A class action is a lawsuit in which one or more individuals bring claims on behalf of other persons or entities. These persons or entities are referred to as a class or class members. In a certified class action, the Court resolves certain issues, legal claims, and/or defenses for all class members in a single action, except for those persons or entities who ask in writing to be excluded from the class.

Plaintiff alleges that GEICO Indemnity Company breached its contracts (Automobile Insurance Policies) by failing to fully pay Plaintiff and other New Jersey insureds who submitted physical damage claims for their vehicles during the Class Period, and which resulted in a Total Loss Claim Payment. Specifically, Plaintiff alleges that GEICO Indemnity failed to pay full Replacement Fees following a total loss. GEICO maintains that it complied with the terms of the Automobile Insurance Policies and applicable law and denies that it acted wrongfully or unlawfully and continues to deny all material allegations.

As a part of the Settlement, GEICO has agreed to pay Settlement Class Members who were insured by GEICO Indemnity Company or other affiliated GEICO insurers (except for Government Employees Insurance Company) and who submit a valid timely Claim, upon Court approval:

Up to $58.05 (less any amount in Replacement Fees originally included in the total-loss claim payment), reduced by each claimant’s proportional share of Class Counsel Fees and court-awarded costs. Class Counsel is seeking Fees and Costs not to exceed $520,482.00 from the Monetary Relief, and a Service Award not to exceed $6,500.00 to the Class Representative, with all amounts to be approved by the Court. Class Counsel’s motion for attorneys’ fees, costs and expenses shall be made available on the Important Documents page and the Court’s PACER website at www.pacer.uscourts.gov.

In exchange, Plaintiff and the Settlement Class Members who did not exclude themselves agree to give up any claim they have for payment of fees in relation to their total loss claims. To be eligible to receive a payment, you needed to submit a valid, timely claim form on or before January 3, 2025, and the deadline has passed. Alternatively, you may have requested to be excluded from the Settlement Class. The deadline to exclude yourself was December 19, 2024, and has passed. You may also have objected to the terms of the Settlement. The deadline to object to the Settlement was December 19, 2024, and has passed.

You may be a member of the Settlement Class if you insured a vehicle for physical damage coverage under a New Jersey personal automobile policy that defined “Actual Cash Value” under Section III of the policy as “the replacement cost of the auto or property less depreciation and/or betterment” issued by GEICO providing personal auto physical damage coverage in the class period, who made a first-party claim under the policy for physical damage to their insured vehicle during the Class Period, whose claim was adjusted as a total loss under their policy’s comprehensive or collision coverage, and who was not paid full Replacement Fees.

The Class Period is May 6, 2014, through January 1, 2020, for a vehicle you owned or financed, and May 6, 2014, through August 1, 2020, for leased vehicles.

Policyholders of Government Employees Insurance Company are not members of the Settlement Class. If you already received full Replacement Fees as part of your Total Loss Claim Payment, you are not part of the Settlement Class.

To be eligible to receive a payment, you needed to submit a valid, timely claim form on or before January 3, 2025, and the deadline has passed. If the address you submitted on your Claim Form changes, you must contact the Claims Administrator to provide a current address or you may not receive your Settlement Class Member Payment.

The deadline to exclude yourself from the Settlement was December 19, 2024, and has passed.

The deadline to object to the Settlement was December 19, 2024, and has passed.

You have the right to do nothing. If you do nothing, you will be bound by the terms of the Settlement and will release any claim against GEICO for Replacement Fees, even if you did not submit a Claim Form for payment. You will not receive a Settlement Payment if you did not submit a Claim Form for payment.

The Court has preliminarily appointed Plaintiff, DIANE MCCOY, to be the Class Representative of the Settlement Class. The Court has also preliminarily appointed the following lawyers as Class Counsel for the Settlement Class:

These lawyers are experienced in handling class action lawsuits, including actions on behalf of insured policyholders. More information about Class Counsel is available on their websites.

Class Counsel will be seeking attorneys’ fees and costs of up to $520,482 from the available settlement benefits, with all amounts to be approved by the Court.

Class Counsel will also seek a Service Award for the Class Representative in the amount of $6,500.00, from the available settlement benefits, subject to Court approval. The Service Award is designed to reward the Class Representative for securing the recovery awarded to members of the Settlement Class and to acknowledge the time spent by the Plaintiff participating in the case and prosecuting the claims for the benefit of the Settlement Class.

As a part of the Settlement, Settlement Class Members agree not to sue GEICO by asserting any claim for payment or non-payment of fees (including, but not limited to, title, registration/handling, plate and other fees) in relation to their total loss claims. Unless you requested exclusion from the Settlement Class, you give up the right to individually sue GEICO for unpaid fees (including, but not limited to, title, registration/handling, plate and other fees) as part of your Covered Total Loss Claim, even if you did not submit a Claim Form for payment as part of this Settlement. You are not releasing any other claim against GEICO. Full terms of the Released Claims and Released Parties can be found in the proposed Settlement Agreement.

If you have any questions about the Settlement, please call toll-free at 1-877-753-7737, email info@NJTotalLossAutoSettlement.com, or fill out the Contact Us form. You also may contact Class Counsel, whose contact information is provided above.

If the address you submit on your Claim Form changes, you must contact the Claims Administrator to provide a current address or you may not receive your Settlement Class Member Payment.

PLEASE DO NOT CONTACT THE COURT, THE CLERK OF THE COURT, OR GEICO OR GEICO’S COUNSEL WITH QUESTIONS.