this practice violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, and that they engaged in this practice nonetheless in an attempt to advertise their products and services, and subsequently enhance their profits. 

Top Class Actions will post updates to this class action settlement as they become available. For the latest updates, keep checking TopClassActions.com or sign up for our free newsletter. You can also receive notifications when this article is updated by using your free Top Class Actions account and clicking the “Follow Article” button at the top of the post.

Legg is represented by Keith J. Keogh, Amy L. Wells, Timothy J. Sostrin, and Michael S. Hilicki of Keogh Law Ltd; and by Scott D. Owens of Scott D. Owens PA.

The Pethealth Robocalls Class Action Lawsuit is Legg, et al. v. PTZ Insurance Agency Ltd., et al., Case No. 4:14-cv-10043, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

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If you were contacted on your cell phone by a company via an unsolicited text message (text spam) or prerecorded voice message (robocall), you may be eligible for compensation under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

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