Stevenson v. Allstate Insurance Co., et al. Frequently Asked Questions

A Court authorized the Notice because you have a right to know about a proposed Settlement of this class action lawsuit and about all of your options before the Court decides whether to give “Final Approval” to the Settlement. The Notice explains the lawsuit, the Settlement, your legal rights, what benefits are available, who may be eligible for those benefits, and how to get them.

For the precise terms and conditions of the Settlement, you may view the Settlement Agreement HERE; (2) contact Class Counsel representing the Settlement Class (contact info listed under Question 15 below); (3) access the Court docket in this case, for a fee, through the Court’s Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) system at https://ecf.cand.uscourts.gov; or (4) visit the office of the Clerk of Court for the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, Phillip Burton Federal Building & United States Courthouse, 450 Golden Gate Avenue, 16th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94102, between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding Court holidays.

Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California is overseeing this class action. The Settlement resolves the case known as Stevenson v. Allstate Insurance Co., et al., Case No. 4:15-cv-04788-YGR (N.D. Cal.).

The person who sued is called the “Class Representative,” and the companies sued, Allstate Insurance Company and Allstate Indemnity Company, are called collectively “Allstate” or “Defendants.”

In California, as in other states, drivers are required to maintain auto insurance. Auto insurance companies are not permitted to determine auto insurance premiums based on what the market will bear, but instead must determine premiums based on those rating factors that the Insurance Commissioner has approved as having a substantial relationship to the risk of loss. This case was brought as a class action complaint alleging that Allstate violated California’s Unfair Competition Law, Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 17200 et seq. (“UCL”), California’s False Advertising Law, Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 17500 et seq. (“FAL”), and California Insurance Code, § 1861.10, and that Allstate was unjustly enriched, by improperly using price optimization/elasticity of demand (a policyholders’ or class of policyholders’ willingness to tolerate a price increase as a compared to other policyholders or other classes of policyholders) as a factor in calculating premiums in California (the “Action”).  The is just a summary of the allegations. 

The complaint in the Action is posted HERE and contains all of the allegations. Allstate denies these allegations; however, in order to avoid the expense, inconvenience, and distraction of continued litigation, Allstate has agreed to the Settlement described herein. 

In a class action, one or more people called Class Representatives (in this case Andrea Stevenson) sue on behalf of people who have similar claims.  All of these people are a “Settlement Class” or “Settlement Class Members.” One Court resolves the issues for all Settlement Class Members, except for those who timely exclude themselves from the Settlement Class. 

The Court did not decide in favor of Plaintiff or Defendants. Instead, both sides agreed to settle this case to avoid the cost and risk of a trial. The proposed Settlement does not mean that any law was broken or that the Defendants did anything wrong. Defendants deny all legal claims in this case.  Class Representative and her lawyers think that in light of litigation uncertainties and the lengthy delay that would result from a trial and possible appeal, the proposed Settlement is in the best interest of the Settlement Class Members.

To see if you will be affected by the Settlement or if you can get a payment from it, you first have to determine if you are a Settlement Class Member.

If you received Notice of the Settlement by email or by mail then Allstate’s records show you may be a Settlement Class Member. But even if you did not receive a Notice, you may still be a Settlement Class Member.

The Proposed “Settlement Class” is composed of:

All current and former Allstate California auto insurance Primary Policy Holders whose total premiums were calculated, at any time on or after July 1, 2016, based on Allstate’s selection of a rating factor relativity exceeding both the Current and Indicated rating factor relativities for certain coverages in connection with the Years Licensed and/or Multipolicy rating factors. Specifically, those Primary Policy Holders include (a) any Primary Policy Holder whose premiums were determined based on licensure for 29 or more years and had Comprehensive coverage, (b) any Primary Policy Holder whose premiums were determined based on licensure of 34 or more years and had Collision coverage, and (c) any Primary Policy Holder who in addition to their auto policy had a condo, life, and/or mobile home policy and did not have a renters policy.  The policy or policies held by such multipolicy Primary Policy Holders (group (c)) in addition to their auto Policy are the following: Condo; Mobilehome; Life; Owner + Life; Condo + Life; Mobilehome + Life; Condo + PUP; Mobilehome + PUP; Life + PUP; Owner, Life + PUP; Condo, Life + PUP; Mobilehome, Life + PUP.

“Primary Policy Holder” means each person who has an ownership interest in and financial responsibility for a Policy or Policies during the Class Period.  There is one Primary Policy Holder for each Policy issued by Allstate, also known as the first named insured on each Policy issued by Allstate.  Other persons insured (i.e., additional named insureds) under a Policy are not Primary Policy Holders.  

“Policy” means any private passenger auto insurance policy issued by Allstate in the state of California.  

“Class Period” means the period from July 1, 2016, through September 30, 2022.

Excluded from the Settlement Class are (a) officers, directors, and employees of Allstate; (b) the judge overseeing the proposed Settlement and the judge’s immediate family and (c) all Primary Policy Holders who make a timely election to be excluded. 

If you are not sure whether you are in the Settlement Class, or have any other questions about the Settlement, you can email [email protected], or you can call the toll-free telephone number, (833) 383-4978.  You may also write with questions to 

Stevenson v. Allstate

c/o Kroll Settlement Administration LLC

PO Box 225391

New York, NY 10150-5391

If the Settlement is approved and becomes final, it will provide benefits to Settlement Class Members.

Allstate will pay a Settlement Amount of $25 million to make payments or give Policy credits to Settlement Class Members at the direction of the Settlement Administrator as well as to pay Class Counsel’s attorneys’ fees, costs, Settlement Administration Costs, and Service Award. The maximum estimated amounts for the deductions from the $25 million Settlement Amount are as follows: Class Counsel’s attorneys’ fees ($7,500,000), costs ($400,000), Settlement Administration Costs ($1,057,030) and Service Award ($5,000). After these fees and costs are deducted from the Settlement Amount, the remaining Net Settlement Amount (approximately $16,037,970) will be divided by the total number of Settlement Class Members (approximately 1,293,698) to calculate the payment amount for each Settlement Class Member. All Settlement Class Members will receive an equal payment amount (estimated at $12.40). 

Settlement Class Members who are “Remaining Current Policy Holders” will receive a credit. “Non–Remaining Current Policy Holders” and those Settlement Class Members who are no longer Policyholders will receive their Settlement Class Member Payment by paper check, unless they elect to receive a digital electronic payment.

“Remaining Current Policy Holder” means a Settlement Class Member who continues to have his or her Policy as of the Effective Date and who remains a Current Primary Policy Holder as of the Payment Date.

“Non–Remaining Current Primary Policy Holder” means a Settlement Class Member who continues to have his or her Policy as of the Effective Date and who is no longer a Primary Policy Holder as of the Payment Date.

“Effective Date” means the day following: (A) the entry by the Court of the Final Order and Judgment: (i) affirming certification of the Settlement Class; (ii) finding the Settlement Agreement to be fair, adequate and reasonable; (iii) finding that the Notice to the Class of the Settlement Agreement was fair, adequate and reasonable; (iv) resolving any and all objections to the fairness and reasonableness of the Settlement Agreement, if any; and (B) the expiration of the deadline for seeking appellate review of the Final Order and Judgment if no appeal is sought; or the day following the date all appellate courts with jurisdiction affirm the Final Judgment and Order with no possibility of further appellate review existing.

“Payment Date” means that date occurring after the Effective Date on which Allstate credits the Policy of a Remaining Current Primary Policy Holder or would credit the Policy of a Non-Remaining Current Primary Policy Holder, if such Policy Holder were a Remaining Current Policy Holder.”

“Payment Period” means the period beginning on the Effective Date and ending 120 days after the Effective Date.

The Settlement also includes additional non-monetary relief which constrains Allstate’s ability to implement price optimization measures in California.

Details on all the Settlement benefits are in the Settlement Agreement, which is available at HERE.

If you received a Notice by email or in the mail telling you that you are Settlement Class Member, you will receive an automatic Settlement Class Member Payment or Policy credit once the Settlement is approved by the Court and the Effective Date passes, provided you have not requested exclusion from the Settlement (see ― “Excluding Yourself From The Settlement” below). If you are a former Allstate customer (or choose to cancel your policy prior to issuance of a credit) you will receive your payment as a check unless you elect to receive a digital electronic payment. You may elect to receive a digital payment on the HOME page.

If you did not receive a Notice by email or in the mail and believe you are a Settlement Class Member, please contact the Settlement Administrator at [email protected] or by calling (833) 383-4978.

Settlement Class Member Payments and Policy credits will be made after the Effective Date, which comes after Court grants “Final Approval” to the Settlement and after any appeals are resolved (see “The Court’s Final Approval Hearing” below). It is uncertain when the Court will decide to approve or disapprove the proposed Settlement and whether any appeals will be filed. Please be patient.

No. If you exclude yourself, you may not apply for any benefits under the Settlement and you cannot object to the proposed Settlement. If you ask to be excluded, however, you will retain any right you have to sue or be part of a different lawsuit against the Defendants in the future. You will not be bound by anything that happens in this lawsuit.

If you wish to exclude yourself from the Settlement Class, you must send a letter to the Settlement Administrator including your full name and current address and statement that you wish to exclude yourself from the Settlement Class in Stevenson v. Allstate Insurance Co., et al., Case No. 4:15-cv-04788-YGR (N.D. Cal.). 

To be effective you must submit the above information to the following address postmarked no later than April 9, 2024: 

Stevenson v. Allstate

c/o Kroll Settlement Administration LLC

PO Box 225391

New York, NY 10150-5391

This is a firm deadline for requesting exclusion from the proposed Settlement. You cannot ask to be excluded on the phone, by email, or on the Settlement Website. 

Class Counsel will apply to the Court for an award of attorneys’ fees of up to $7,500,000 plus costs and expenses (capped at $400,000) for investigating the facts, litigating the cases, and negotiating the Settlement. To date, Class Counsel have not received any payment for their services in conducting this Action on behalf of the Class Representative and the Settlement Class, nor have Class Counsel been reimbursed for their costs and expenses to date in this case. Class Counsel will also request the Court to award a Service Award of $5,000 to the Class Representative in recognition of her service to the Settlement Class. The amount of the fees, expenses and service award will be determined by the Court. Class Counsel’s contact information is as follows:

You can object to the Settlement if you do not like some part of it. You cannot ask the Court to order a different settlement; the Court can only approve or reject the Settlement. 

Any objection to the proposed Settlement must be in writing. If you submit a timely written objection, you may, but are not required to, appear at the Final Approval Hearing, either in person or through your own attorney. If you appear through your own attorney, you are responsible for hiring and paying that attorney.

All objections must:

• clearly identify the case name and case number of this Action (Stevenson v. Allstate Insurance Co., et al., Case No. 4:15-cv-04788-YGR (N.D. Cal.));
• state your full name, current address, and phone number;
• state whether the objection applies only to you, to a specific subset of the Settlement Class, or to the entire Settlement Class;
• state with specificity the grounds for the objection;
• include a Notice of Intention to Appear in the body of the objection, if you wish to appear and be heard at the Final Approval Hearing.

Your objection must be submitted to the Court either by mailing it to the Clerk of Court for the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, Phillip Burton Federal Building & United States Courthouse, 450 Golden Gate Avenue, Box 36060, San Francisco, CA 94102, or by filing it in person at any location of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. Your objection must be filed or postmarked no later than April 9, 2024. This is a firm deadline. Objections postmarked after this date will not be recognized.