Hartford Class Action Settlement Preliminarily Approved In Class Action Lawsuit Over Payments In Personal Injury and Worker’s Compensation Structured Settlements.
A class action settlement has been reached in a class action lawsuit pending against The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc.; Hartford Life, Inc.; Hartford Life Insurance Company; Hartford Accident and Indemnity Company; Hartford Casualty Insurance Company; Hartford Insurance Company of the Midwest; and Hartford Fire Insurance Company (collectively “Hartford” or “Defendants”) in the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut (styled Oshonya Spencer, Charles Strickland and Douglas McDuffie v. The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc., et al., Case No. 3:05-cv-01681-JCH) alleging that Hartford committed fraud in connection with the payment of structured settlements that were part of settlements of personal injury and worker’s compensation claims brought against persons or entities insured by Hartford P&C companies, according to court documents in the case.
The Hartford structured settlement payment class action lawsuit complaint reportedly alleged that Hartford defrauded class members out of the full amount of the structured settlements the Hartford P&C companies agreed to pay by providing class members with structured settlements worth 15% less than their promised cost or value, and fraudulently retaining the 15% for themselves, allegedly in violation of the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”), 18 U.S.C. §§ 1962(c) and 1962(d), and common law fraud.
The proposed Hartford structured settlement payment class action settlement reportedly provides for a cash payment of seventy-two million five hundred thousand dollars ($72,500,000) for the benefit of the Plaintiffs and the settlement class members (the “gross settlement fund”). Notice and administrative costs, tax payments on interest earned on the settlement fund, any award of attorneys’ fees and expenses, any service awards to the named plaintiffs and/or any additional costs incurred by class counsel or named plaintiffs for the benefit of the settlement class and approved by the court, will be paid from the settlement fund. The remaining amount (the “net settlement fund”) will be distributed to members of the settlement class pursuant to the terms of the class action settlement agreement.
The Hartford structured settlement class action settlement reportedly includes all persons who entered into a settlement with any of The Hartford Property & Casualty Companies between 1997 and the present in which some or all of the settlement amount was to be paid as a structured settlement funded with an annuity from one of The Hartford Life Companies, who had a written contract that, or before entering into the written contract had received a written representation that, made explicit or implicit reference to the “cost” (or “value”) of the settlement or the portion of the settlement being structured or the “cost” (or “value”) of an annuity being used to fund the structure; but excluded from the class are persons who were represented by a plaintiffs’ broker in connection with the settlement.
A final settlement approval hearing is scheduled to be held by the Court on September 21, 2010 at 10:00 a.m. Eastern time, in the courtroom of the Honorable Janet C. Hall, U.S.D.J., at the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut, 915 Lafayette Boulevard, 4th floor, Bridgeport, Connecticuty 06604, to determine, among other things, whether the Hartford structured settlement class action settlement is fair, reasonable and adequate.
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