National Cell Phone Insurance Class Action Settled
Judge Seitz grants preliminary approval to a nationwide settlement involving 13 million customers and the country's largest providers of cell phone equipment insurance, Asurion and Lock/line.
Miami, FL (PRWEB) February 6, 2007 -- United States District Court Judge Patricia A. Seitz has granted preliminary approval to a nationwide class settlement involving 13 million customers and the country's largest providers of cell phone equipment insurance, Defendants Asurion and Lock/line. The settlement of the case, Perez et al. v. Asurion et al., 06-20734-Civ-Seitz/McAliley, ends three years of litigation in Florida and California surrounding allegations that the companies provided inadequate disclosures and replacement phones. Earlier last year Asurion purchased Lock/line making it the largest cell phone equipment insurance provider in the country. "Much of the credit for this settlement goes to Asurion and Lockline, who decided that even with their strong defenses, it was more important to work with their customers than to further litigate this case," said Adam M. Moskowitz of Kozyak, Tropin & Throckmorton, P.A., counsel for the Plaintiffs' nationwide class.
The cases were actively litigated for almost three years in Florida and California and mediated for the past four months. The main purpose for the lawsuits was to improve the information provided to customers regarding how the cell phone insurance and replacement process works and what phones are actually provided to customers during the claims process. Discovery confirmed that in limited circumstances, customers were provided tested refurbished phones rather than new phones, but that the value of these tested, refurbished phones in most cases was typically more than the customer was required to pay as a deductible.
In addition to the specific disclosure changes that will benefit all customers, the settlement also provides monetary relief. The roughly 15,000 customers who received a refurbished replacement phone valued at slightly less than the charged deductible will receive vouchers for a free replacement phone with a value of between $75 and $100. These vouchers are fully transferable, good for 90 days, and require no further purchases by the customers. Even customers who received replacement refurbished phones that were valued over the charged deductibles will benefit from the settlement. In addition to the improved disclosure changes, the 13 million class members can each claim a $5.00, fully transferable phone card. All customers will receive a postcard in the mail which will instruct them on how to log onto the settlement website and register for these phone cards. The Defendants have agreed to pay at least $1,500,000.00 in value to the class for those phone cards that are claimed.
A third Defendant in the case, The Signal, who processed approximately 800,000 cell phone insurance claims last year for Nextel customers has not settled and will continue to litigate the case here in Miami.
Kozyak Tropin & Throckmorton is a 20 attorney Miami law firm specializing in complex commercial litigation and corporate bankruptcy. Their website is http://kttlaw.com and the attorneys can be reached at 305-372-1800.
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