TORONTO, Oct. 28, 2019 /CNW/ - A national class action has been certified on consent against The Personal Insurance Company, and the Ontario Superior Court of Justice has approved a settlement of that proceeding. The plaintiff, Mr. Haikola, alleged that The Personal had failed to comply with an implied term of its contractual obligations to its insureds, when The Personal accessed its insureds' credit scores as part of its claims management process when its insureds made claims under their automobile insurance policies.
The Class is "All persons who: (1) were insured by The Personal Insurance Company under a valid automobile insurance policy between January 2012 and May 2019; (2) made an automobile insurance claim under that policy with The Personal during that time; and (3) consented to the collection and/or use of their credit score by The Personal or its agents as part of the fraud prevention and detection needs of The Personal's claims management process."
The Personal has paid $2,200,000 to settle the class action, without making any admission or findings of liability or wrongdoing. The Court has approved payment from this amount to Class Counsel for legal fees and disbursements totaling $585,000, and payment of an honourarium of $15,000 to Mr. Haikola. The balance, after deduction of the costs of claims administration, will be paid pro-rata to the members of the Class who either automatically qualify for a payment or who submit a valid claim form before the claim deadline of February 7, 2020. There are approximately 8,525 class members, meaning that if every Class member receives a payment, then each would receive approximately $150. Under the settlement, the defendants will receive a comprehensive release.
Every Class member who continues to be insured by The Personal will automatically receive payment and will not need to complete a claim form, unless they wish to receive their portion of the settlement by direct deposit. Any Class member who is no longer insured by The Personal will have to submit a claim form by the claim deadline to participate in the settlement.
Any Class member who does not wish to be bound by the results of this action and the settlement must "opt out" of the action by no later than December 6, 2019. Opt out forms will be available from the claims administrator's website: https://www.classaction2.com/personalprivacy.html
Notice of this action will be sent directly to all identified Class members at their last known address. Anyone who does not receive a notice and believes that they are a Class member should contact the claims administrator, to obtain a claim form.
Details of the settlement are available at the claims administrator's website: https://www.classaction2.com/personalprivacy.html
or at Class Counsel's website: http://personalprivacyclassaction.ca
A settlement is a compromise of disputed claims in order to achieve an early full and final resolution of the action. The defendants denied any liability or wrongdoing, and if the settlement had not been approved, they would have defended the action, and challenged the certification of the class action.
About Waddell Phillips PC
Waddell Phillips Professional Corporation is a boutique law firm, specializing in plaintiff-side class actions. The principals of the firm have helped victims in a wide range of class actions, including product liability, consumer protection, privacy breaches, institutional abuse, franchise disputes, and securities misrepresentations.
SOURCE Waddell Phillips Professional Corporation
For more information on The Personal Insurance Company Privacy class action, please visit Class Counsel's website: http://personalprivacyclassaction.ca, or email [email protected].
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