Got Allianz?

hi phred

a year or so ago, I had a similar situation with a company that I did business with or had done business with. I can no longer remember the name of the company but it was a legitimate company and well known.

Everything seemed up and up.

I signed up for the lawsuit or whatever even getting documents in the mail.

But i would eventually give up on continuing my participation in the lawsuit and I do not remember why.

It became more of a hassle than it was worth. That is all I can remember.

Sounds like a class action. The more people who sign up the more the attorneys can make. And tge more injured parties get their cut.

Yeah I got that too. I get a fair number of these. I always dig in to see what I could realistically get. From the FAQ’s on this one:

For example, if you purchased two separate plans at two different times and your plan price included $20 in Assistance Fees in January 2019 and your plan price included $5 in Assistance Fees in January 2021, your Cash Payment would be $17 (75% of $20, plus 40% of $5), subject to potential increase or decrease as set forth below and in the Settlement Agreement.

So, for that sort of money (theoretically) I won’t bother. I did pursue one with StubHub and have a $500 credit in my account so some of these class action lawsuits can pay off. But Allianz, not so much.

I'm sure it's a legitimate class-action lawsuit, phred. I think everyone gets involved in this at some point. I usuallty do the default and stay in the class action. You never know what you will receive but sometimes the payments can be decent.

As others have said, the attorneys are the ones who really reap the benefits - even more so than the original complainants, but you still never know. I was once in a class action against the AOL Travel Board, and received around $3,000. Another class action against Barbri, which produces bar prep classes and exams, got me around $2500. Unless it asks for a lot of time on your part, it's almost always worth it to stay in, even if you only get $10. In 75% of class actions, all you have to do is answer a few questions. Others require more time, so you have to look at what you might get.

Like many on this Forum who have purchased Allianz policies, I received several notices re this class action suit. I received more than one notice, likely because I purchased four different travel ins policies since 2018. I saw that each notice had a different ID and confirmation code. I decided to look into what was involved in filing a claim online. It is super easy and only takes a few minutes.

I got a bit tripped up by the multiple IDs and Confirmation Codes I received in the multiple notices I received to file a claim. That led me down a rabbit hole of trying to talk to a human to get more info. The phone number listed in the notice to reach the Claims Administrator sends you to VM only. I left a message 2 days ago, but no one has returned my call. I later found another contact in the FAQ link, which led me to the law office handling this case. After numerous attempts, I finally reached the lead attorney (who was very helpful) who told me the following:

1. They attempted to de-duplicate notices, but that was not always possible, which is why many people (including me) received more than one notice (and more than one confirmation code) to file a claim. This is because the names would have had to have been an exact match, i.e., if one policy had my middle initial (or middle name), but the other one didn't, this would result in multiple notices. In my case, I received two notices, so I filed two claims. They will attempt to consolidate multiple claims for the same person, but there is no guarantee, so people may get more than one payment (or gift card, or direct deposit, etc, depending on your choice of payment method).

2. The payments will be based on a complex formula, including the total cost of the ins premium(s) and other factors. For some it may be as little as $17; for others, it will be more.

3. Although the January 25 deadline is approaching, as of right now, the attorney said this class action suit has been under-submitted, meaning that many people have not filed a claim. That could change in the next (final) week, but he said it seems likely that the payout will be quite a bit more per claimant than is described in the notice. No guarantees, of course.

Class Action lawsuits are disgusting 9 out of 10 times. How did Alianz cheat you? Some times legitimate, but most often just makes lawyers richer and jacks up the price of goods and services.

....payments will be based on a complex formula...it may be as little as $17...it seems likely that the payout will be quite a bit more...No guarantees, of course.

...just makes lawyers richer and jacks up the price of goods...

As a rule, the lawyers are almost always the only ones who receive anything substantial.

While somewhat out of context, I'm reminded of "The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers". Shakespeare.

Note that no one is complaining about Alianz hurting or cheating them. The talk is "how much can I get" .... for no reason.

This time, the attorney gets $205,000 plus 25% of what's paid out. The rest of us get higher premiums (I have a long term medical policy with them, they pay just fine).