A Court authorized the Notice because you have a right to know about the proposed Settlement of this class action lawsuit, and about all of your options, before the Court decided whether to approve the Settlement. The Court approved the Settlement on August 1, 2019. An administrator appointed by the Court will make the payments that the Settlement allows after the resolution of any appeals. Because your rights will be affected by this Settlement, it is extremely important that you read the Notice carefully.

If you received a Postcard Notice, it is because, according to the records that have been obtained in the course of this lawsuit, you received one or more calls from or involving: (1) Variable between September 27, 2012 through October 15, 2018, in an attempt to sell Lead Information to Nationwide Agents; (2) MediaAlpha between September 27, 2012 through October 15, 2018, in an attempt to sell Lead Information to Nationwide; and/or (3) Nationwide and/or its alleged vendors after you were registered on Nationwide’s Internal Do Not Call Registry for more than 31 days.

The Court in charge of the case is the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, and the case is a class action known as Rice-Redding et al. v. Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, Case No. 1:16-cv-03634-WMR (N.D. Ga.). This case was brought by Diane Rice-Redding, Ricky Coleman, Ken Johansen, Rita Johansen, and Alvina Haile-Recio, also known as “Representative Plaintiffs.” The Representative Plaintiffs sued Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, also known as “Defendant."

A class action is a lawsuit in which the claims and rights of many people are decided in a single court proceeding. Representative Plaintiffs, also known as “class representatives,” assert claims on behalf of the entire class.

The Variable Class: Two Representative Plaintiffs (Diane Rice-Redding and Ricky Coleman) claim that Variable Marketing, LLC (“Variable”), made automated calls without the prior express consent of the recipients in an attempt to sell Lead Information to Nationwide insurance agents. The Representative Plaintiffs have alleged that this violated a federal statute called the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”), 47 U.S.C. § 227, and that Nationwide is liable for such violations.

The MediaAlpha Class: Two Representative Plaintiffs (Ken Johansen and Rita Johansen) claim that QuoteLab d/b/a MediaAlpha (“MediaAlpha”), transferred automated calls without the prior express consent of the recipients in an attempt to sell Lead Information to Nationwide. The Representative Plaintiffs have alleged that this calling violated a federal statute called the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”), 47 U.S.C. § 227, and that Nationwide is liable for such violations.

The Nationwide IDNC Class: Three Representative Plaintiffs (Alvina Haile-Recio, Ken Johansen, and Rita Johansen) claim that Nationwide and/or its alleged vendors placed more than one telemarketing call to persons who requested to be placed on Nationwide’s internal do-not-call registry. The Representative Plaintiffs have alleged that this calling violated a federal statute called the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”), 47 U.S.C. § 227, and that Nationwide is liable for such violations.

Nationwide denies any liability or wrongdoing of any kind and further denies that this case is appropriate for treatment as a class action.

The Court did not decide in favor of the Representative Plaintiffs or Nationwide. Both sides agreed to a settlement instead of going to trial. That way, they avoid the cost of a trial, and the people affected will get compensation. The Representative Plaintiffs and their attorneys think the Settlement is best for all Settlement Class Members. The Court in charge of this lawsuit granted preliminary approval of the Settlement and ordered that the Notice be distributed to explain it.

The Settlement provides relief for all Settlement Class Members, who are described as:

MediaAlpha Settlement Class: All persons within the United States who received a telephone call advertising Nationwide’s homeowners or automotive insurance products, whose telephone call or Lead Information was transferred by MediaAlpha to Nationwide during the Class Period. This class includes Plaintiff Ken Johansen, Rita Johansen and the approximately 427,123 MediaAlpha Settlement Class Members identified in MediaAlpha’s business records.

Nationwide IDNC Settlement Class: All persons within the United States who (a) received more than one telephone solicitation within any 12-month period falling within the Class Period (b) on their phone number that had been registered on the Nationwide Internal Do Not Call Registry for more than 31 days, (c) the purpose of which was to advertise Nationwide’s automotive or homeowners’ insurance products. This class includes Plaintiffs Ken Johansen, Rita Johansen, Alvina Haile-Recio, and the 239 Nationwide IDNC Settlement Class Members Nationwide identified in its business records.

Variable Settlement Class: All persons within the United States who received a telephone call from Variable Marketing, whose telephone call or Lead Information was transferred to a Nationwide Agent during the Class Period. This class includes Plaintiffs Diane Rice-Redding and Ricky Coleman and the approximately 16,949 individuals identified through the Variable lead database.

If you have questions about whether you are a Class Member, or are still not sure whether you are included in the Settlement, you can call the Claims Administrator toll-free at 1-833-285-1324 for more information.

Nationwide has agreed to pay a total settlement amount of $5,000,000.00, which will be used to create a Settlement Fund to pay Cash Awards to Class Members, Plaintiffs’ attorneys’ fees and expenses, service awards to the Representative Plaintiffs, and settlement administration costs and expenses. After deducting all class representative incentive awards, Class Counsel fees and expenses, and settlement administrator fees the Court may award, the Settlement Fund will be allocated as 29.5% to the Variable Class (the “Variable Portion”), 70% to the MediaAlpha Class (the “MediaAlpha Portion”), and 0.5% to the Nationwide IDNC Class (the “Nationwide IDNC Portion”).

Variable Class: Each Variable Settlement Class Member is not required to take any action to receive a Cash Award. Each Variable Settlement Class Member with a valid mailing address will receive an automatic payment of approximately $60. The final cash payment amount that Variable Settlement Class Members receive will depend on the total number of Variable Settlement Class Members with valid mailing addresses. Additional cash distributions may occur from the proceeds of any uncashed checks.

Each Variable Settlement Class Member is eligible to receive one Cash Award regardless of the number of times the Variable Settlement Class Member was called or the number of telephone numbers at which the Variable Settlement Class Member was called.

MediaAlpha Class: Each MediaAlpha Settlement Class Member who submitted a valid and timely Claim Form will receive a Cash Award. The deadline to submit your claim was July 22, 2019. A Settlement Award is a cash payment. It is estimated that Eligible Class Members’ cash award payment will be approximately $30 per MediaAlpha Settlement Class Member, but the final cash payment amount will depend on the total number of valid and timely claims filed by all MediaAlpha Settlement Class Members.

Each MediaAlpha Settlement Class Member is eligible to receive one Cash Award regardless of the number of times the MediaAlpha Settlement Class Member was called or the number of telephone numbers at which the MediaAlpha Settlement Class Member was called.

Nationwide IDNC Class: Each Nationwide IDNC Settlement Class Member who submitted a valid and timely Claim Form will receive a Cash Award. The deadline to submit your claim was July 22, 2019. A Settlement Award is a cash payment. It is estimated that Eligible Class Members’ cash award payment will be approximately $75 per Nationwide IDNC Settlement Class Member, but the final cash payment amount will depend on the total number of valid and timely claims filed by all Nationwide IDNC Settlement Class Members.

Each Nationwide IDNC Settlement Class Member is eligible to receive one Cash Award regardless of the number of times the Nationwide IDNC Settlement Class Member was called or the number of telephone numbers at which the Nationwide IDNC Settlement Class Member was called.

The Court held a Final Approval Hearing on  August 1, 2019 and granted final approval of the Settlement at the hearing. Settlement checks were mailed to eligible claimants on September 24, 2019.

After the initial payments of Settlement Awards, smaller cash distributions may occur from the proceeds of any uncashed checks.

Being a Class Member means, unless you excluded yourself, that you cannot sue, continue to sue, or be part of any other lawsuit against Nationwide about the legal issues in this case, and that all of the decisions and judgments by the Court will bind you.

If you were to file your own lawsuit for violations of the TCPA and prevailed for Variable Calls, MediaAlpha Calls, or Nationwide IDNC Calls, you could obtain damages of $500 per violation, or up to $1,500 per violation if the statute is found to have been willfully or knowingly violated.

However, Nationwide has denied that it made any illegal calls to anyone or engaged in any wrongdoing of any kind, and Nationwide has a full range of potential defenses, including that Nationwide should not be held liable for the calls Variable and MediaAlpha made. Further, Nationwide asserts it is not known what proportion of the calls at issue were actually received, were without consent, or were not self-initiated. In addition, the TCPA does not provide for attorneys’ fees to prevailing individual plaintiffs.

If you accept a Cash Award or did not exclude yourself from the lawsuit, you will be unable to file your own lawsuit involving all of the claims described and identified below, and you will release Nationwide and the Released Parties from any liability for them. The Released Parties are related to Nationwide and its agents, and do not include Variable or MediaAlpha.

Remaining in the Class means that you, as well as your respective assigns, heirs, executors, administrators, successors, representatives, agents, partners, attorneys, predecessors-in-interest, and any (past or present) authorized users of your cellular or residential telephones, hereby release, resolve, relinquish, and discharge each and every one of the Released Parties from each of the Released Claims (as defined below). You further agree that they will not institute any action or cause of action (in law, in equity or administratively), suits, debts, liens, or claims, known or unknown, fixed or contingent, which they may have or claim to have, in state or federal court, in arbitration, or with any state, federal or local government agency or with any administrative or advisory body, arising from or related in any way to the Released Claims. “Released Claims” means any and all claims, causes of action, suits, obligations, debts, demands, agreements, promises, liabilities, damages, losses, controversies, costs, expenses, and attorneys’ fees of any nature whatsoever, whether based on any federal law, state law, common law, territorial law, foreign law, contract, rule, regulation, any regulatory promulgation (including, but not limited to, any opinion or declaratory ruling), or equity, whether known or unknown, suspected or unsuspected, asserted or unasserted, foreseen or unforeseen, actual or contingent, liquidated or unliquidated, punitive or compensatory, as of the date of the Final Approval Order, that arise out of or relate in any way to this Action or the facts that give rise to this Action, including but not limited to claims that could have been asserted in the Action. The Released Claims specifically extend to claims that Plaintiffs and Settlement Class Members do not know or suspect to exist in their favor at the time that the Settlement Agreement and the releases contained therein become effective. This release shall be interpreted to the fullest extent of res judicata principles. In addition, any rights of the Class Representatives and each and every one of the Settlement Class Members to the protections afforded under Section 1542 of the California Civil Code and/or any other similar, comparable, or equivalent laws, are terminated.

Remaining in the Class also means that you further agree and covenant not to sue any of the Released Parties with respect to any of the Released Claims, or otherwise to assist others in doing so, and agree to be forever barred from doing so, in any court of law or equity, or any other forum.

The Settlement Agreement (available at the Important Documents page) provides more detail regarding the release and describes the Released Parties and Released Claims with accurate legal terminology, so read it carefully. You can talk to the law firms representing the Class listed in the “Do I have a lawyer in this case?” section below for free or you can, at your own expense, talk to your own lawyer if you have any questions about the Released Parties or the Released Claims or what they mean.

The release does not apply to Class Members who timely opted-out of the Settlement.

The deadline to exclude yourself from the Settlement was June 21, 2019 and has passed.

The Court appointed the following law firms to represent you and other Class Members:

These lawyers are called Class Counsel. You will not be charged for these lawyers’ services related to this Settlement. If you want to be represented by your own lawyer, you may hire one at your own expense.

Class Counsel asked the Court to approve payment of up to $1,666,666 (33⅓% of the Settlement Fund) to compensate them for expenses and for attorneys’ fees for investigating the facts, litigating the case, and negotiating the Settlement. Class Counsel also requested an award of service payments of up to $10,000 each to the Representative Plaintiffs, in compensation for their time and effort. The Court approved Class Counsel's request, and you may view the Order here. These payments, along with the costs of administering the Settlement, will be made out of the Settlement Fund.

Any objection to Class Counsel’s application for attorneys’ fees and costs may be mailed, and must be postmarked no later than June 21, 2019, which is thirty (30) days following the filing of Class Counsel’s motion for an award of attorneys’ fees and costs. The deadline to object has passed.

The deadline to object to the Settlement was June 21, 2019 and has passed.

The Court held a hearing at 10:00 a.m. on August 1, 2019 to decide whether to approve the Settlement. At this hearing, the Court considered whether the Settlement was fair, reasonable, and adequate, and whether to award attorneys’ fees, expenses, and service awards as described above, and in what amounts. If there were objections, the Court also considered them.

At the hearing, the Court granted final approval of the Settlement. You may view the Order here. It was not necessary for you to appear at this hearing, but you could have attended at your own expense.

The deadline to ask the Court for permission to speak at the Final Approval Hearing was June 21, 2019 and has passed.

Variable Class: If you are a Variable Class Member with a valid mailing address and do nothing, you will be sent a Cash Award by check after the Court approves the Settlement. Unless you excluded yourself, you will be bound by the terms and conditions of the Settlement and you will not be able to start a lawsuit, continue with a lawsuit, or be part of any other lawsuit against Nationwide about the legal issues in this case, ever again.

MediaAlpha Class: If you are a MediaAlpha Class Member and do nothing, you will not receive any payment from the Settlement. Unless you excluded yourself, you will be bound by the terms and conditions of the Settlement and you will not be able to start a lawsuit, continue with a lawsuit, or be part of any other lawsuit against Nationwide about the legal issues in this case, ever again.

Nationwide IDNC Class: If you are a Nationwide IDNC Class Member and do nothing, you will not receive any payment from the Settlement. Unless you excluded yourself, you will be bound by the terms and conditions of the Settlement and you will not be able to start a lawsuit, continue with a lawsuit, or be part of any other lawsuit against Nationwide about the legal issues in this case, ever again.

This website summarizes the Settlement. More details are in the Settlement Agreement. You can get a copy of the Settlement Agreement by calling the Claims Administrator toll-free at 1-833-285-1324; writing to: Insurance Call Settlement, c/o JND Legal Administration, P.O. Box 91127, Seattle, WA 98111; or visiting the Important Documents page of this website, which has other information to help you determine whether you are a Settlement Class Member and whether you are eligible for a payment.

On the Important Documents page, there is a complete Notice of the Settlement in Spanish. (En Important Documents, hay una notificación completa del acuerdo en Español.)