Stephan Zouras, LLC has filed several federal class action lawsuits on behalf of Illinois, Arizona, and California auto insurance policyholders who have been charged excessive premiums as a result of the global COVID-19 pandemic.
While many companies, industries, and individuals have suffered as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, auto insurers like GEICO, Allstate, and Farmers Insurance scored a windfall.
Not surprisingly, as a result of nationwide state-wide social distancing and stay-at-home measures, there has been a dramatic reduction in driving and an attendant reduction in driving-related accidents. As a result of this decrease in driving and accidents, the premiums charged by auto insurance companies during the COVID-19 pandemic are unconscionably excessive. One published report calculates, very conservatively, that at least a 30% average refund of paid premiums would be required to make up for the excess amounts paid by consumers for just the period between mid-March and the end of April 2020.
Although many insurance companies offered policyholders modest refunds, , these programs provided woefully inadequate compensation for the excessive premiums that customers paid as a result of COVID-19. For instance, GEICO instituted a “GEICO Giveback” program, which offered a 15% discount on new and renewal auto insurance policies only, that falls well short of what has been conservatively estimated as an adequate return of premiums.
We multiple proposed class actions to end auto insurance companies’ practice of unfairly profiting from the pandemic by continuing to charge and collect excessive premiums and failing to issue adequate refunds.
If you believe you have been overcharged for insurance premiums during the COVID-19 pandemic and/or want more information on your rights, please contact us.