in Newswire Published on April 5, 2022

Travel, Event Insurance Provider Allianz Sued Over Allegedly Hidden Charges [UPDATE]

Last Updated on November 28, 2023

Tasakos v. AGA Service Company et al.

Filed: April 4, 2022 ◆§ 2:22-cv-00433

A lawsuit claims Allianz and Jefferson Insurance Company have charged travel and event insurance buyers added fees for services they neither know about nor want.

Defendant(s)

AGA Service Company Allianz Global Assistance Jefferson Insurance Company

Law(s)

Washington Consumer Protection Act

State(s)

Washington

November 28, 2023 – AGA Class Action Settlement to Provide Partial Refunds to Travel, Event Insurance Plan Buyers

The proposed class action detailed on this page and a related suit have been settled, with Allianz Global Assistance (AGA) agreeing to reimburse California and Washington travel and event protection insurance plan buyers a percentage of the plan price.

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The settlement, which was preliminarily approved by the court on September 30, 2023, covers all California consumers who, from September 4, 2016 through September 30, 2023, bought one or more qualifying travel or event protection plans and, for the purchase, provided a billing address in California. The deal also covers all Washington consumers who, from April 2, 2018 through September 30, 2023, bought a qualifying travel or event protection plan and provided a Washington billing address for that purchase.

The official AGA class action settlement website can be found at https://www.assistancefeesettlement.com/home.

According to the settlement site, class members who bought a qualifying California travel or event protection plan will receive a cash payment equal to 75 percent of the assistance fees included in the plan price between September 4, 2016 and July 31, 2019, and 40 percent of the assistance fees included in the price between August 1, 2019 and September 30, 2023.

Those who bought a qualifying Washington travel or event protection plan will be eligible to receive a cash payment equal to 75 percent of the assistance fees included in the plan price between April 2, 2018 and April 7, 2020, and 40 percent of the assistance fees included in the plan price between April 8, 2020 and September 30, 2023, the website states.

“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.”

Consumers who already received a complete refund for a qualifying travel or event protection plan, or for whom AGA opened and documented an assistance case for the plan, will not receive a cash payment from the settlement, the website states. Per the site, the amount of any cash payment a class member receives may increase or decrease proportionally depending on the number of valid claims submitted and the money available to pay those claims.

To begin filing your claim for a cash payment, head to this page and enter the notice ID and confirmation code found in the notice you received about the settlement. Claims must be filed online or by mail by January 25, 2024.

The only way to receive cash from the settlement is by filing a claim. If you do nothing, you will not receive a cash payment and you will still be bound by the terms of the settlement.

A final approval hearing for the settlement is scheduled for February 22, 2024. It is typically after a settlement receives final approval from the court, and any appeals or objections have been resolved, that payments begin to go out to class members. The official settlement site states that cash payments from the AGA settlement will be distributed to eligible class members within 60 days of the deal receiving final approval.

To contact the settlement administrator for more information, head to this page.

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Allianz Global Assistance and Jefferson Insurance Company face a proposed class action over their alleged practice of charging travel and event insurance buyers added fees for services they neither know about nor want.

The 29-page lawsuit alleges the defendants, who offer travel and event insurance on websites such as Ticketmaster.com and those of major airlines, have essentially attempted to circumvent insurance law by bundling the costs of premiums with fees for purported assistance services.

Per the case, AGA Service Company, who does business as Allianz, and Jefferson attempt to hide the existence and cost of the assistance services at issue—which purportedly allow customers to call a toll-free hotline and obtain certain trip information and concierge services—from customers. Instead, the companies represent that the price customers pay includes only insurance premiums, the filing shares.

At the same time, Allianz and Jefferson represent to insurance regulators that the assistance service fee is distinct from insurance premiums, the suit says. The lawsuit contends that this allows the defendants to present a lower premium amount for approval by regulators while charging customers a higher, bundled fee that includes services they would not pay for if given the choice.

The lawsuit alleges the Allianz and Jefferson’s assistance service is merely “a pretext to collect illegal fees at the expense of millions of consumers.”

Jefferson and Allianz, its appointed insurance agent, are the largest trip and travel insurance providers in the U.S., the suit relays. When a consumer purchases airfare or other travel accommodations or event tickets online, they are often presented with the option to insure their purchase through an Allianz insurance policy, the case states.

The lawsuit claims that unbeknownst to most consumers, the defendants’ insurance policies are bundled with an assistance service that purportedly allows a policyholder to call the companies’ customer service representatives to obtain certain information, such as where to obtain prescription refills, where to find child care equipment, pet care service referrals, destination information, how to replace passports, doctor and medical facility information, legal referrals, translation services and weather forecast information.

Whenever the defendants reference the assistance service along with their insurance offers, it is always represented as included with the insurance policy, and not as a separate, non-insurance-related service, the lawsuit states. According to the suit, no reasonable consumer would choose to pay for this additional service since they can “readily and promptly” find the information on their own via free mobile applications and on the internet. From the complaint:

“Reasonable consumers are not interested in paying money to have the option to call AGA’s toll-free hotline, after first searching for their insurance policy number and other information regarding their event, then spending several (and likely many) minutes on hold and/or speaking to multiple service representatives, having customer service agents note their inquiries, conduct searches related to those inquiries, and then eventually (hours or days later) email or call the insureds back with some of the requested information. That is an inefficient, slow, and belabored process for obtaining information, especially as compared to the widely available means of obtaining such information promptly and for free.”

Because there is no market demand for the defendants’ assistance service, and due to the fact that the companies attempt to hide its existence, consumers would have no reason to suspect that they are being charged for more than just insurance when purchasing one of Allianz’s policies, the case posits.

On the other hand, the suit claims, the defendants represent the charges for assistance services as separate from insurance premiums when the companies obtain regulatory approval of their rates. This allows Jefferson and Allianz to charge customers more than the approved rates for their insurance policies given the fees for the purported assistance services are bundled together with premiums, the lawsuit argues. Per the case, the defendants never obtained approval from state regulators to charge such rates.

“Regardless of how Defendants’ ‘assistance’ fees are ultimately characterized—whether as an artifice to collect an unlawful agent’s fee or as genuinely for non-insurance services (that hardly anyone would pay for if given the choice)—the result is the same: Defendants collect more from consumers than they should,” the complaint argues.

The lawsuit looks to cover anyone who, while residing in Washington, purchased travel insurance policies or event ticket insurance policies from the defendants at any point since April 2, 2018 and did not use Allianz’s assistance services.

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