Action Certified and Settlement Approved
On October 7, 2019, on consent of the parties, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice certified this action as a class proceeding and approved a Settlement of the action. A full copy of the Settlement Agreement, including schedules may be reviewed here.
Under the terms of the Settlement:
- The Defendants have paid $2,200,000 in exchange for a full release from the claims made in the action (the “Settlement Fund”).
- Class counsel’s fees and disbursements have been approved in the amount of $585,000.
- The representative plaintiff has been paid an honourarium of $15,000.
- The net Settlement Fund, after deduction of the costs of administration, will be distributed equally to all class members who either automatically qualify for, or who submitted valid claims by the Claim Deadline of February 7, 2020. There are approximately 8,525 class members, meaning that if every Class member made a claim, then each would receive approximately $150.
- Class members who remained as insureds of The Personal as of July 30, 2019 will automatically receive payment and will not need to submit claim forms, unless they wish to receive the payment by direct deposit. Settlement cheques will be directly mailed to their last known address registered with The Personal.
- All other class members will be required to complete a claim form and submit it by the Claim Deadline. Claim forms may be completed online from the claims administrator’s website: https://www.classaction2.com/personalprivacy.html or downloaded from the Documents tab from this website.
Case Overview
This breach of privacy class action was brought on behalf of: All persons who: (1) were insured by The Personal Insurance Company under a valid automobile insurance policy between January 2012 and May 2019; (2) made an automobile insurance claim under that policy with The Personal during that time; and (3) consented to the collection and/or use of their credit score by The Personal or its agents as part of the fraud prevention and detection needs of The Personal’s claims management process.
On March 14, 2017, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (the “OPCC”), found that The Personal collected and used credit information from one of its insureds, without obtaining meaningful consent, and in a manner that a reasonable person would consider inappropriate. In doing so, the OPCC concluded that The Personal violated Section 5(3) and Principle 4.3 of the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act.
After the OPCC Report was delivered, The Personal advised the OPCC that it has ceased the practice of collecting and using credit score information during its claims assessment process, as the OPCC had recommended.
The Plaintiff’s claim alleged that The Personal had failed to comply with an implied term of its contractual obligations to its insureds by seeking credit score information from its insureds who were making claims for accident benefits under their automobile insurance policies because this request breached privacy legislation.
A settlement is a compromise of disputed claims in order to achieve an early full and final resolution of the action. The action was settled without any admission of liability or wrongdoing by The Personal or its parent company. The defendants deny any liability or wrongdoing. Had the settlement not been approved, the defendants would have challenged certification and defended the action.
Action Certified and Settlement Approved
On October 7, 2019, on consent of the parties, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice certified this action as a class proceeding and approved a Settlement of the action. A full copy of the Settlement Agreement, including schedules may be reviewed here.
Under the terms of the Settlement:
- The Defendants have paid $2,200,000 in exchange for a full release from the claims made in the action (the “Settlement Fund”).
- Class counsel’s fees and disbursements have been approved in the amount of $585,000.
- The representative plaintiff has been paid an honourarium of $15,000.
- The net Settlement Fund, after deduction of the costs of administration, will be distributed equally to all class members who either automatically qualify for, or who submitted valid claims by the Claim Deadline of February 7, 2020. There are approximately 8,525 class members, meaning that if every Class member made a claim, then each would receive approximately $150.
- Class members who remained as insureds of The Personal as of July 30, 2019 will automatically receive payment and will not need to submit claim forms, unless they wish to receive the payment by direct deposit. Settlement cheques will be directly mailed to their last known address registered with The Personal.
- All other class members will be required to complete a claim form and submit it by the Claim Deadline. Claim forms may be completed online from the claims administrator’s website: https://www.classaction2.com/personalprivacy.html or downloaded from the Documents tab from this website.
Case Overview
This breach of privacy class action was brought on behalf of: All persons who: (1) were insured by The Personal Insurance Company under a valid automobile insurance policy between January 2012 and May 2019; (2) made an automobile insurance claim under that policy with The Personal during that time; and (3) consented to the collection and/or use of their credit score by The Personal or its agents as part of the fraud prevention and detection needs of The Personal’s claims management process.
On March 14, 2017, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (the “OPCC”), found that The Personal collected and used credit information from one of its insureds, without obtaining meaningful consent, and in a manner that a reasonable person would consider inappropriate. In doing so, the OPCC concluded that The Personal violated Section 5(3) and Principle 4.3 of the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act.
After the OPCC Report was delivered, The Personal advised the OPCC that it has ceased the practice of collecting and using credit score information during its claims assessment process, as the OPCC had recommended.
The Plaintiff’s claim alleged that The Personal had failed to comply with an implied term of its contractual obligations to its insureds by seeking credit score information from its insureds who were making claims for accident benefits under their automobile insurance policies because this request breached privacy legislation.
A settlement is a compromise of disputed claims in order to achieve an early full and final resolution of the action. The action was settled without any admission of liability or wrongdoing by The Personal or its parent company. The defendants deny any liability or wrongdoing. Had the settlement not been approved, the defendants would have challenged certification and defended the action.
The administration of the settlement of this class action is now completed.
A settlement was reached on June 28, 2019. The Settlement Agreement can be viewed under the Documents tab. The settlement was approved by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on October 7, 2019.
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