Car Insurance suit settled

BY BRIAN BRUEGGEMANN
News-Democrat


Attorneys at a Wood River law firm on Monday said a settlement covering class-action lawsuits they filed against dozens of auto insurance companies is worth an estimated $92 million.

The Lakin Law Firm of Wood River and the Chicago law firm of Freed & Weiss LLC filed the lawsuits in 2001 against multiple providers of car insurance. The lawsuits alleged the companies used a computer system to routinely pay below-market values for vehicles wrecked beyond repair.

The final settlement was approved in December by Madison County Associate Judge Ralph Mendelsohn, but Lakin attorney Richard Burke on Monday said the period during which the defendants could have sought an appeal only recently expired.

Burke said roughly 3 million people were eligible to make claims for $5 to $132. The plaintiff attorneys were awarded $16.1 million in fees, to be paid by the defendants.

Those eligible to make a claim are policyholders who received a payment for a total-loss vehicle claim between Jan. 28, 1989, and July 18, 2005, and whose vehicle value was calculated with software provided by a company called CCC Information Services Inc.

The total amount the insurance companies will pay to policyholders depends on the number of people making claims. Burke said the $92 million figure is an approximation of the value of the settlement.

The Lakin Law Firm on Monday sent out a news release about the settlement and urged policyholders to make claims.

The firm's managing partner, Brad Lakin, stated: "Too often in some of these big cases, many impacted people never make a claim for damages. This is an excellent and appropriate settlement for consumers and I urge them to take just a few minutes to make their claim and receive the settlement to which they are entitled."

One problem: It's too late for customers to make a claim. Claims had to be submitted by March 6.

Burke said "thousands" of claims had been made by consumers, but he didn't have an exact figure. A spokesman for a company that is handling the claims could not be reached for comment. Burke said roughly 3 million notices regarding the settlement were mailed to consumers, using data provided by the companies.

Burke said the plaintiff attorneys' fees are fair. He said the attorneys invested a vast amount of time and resources in the case. About 189,000 insurance claims were evaluated to determine the values assigned to wrecked vehicles were routinely below their traditional values, Burke said.