Alexander Settlement Website

A Court authorized this notice because you have a right to know about a proposed Nationwide settlement of this class action, including the right to claim money, and about all of your options, before the Court decides whether to give “final approval” to the settlement. If the Court approves the settlement, and after any appeals are resolved, payments will be made to everyone who qualifies and submits a valid claim. This notice explains the lawsuit, the settlement, your legal rights, what benefits are available, who may be eligible for them, and how to get them.

Judge Kirk D. Johnson in the Circuit Court of Miller County, State of Arkansas is overseeing this class action. The case is known as Alexander, et al. v. Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, et al., Case No. CV-2009-120-3. The people who sued are called the “Plaintiffs,” and the companies they sued are called the “Defendants.”

The settlement includes these “Nationwide” homeowner insurance companies: Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, Nationwide Mutual Fire Insurance Company, AMCO Insurance Company, Allied Property and Casualty Insurance Company, Depositors Insurance Company, National Casualty Company, Nationwide Insurance Company of America, Nationwide Affinity Insurance Company of America, Nationwide Property and Casualty Insurance Company, Nationwide Lloyds, Nationwide Insurance Company of Florida, Nationwide Indemnity Company, Scottsdale Indemnity Company, Scottsdale Surplus Lines Insurance Company, and Scottsdale Insurance Company.

The lawsuit claims that Nationwide improperly withheld payments of general contractor’s overhead and profit (“GCO&P”) from amounts paid on claims for Structural Losses under homeowner’s policies. Nationwide has denied all of these claims and maintains that it did not act wrongfully or unlawfully.

GCO&P is an amount customarily charged by a general contractor for, among other things, supervising, scheduling, and/or warranting work and/or materials supplied by one or more subcontractors in the course of repairing damage to a building or structure.

A Structural Loss is damage to a building or other structure located in the United States while covered under a homeowner’s policy issued by Nationwide.

In a class action, one or more people called “Class Representatives” (in this case Phillip Alexander, Cyndi Alexander, Edwin Nelson, Bruce Schaffroth, and Diana Schaffroth) sue on behalf of people who have similar claims. All these people are a “Class” or “Class members.” One court resolves the issues for all Class members, except for those who exclude themselves from the Class.

The Court did not decide in favor of the Plaintiffs or Nationwide. Instead, both sides agreed to settle. That way, they avoid the cost of a trial, and the people who qualify will get compensation. The Class Representatives and their attorneys think the settlement is best for all Class members. The settlement does not mean that Nationwide did anything wrong.

To see if you are eligible for benefits from this settlement, you first have to determine if you are a Class member.

The Class includes everyone who is, or was, insured under a Nationwide homeowner’s policy that provided coverage for any building or other structure located in the United States who submitted a claim for a Structural Loss that:

- occurred from January 1, 1996 through March 20, 2009, inclusive;

- was determined by Nationwide or by a court or arbitrator of competent jurisdiction to be covered by a homeowner’s policy issued by Nationwide; and

- resulted in a payment by Nationwide from January 1, 1996 through March 20, 2009.

You are not included in the settlement if you filed a lawsuit from January 1, 1996 through March 20, 2009 involving a Nationwide claim that included GCO&P or you provided an executed release to Nationwide for your claim. Additionally, Nationwide, all present or former officers and/or directors of Nationwide, Neutral Evaluators, Class Counsel and their immediate family, any member of the Arkansas Judiciary and their immediate family, Nationwide’s counsel of record and their immediate family, and all Persons who make a timely election to be excluded from the Settlement Class are not included in the settlement. Neutral Evaluators are people who will help the Court resolve disputes about claims in the settlement.

This series of questions may also help you determine if you are a Class member. Please answer all of the questions in order.

If you are not sure whether you are included in the Class, you may call the toll free number 1-888-287-1333 with questions.

The settlement will pay to compensate eligible Class members for Nationwide’s alleged failure to include an appropriate amount for GCO&P when it paid certain claims for Structural Losses.

To qualify for a payment you must have had a loss that included estimated repairs involving three or more “trades,” excluding emergency remediation services, but you may qualify even if the repairs weren’t actually made. You must have filed a timely claim for your Structural Loss, were not paid the policy limits of your coverage, and were not paid by Nationwide based on a general contractor’s estimate. You do not qualify for a payment from this settlement if Nationwide paid 20% or more for GCO&P for your Structural Loss.

A trade is an occupation of a skilled craftsman, e.g., electrician, drywall installer, carpenter, and others.

An emergency remediation service is a cleaning and/or restoration service scheduled and/or performed immediately after a loss or the discovery of a loss to clean, restore or prevent further damage to the property.

Payments to eligible Class members will be 20% of the amount previously paid to complete repairs, excluding amounts paid for emergency remediation services, minus any GCO&P previously paid by Nationwide. Payments will also be limited by the terms of the homeowner’s policy involved.

To ask for a payment, you must complete and timely submit a claim form. You can get a claim form here or by calling the Settlement Administrator at 1-888-287-1333. You’ll need to attach any documents that you currently have in your possession showing that you were insured under a Nationwide homeowner’s policy that provided coverage for a Structural Loss and that you submitted a timely claim. See Section 3 of the claim form for more details on the requested documentation. Please read the instructions carefully, fill out the claim form (including a notarized signature) and mail it postmarked no later than, August 26, 2009 to:

Alexander v. Nationwide Claims
P.O. Box 6659
Portland, OR 97228-6659

You are only required to provide copies of documentation that you currently have in your possession. You do not have to seek documentation or information from Nationwide or others. You should provide the documentation you have in your possession (if any), and provide the information requested in the claim form to the best of your knowledge.

The payments will be mailed to eligible Class members who send in valid claim forms on time, after the Court grants “final approval” of the settlement, and any appeals are resolved. If Judge Johnson approves the settlement after a hearing on July 27, 2009 (see the section “The Court’s Fairness Hearing” below), there may be appeals. It’s always uncertain whether these appeals can be resolved, and resolving them can take time. Please be patient.

There is a process in the settlement to resolve disagreements between you and Nationwide over whether you are eligible and how much money you should get. You will get further details in the letter you receive about your eligibility. The Settlement Agreement available here also provides more information.

Unless you exclude yourself, you are staying in the Class, and that means that you can’t individually sue Nationwide over the claims settled in this case. It also means that all of the Court’s orders will apply to you and legally bind you. If you submit a claim form, or simply stay in the Class, you will agree to “release and discharge” Nationwide as described in Section VI of the Settlement Agreement. A complete copy of the Settlement Agreement can be obtained here. The Settlement Agreement specifically describes the released claims in necessarily accurate legal terminology. Talk to Class Counsel (See the section on “The Lawyers Representing You”) or your own lawyer if you have questions about the released claims or what they mean.

To exclude yourself from the settlement, you must send a letter by mail saying that you want to be excluded from Alexander v. Nationwide. You must include the case number (No. CV-2009-120-3), your full name, address, telephone number, and your signature. You must also include a clear statement that you wish to be excluded from the settlement class. You must mail your request for exclusion postmarked by July 13, 2009 to:

Alexander v. Nationwide Exclusions
P.O. Box 6839
Portland, OR 97228-6839

You can’t exclude yourself on the phone, by email, or at the website.

No. Unless you exclude yourself, you give up any right to individually sue Nationwide for the claims that this settlement resolves. You must exclude yourself from this Class to individually sue Nationwide over the claims resolved by this settlement. Remember, the exclusion deadline is July 13, 2009.

No. If you exclude yourself, do not submit a claim form to ask for a payment.

The Court appointed Nix, Patterson & Roach LLP of Texarkana, Texas; Keil & Goodson of Texarkana, Arkansas; Nelson, Roselius, Terry, O’Hara & Morton of Edmond, Oklahoma; and Whitten, Burrage, Priest, Fulmer, Anderson & Eisel of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma to represent you and other Class members as “Class Counsel.” You do not have to pay Class Counsel. If you want to be represented by your own lawyer, and have that lawyer appear in court for you in this case, you may hire one at your own expense.

Class Counsel will ask the Court for $32,000,000 to cover attorneys’ fees and reimbursement of their expenses. Class Counsel will also ask that each Class Representative receive $5,000 for representing the Class; any amount awarded to the Class Representatives will be deducted from any fees awarded to Class Counsel. Nationwide has agreed not to oppose the request for fees and expenses up to the amount above. The Court may award less than this amount. Nationwide will separately pay the fees and expenses the Court orders. These payments will not reduce the amount distributed to Class members. Nationwide will also separately pay the costs to administer the settlement.

You can tell the Court if you don’t agree with the settlement or some part of it.

If you don’t want the Court to approve the settlement you must file a written objection in the case with the Circuit Court of Miller County, Arkansas and send a copy to the Administrator as noted below. You must include the name of the case (Alexander v. Nationwide), case number (No. CV-2009-120-3), your full name, address, telephone number, your signature, the specific reasons why you object to the settlement, and whether you or your attorney will appear at the fairness hearing (See the section on the “Court’s Fairness Hearing” below). If you have a lawyer file an objection for you he or she must follow all Arkansas rules.

Objecting is simply telling the Court that you don’t like something about the settlement. You can object only if you stay in the Class. Excluding yourself is telling the Court that you don’t want to be part of the Class. If you exclude yourself, you have no basis to object because the case no longer affects you. If you object, and the Court approves the settlement anyway, you will still be legally bound by the result.

The Court has scheduled a Fairness Hearing at 9:00 a.m., Central time on July 27, 2009, at the 3rd Floor Courtroom, Miller County, Texarkana, Arkansas. At this hearing, the Court will consider whether the settlement is fair, reasonable, and adequate. If there are objections, the Court will consider them. Judge Johnson may listen to people who have asked to speak about an objection according to the question above. The Court may also decide how much to award Class Counsel as fees for representing the Class and whether and how much to award the Class Representatives for representing the Class. At or after the hearing, the Court will decide whether to approve the settlement. It is not known how long this decision will take.

No. Class Counsel will answer any questions that Judge Johnson may have. But, you are welcome to come at your own expense. If you send an objection, you don’t have to come to Court to talk about it. As long as you filed and mailed your written objection on time, the Court will consider it. You may also pay your own lawyer to attend, but it’s not necessary.

If you submitted an objection to the settlement you may ask the Court for permission to speak at the Fairness Hearing by telling the Court in your objection that you are requesting permission to speak at the Fairness Hearing. If you request permission to speak at the Fairness Hearing, you must include the following additional information in your objection:

-a detailed statement of the specific legal and factual basis for each objection;

-any documents you have that show you are a member of the Class;

-a list of any witnesses you intend to call at the Fairness Hearing, including the address of each witness and a summary of his or her proposed testimony; and

-a description of all evidence you may offer and copies of all exhibits you intend to introduce at the Fairness Hearing.

You cannot speak at the Fairness Hearing if you exclude yourself.

If you do nothing, you’ll get no payment from this settlement. But, unless you exclude yourself, you won’t be able to individually sue Nationwide for the claims resolved in this case.

This notice summarizes the proposed settlement. More details are in the Settlement Agreement. Do not contact the Court or Nationwide.