A jury has ruled in favor of Rose Chadwick and approximately 37,000 other plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit against State Farm. The verdict determined that the insurance company underpaid Chadwick by roughly $600 for a 2011 Hyundai that was declared a total loss.
The vehicle was damaged in a rear-end collision in Arkansas six years ago, an incident that led Chadwick to investigate the insurer's valuation methods after seeing online accusations that State Farm was shortchanging customers.
Chadwick’s attorney, Brian Glasser, alleged that State Farm relied on Audatex North America valuation reports to determine the actual cash value of totaled cars. According to the lawsuit, these reports applied "typical negotiation adjustments," which Glasser described as discounts intended to reflect a buyer’s ability to haggle with used car dealers.
He argued that this approach is outdated, noting that since the pandemic, vehicles have often sold at premium prices and dealers are less willing to negotiate.
Glasser stated that the software used to calculate replacement values operated unfairly and systematically low-balled the worth of total-loss vehicles for tens of thousands of drivers nationwide. He emphasized the scale of the issue, noting that insurance companies move billions of dollars for vehicle claims annually, meaning the valuation algorithms have a significant financial impact.
While similar lawsuits have been filed in at least 19 states, several courts have previously rejected class action status in these matters, ruling that each reimbursement case is unique and must be handled individually. In this specific case, however, the jury accepted the class action framework and found in favor of the plaintiffs.