If you have purchased auto insurance for the first time, you may have been charged an allegedly improper "accident surcharge".
If you feel you qualify for damages or remedies that might be awarded in this case against 21st Century Insurance please fill out the form at right.
Poss v. 21st Century
This case arises out of the insurance company's practices of surcharging customers on the basis that they did not have prior insurance, in violation of California Insurance Code ยง1861.02(c). When Proposition 103, the landmark insurance initiative was passed in 1988, it codified a portion of the insurance code which precluded an insurance company from considering an individual's lack of prior insurance as a factor in giving the insured the Good Driver discount or otherwise determining his premiums. The problem had been that up until that point in time, many insurance companies discriminated against individuals who were not insured, and consequently charged those people higher rates. This prevented individuals from purchasing insurance in the first instance, as it was too expensive.
With the passage of Proposition 103, insurance carriers were looking for ways to not sell insurance to individuals who were currently uninsured, but in a way that was not an overt violation of the insurance code. The insurance industry came up with a mechanism for verifying an individual's accident history (which is legitimate and proper) that in reality discriminates against individuals without insurance. In this case, we contend that the insurance company verifies an individual's driving record by checking with the individuals prior insurance carrier. If the insurer cannot verify a continuous history of insurance, then it declares that it cannot properly verify the insured's accident history, and therefore imposes a surcharge.
In this case, Plaintiffs allege that 21st Century implemented an accident surcharge in violation of the law, by attempting to verify the consumer's accident record simply by determining whether the customer had prior insurance. If the customer did not have prior insurance, then the insurance company placed a surcharge on that insured's premium, claiming that the accident record could not be properly verified.
Plaintiff seeks to bring this as a class action, on the basis that the insurance company was engaging in this practice since at least 1997. Plaintiffs are seeking an injunction to preclude this practice and will further seek restitution for all policy holders who paid this illegal surcharge from 1997 through the present.
