Hall v. American Family Mut. Ins. Co.

A court authorized the Class Notice because you have a right to know about the Proposed Settlement of this class action, including the right to claim money and your options regarding this Settlement. The Court approved the Parties’ Settlement Agreement, if no appeals are filed or if any appeals are filed and are resolved in favor of the Settlement, then payments will be made to those who qualify and timely submit a valid Claim Form. The Class Notice explains this Action, the Settlement, your legal rights, what benefits are available, who may be eligible for them, and how to get them.

The Tenth Judicial Circuit Court in Peoria County, Illinois is overseeing this class action. The case is known as Bradley Martin et al. v. American Family Mut. Ins. Co., S.I., No. 2025-LA-0000021. The person who sued is called the “Plaintiff,” and the company it sued is called the “Defendant.”

The lawsuit claims that Defendant improperly deducted Nonmaterial Depreciation when adjusting some Wisconsin Structural Loss claims under Wisconsin property insurance policies.

Defendant has denied all allegations that it acted wrongfully or unlawfully.

In a class action, the person called the “Representative Plaintiff” (here, Amy Hall) sues on behalf of people who have similar claims. All of these people are “Class Members.” One court resolves the issues for all Class Members, except for those who exclude themselves from the Settlement Class.

The Court did not decide in favor of Plaintiff or Defendant and has not found that Defendant did anything wrong. The Parties agreed to settle, and by settling, the Parties avoid the cost of a trial and potentially an appeal, and the people who qualify will get compensation. The Representative Plaintiff and its attorneys think the Settlement is best for all Class Members. The Settlement does not mean that American Family did anything wrong, no trial has occurred, and no merits determinations have been made.

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

If you received the Class Notice, then you have been identified as someone who is possibly a Class Member. The Settlement Class includes the following:

All Persons who from November 2, 2019 to May 15, 2025: (1) were issued property insurance policies in Wisconsin by American Family; (2) made a Structural Loss claim under Coverage A or Coverage B of the policy; (3) had an Xactimate estimate used in determination of the ACV Payment; and (4) were issued an ACV Payment from which Nonmaterial Depreciation was withheld, or would have been issued an ACV Payment, but for the withholding of Nonmaterial Depreciation causing the loss to drop below the applicable deductible.

“ACV Payment” is calculated by estimating the replacement cost value of the covered damage for a Structural Loss claim and subtracting the estimated Depreciation, including Nonmaterial Depreciation, and any applicable deductible.

“Nonmaterial Depreciation” means Depreciation of labor costs, overhead and profit, and/or other nonmaterial items (and specifically excluding sales tax) included within Xactimate® estimating software, and specifically includes Depreciation resulting from the application of either the “depreciate removal,” “depreciate nonmaterial” and/or “depreciate O&P” depreciation option settings within Xactimate® estimating software.

“Structural Loss” means physical damage to a home, building, manufactured home, condo, rental dwelling, or other structure located in the State of Wisconsin while covered by a commercial property, homeowners residential, manufactured home, condo, dwelling, or rental property insurance policy issued by American Family.

Excluded from the Settlement Class are: (a) policyholders whose claims arose under policy forms, endorsements, or riders expressly permitting Nonmaterial Depreciation within the text of the policy form, endorsement or rider, i.e., by express use of the words “depreciation” and “labor;” (b) any portion of policyholders’ claims relating to roof damage under a residential American Family roof surface payment endorsement, which were paid based on a schedule and not by deducting depreciation; (c) policyholders who received one or more ACV Payments for a claim that exhausted the applicable limits of insurance; (d) policyholders whose claims were denied or abandoned without an ACV Payment for any reason other than that the ACV Payment was not made solely because the withholding of Nonmaterial Depreciation caused the loss to drop below the applicable deductible; (e) policyholders where no Xactimate estimate was generated by American Family; (f) American Family and its officers and directors; (g) members of the judiciary and their staff to whom this Action is assigned and their immediate families; and (h) Class Counsel and their immediate families (collectively, “Exclusions”).

If after reading all of these FAQs you are still not sure whether you are included in the Settlement Class, you may call the toll-free number 1-888-857-6848.

Under the Settlement, Defendant has agreed to pay Class Members as follows:

1. Subject to the terms, limits, conditions, coverage limits, and deductibles of the policies, Claim Settlement Payments for members of the Settlement Class who timely file valid and completed Claim Forms by the Claims Deadline shall be equal to 63% of the Nonmaterial Depreciation that was withheld from ACV Payments and not subsequently paid, or that would have resulted in an ACV Payment, but for the withholding of Nonmaterial Depreciation causing the loss to drop below the applicable deductible, determined as described herein, plus simple interest of 4.75% per year from the first day of January of the year when the loss was reported through January 1, 2025.
2. For Class Members identified under subsection (a) for whom all Nonmaterial Depreciation that was withheld from ACV Payments was subsequently paid, payment shall be according to the following schedule:

The deadline to submit a Claim Form passed on December 1, 2025.

If your address has changed, please send a message through the Contact page available here and be sure to include your full name, and both your old address and new address as part of your message.

The Court granted “Final Approval” of the Settlement on October 20, 2025. If no appeals are filed or if any appeals are filed and are resolved in favor of the Settlement, then payments will be mailed to eligible Class Members after the claims administration process is complete. This process can take time, so please be patient.

Unless you exclude yourself, you are staying in the Settlement Class, and that means that you cannot sue American Family and the Released Persons over the claims settled in this Action. 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 Settlement Class, you will agree to release all Released Persons of all Released Claims. “Released Persons” and “Released Claims” are defined in the Agreement, which you can request a copy of by calling 1-888-857-6848, or you can view the Agreement here.

The deadline to exclude yourself passed on September 17, 2025.

No. Unless you exclude yourself, you give up any right to sue American Family for the claims that this Settlement resolves. You must exclude yourself from the Settlement Class to sue American Family over the claims resolved by this Settlement.

The deadline to exclude yourself passed on September 17, 2025.

No. If you exclude yourself, you will not receive a payment from this Settlement.

The Court appointed the following law firms to represent you and other Class Members as “Class Counsel”: Erik Peterson of Erik Peterson Law Offices, PSC; Brandon McWherter of McWherter Scott Bobbitt PLC; T. Joseph Snodgrass of Snodgrass Law LLC; and Robert Hanauer of Hanauer Law Office, LLC. You do not have to pay Class Counsel. If you want to be represented by your own lawyer, and potentially have that lawyer appear in court for you in this case, you may hire one at your own expense.

The Court granted Final Approval of the Settlement on October 20, 2025.

The Court awarded Class Counsel the total sum of $4,092,112.50 in attorneys’ fees and costs. In addition, the Court awarded the Plaintiff a service award of $7,500.00. The Court hereby finds that these amounts are fair and reasonable. Defendant will separately pay the fees and expenses that the Court ordered. These payments will not reduce the amount distributed to Class Members. Defendant will also separately pay the costs to administer the Settlement.

The deadline to object yourself passed on September 17, 2025.

Objecting is simply telling the Court that you do not like something about the Settlement. You can object only if you stay in the Settlement Class. Excluding yourself is telling the Court that you do not want to be part of the Settlement Class or the Settlement. 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 be legally bound by the result.

The Court granted Final Approval of the Settlement on October 20, 2025. The Court awarded Class Counsel the total sum of $4,092,112.50 in attorneys’ fees and costs. In addition, the Court awarded Plaintiff a service award of $7,500.00. The Court found these amounts to be fair and reasonable. Defendant will separately pay the fees and expenses that the Court ordered. These payments will not reduce the amount distributed to Class Members. Defendant will also separately pay the costs to administer the Settlement.

The Court granted Final Approval of the Settlement on October 20, 2025.

The Court granted Final Approval of the Settlement on October 20, 2025.

If you do nothing, you will not get any payment from this Settlement. However, unless you exclude yourself from the Settlement, you will not be able to sue American Family for the claims resolved in this Action.

The Class Notice summarizes the Proposed Settlement. More details are provided in the Settlement Agreement here. If you have questions or if you want to request a copy of the Settlement Agreement, call 1-888-857-6848.

PLEASE DO NOT CALL OR WRITE THE COURT, THE JUDGE OR HIS STAFF, OR AMERICAN FAMILY OR DEFENDANT'S COUNSEL FOR INFORMATION OR ADVICE ABOUT THIS SETTLEMENT.