That Consumer Class Action Suit You're Defending May Be Covered by Insurance

Every day, class actions are commenced on behalf of consumers against manufacturers, retailers, financial institutions, and service providers. Those actions raise a wide range of allegations including, to name just a few, breach of warranty for product defects, deceptive practices in the marketing of products or services, undisclosed or improper fees or other charges, and invasion of privacy through the electronic collection of personal data. Some companies assume that such cases are not covered by their insurance because in order to be certified, class actions must be crafted so that issues common to all of the plaintiffs predominate over individual issues and therefore tend not to seek monetary damages that are covered by liability insurance. That skepticism is understandable because many, or even most, consumer class actions seek only relief that is not covered under standard form policies, such as damages for products failing to perform as intended, or an injunction against deceptive practices barred by consumer protection statutes