Arnold v. State Farm Fire and Casualty Co. Settlement

What happened

State Farm is accused of breaching its Alabama insurance policies by applying depreciation to labor and other non-material costs when calculating actual cash value (ACV) payments for structural damage claims. Plaintiff contends this resulted in underpayment of claims. State Farm denies wrongdoing, arguing many policyholders received everything entitled under their policies, including replacement cost benefits. The case has been settled with final court approval.

Do you qualify?

All persons and entities insured under a State Farm structural damage policy who made a structural damage claim for property in Alabama with a date of loss between March 8, 2011 and August 3, 2017, and who received a payment or estimate for damage repair from State Farm that involved withholding of non-material depreciation.

Who is in the class

All persons and entities insured under a State Farm structural damage policy who made: (1) a structural damage claim for property located in the State of Alabama with a date of loss on or after March 8, 2011, but before August 3, 2017; and (2) which resulted in an actual cash value payment during the class period from which "non-material depreciation" was withheld from the policyholder; or which would have resulted in an actual cash value payment but for the withholding of "non-material depreciation" causing the loss to drop below the applicable deductible.

Quoted from the settlement notice.

How to file

Complete a claim form and either mail it to JND Legal Administration at PO Box 91431, Seattle, WA 98111, or upload it to the settlement website. Class members with multiple covered losses during the class period must submit separate claim forms for each loss. The claim deadline has passed (October 24, 2022).