FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

The Lawsuit claims that Nationwide/Allied improperly failed to provide “stacked” coverage benefits to its insureds who were entitled to such benefits. The Montana Supreme Court has held that when an insurer charged premiums to policyholders and their family members for Medical Payments (MPC), Uninsured Motorist (UM), and/or Underinsured Motorist (UIM) coverage on a per vehicle basis, that such persons are entitled to “stack” the coverage limits for each separate premium charged. For example, a policyholder whose policy indicated MPC limits of $5,000, but whose policy insured three autos and charged a separate premium for the MPC coverage for each vehicle, would be entitled to $15,000 MPC limits ($5,000 x 3 vehicles). The Montana Supreme Court further held that the right to stack these coverages applies regardless of language in the insurance policy to the contrary.

Nationwide/Allied acknowledge that stacked coverage should be provided as determined by the Montana Supreme Court, and contend that they made a good faith effort to provide such benefits to existing and prior claims. The Lawsuit claims, however, that stacked coverage benefits were not timely or adequately provided to everyone entitled to them.

The proposed settlement provides a notice and claim review process to assist Settlement Class Members in receiving their stacked coverage benefits. Persons who are Settlement Class Members will be determined by the legal definition approved by the Court and set forth in the Class Notice. Generally stated, however, persons who were a policyholder or their family member or a person who was otherwise insured under a Nationwide/Allied personal auto policy that charged MPC, UM, and/or UIM premiums on a per vehicle basis would have been entitled to stacked coverage benefits. If you or another such person were injured in a covered accident, you may be entitled to those stacked coverage benefits under the settlement, regardless of whether you have been paid by other sources such as health insurance or other third party insurance. For example, Settlement Class Members may include, among others:

• persons who made a claim for MPC, UM, or UIM benefits to Nationwide/Allied and who received some of those benefits, but who were either expressly denied or otherwise not provided additional “stacked” coverage benefits;
• persons who did not make a claim for MPC, UM, or UIM benefits, who were injured in a covered motor vehicle accident, and who would have been entitled to stacked MPC, UM, or UIM benefits. The covered accident may have involved an auto insured under a Nationwide/Allied auto policy or another vehicle (such as a motorcycle or motor home) separately insured under a separate policy.

The Court has made no final rulings on the merits of claims or defenses made in the Lawsuit. Rather, the Court has preliminarily approved the claims to proceed as a class action for settlement purposes only. If the settlement is not approved, the Court will have to decide whether the Lawsuit should be treated as a class action for the purpose of addressing the merits and possibly conducting a trial of the Lawsuit.

In a class action, one or more people called class representatives sue on behalf of people who they believe have similar claims. All of these people are a class or class members. The court in charge of the lawsuit will resolve the issues for all class members, except for those who exclude themselves from the class.

The “Class Representative” appointed by the Court in this class action Lawsuit to represent the interests of all Class Members is the plaintiff who filed the Lawsuit, Nola Greeno. Ms. Greeno was insured under a personal auto policy issued by a Nationwide/Allied affiliated company in the State of Montana, had a claim for bodily injury under MPC and UIM coverages, and was denied stacked coverage benefits on her MPC claim. Ms. Greeno individually resolved her UIM claim for non-stacked benefits, while her claims for stacked coverage benefits remain pending and are subject to the terms of this proposed settlement.

The Court did not decide in favor of Plaintiffs or Defendants. Instead, both sides agreed to a settlement. That way, they and the Settlement Class Members avoid the risk, delay, and expense of continuing the Lawsuit, and the Settlement Class Members will be eligible to receive compensation. The Class Representative, on her own behalf and on behalf of all Settlement Class Members, has entered into a Stipulation of Class Action Settlement (“Settlement Agreement”) with Nationwide/Allied, which has been preliminarily approved by the Court. The Class Representative and Class Counsel think the settlement is best for all Settlement Class Members. The Notice of Proposed Class Action Settlement and Fairness Hearing (“Class Notice”) summarizes the terms of the Settlement Agreement, your rights and obligations thereunder, and the process by which the Court will determine whether or not to enter a final approval of the Settlement Agreement.

No, unless you follow the procedures set forth in Notice of Proposed Class Action Settlement and Fairness Hearing to submit a Request for Exclusion from the Settlement Class. As part of the Court’s preliminary approval of the proposed settlement, the Court issued the following preliminary injunction/stay order effective May 30, 2008:

All Settlement Class Members are hereby preliminarily enjoined from commencing any lawsuit or proceeding concerning the claims and issues being litigated and proposed for resolution in this Lawsuit, except that this Stay Order shall cease to apply to individual claims of persons who have submitted a timely Request for Exclusion as provided in this Order ten (10) days after such exclusion request is submitted (as determined by postmark date).

All Settlement Class Members are subject to the Stay Order and cannot independently pursue claims except as allowed by the Court. Upon final approval of the proposed settlement, all Settlement Class Members who have not excluded themselves from the Settlement Class will be permanently barred from pursuing Released Claims against Nationwide/Allied.

You may be a member of the “Settlement Class” and a “Settlement Class Member” or “Class Member” covered by the settlement if you fall within the following class definition adopted by the Court:

Policyholders, their family members, and other identifiable insureds who purchased or were otherwise insured under a Nationwide/Allied personal automobile insurance policy or policies issued or renewed in the State of Montana, and who (a) were injured in a motor vehicle (including motorcycle or motor homes) accident; (b) were insured by Nationwide/Allied under one or more Medical Payments (MPC), Uninsured Motorist (UM), or Underinsured Motorist (UIM) coverages priced on a per vehicle basis; (c) did not receive the stacked benefit of all of those MPC, UM, or UIM coverages; and (d) on or after January 1, 1998, were entitled to stacked MPC, UM, or UIM coverage or additional stacked MPC, UM, or UIM coverages from Nationwide/Allied.

If you received a Class Notice in the mail, you or someone located at your address were identified as a probable Settlement Class Member. In this case, you should assume that you are a Settlement Class Member, unless you can determine without a doubt that you are not. All Settlement Class Members will be bound by the settlement, unless they timely request exclusion.

Persons who are Settlement Class Members will be determined by the legal definition provided in the Class Notice. Generally stated, however, persons who were a policyholder or their family member or who were otherwise an insured under a Nationwide/Allied personal auto policy that charged MEDICAL PAYMENTS, UNINSURED MOTORIST, and/or UNDERINSURED MOTORIST premiums on a per vehicle basis would have been entitled to stacked coverage benefits. If you or another such person were injured in a covered accident, you may be entitled to those stacked coverage benefits under the settlement, regardless of whether you have been paid by other sources such as health insurance or other third party insurance. For example, Settlement Class Members may include, among others:

a) persons who made a claim for MEDICAL PAYMENTS, UNINSURED MOTORIST, or UNDERINSURED MOTORIST benefits to Nationwide/Allied and who received some of those benefits, but who were either expressly denied or otherwise not provided additional “stacked” coverage benefits;

b) persons who did not make a claim for MEDICAL PAYMENTS, UNINSURED MOTORIST, or UNDERINSURED MOTORIST benefits, who were injured in a covered motor vehicle accident, and who would have been entitled to stacked MEDICAL PAYMENTS, UNINSURED MOTORIST, or UNDERINSURED MOTORIST benefits. The covered accident may have involved an auto insured under a Nationwide/Allied auto policy or another vehicle (such as a motorcycle or motor home) separately insured under a separate policy.

Settlement Class Members who do not exclude themselves from the settlement and who submit a valid Claim Form (or who are eligible for automatic review, as explained in the Class Notice) will be eligible to receive 100% of their stacked coverage benefits, plus 10% interest, subject to the Claim Review Standards set forth in the Settlement Agreement (and summarized in the Class Notice). Settlement Class Members shall also have the opportunity to contest Nationwide/Allied’s determinations regarding benefits and have any such disputes finally determined by a Neutral Evaluator appointed by the Court without the formality or strict evidentiary requirements of a judicial proceeding.

You have several options under the proposed settlement:

• You may submit a Claim Form. That is the only way to get a payment, except for the limited claims eligible for automatic review. The deadline for submitting Claim Forms is January 30, 2009.
• You may exclude yourself. This is the only option that allows you to ever be part of any other lawsuit about the legal claims proposed for settlement. The deadline for requesting exclusion is September 27, 2008.
• You may remain a member of the class and object to the settlement by writing to the Court about what you don’t like about the settlement. The deadline for objecting is September 27, 2008.
• You may remain a member of the class and ask to speak in Court about the fairness of the settlement at the Fairness Hearing scheduled for October 9, 2008. The deadline to request to speak at the hearing is September 27, 2008.
• You may do nothing. If you do nothing, you’ll get no money from this settlement. But, unless you exclude yourself, you won’t be able to start a lawsuit, continue with a lawsuit, or be part of any other lawsuit against Nationwide/Allied and the Released Parties about the legal issues in the Lawsuit and the Released Claims, ever again.

The Class Notice contains instructions concerning each of your options. You should read your Class Notice carefully.

To qualify for a Settlement Payment, you must send in a Claim Form. If you have multiple claims, you may make copies of the Claim Form. Only one Claim Form needs to be submitted for each underlying insurance claim. Read the instructions carefully, fill out the form, include all the documents the form asks for, sign it, and mail it by January 30, 2009.

Your completed Claim Form must be sent by First-Class Mail, postage prepaid, and must be addressed to the Settlement Administrator at: Greeno Settlement Administrator, c/o Epiq Class Action & Claims Solutions, P.O. Box 6006, Portland, OR 97228-6006.

Nationwide/Allied” is a defined term in the proposed settlement that includes a number of related companies and their representatives. Many of these companies are often generally referred to as Nationwide Insurance or Allied Insurance. A list of these companies is set forth in the Class Notice, and includes the following:

"Nationwide/Allied" means and includes (for purposes of the settlement, the Release attached to the Class Notice as Appendix A, and as used in the Class Notice) the named defendants in the Lawsuit, Allied Property and Casualty Insurance Company, AMCO Insurance Company, Depositors Insurance Company, Nationwide Insurance Company of America, Allied Group, Inc. and Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, and each and all of their present and former affiliates, related companies, parent companies, subsidiaries, predecessors, successors or assigns, whether or not named herein, including without limitation Nationwide Mutual Fire Insurance Company and Nationwide Property and Casualty Insurance Company, and each and all of their respective past, present or future officers, directors, associates, stockholders, controlling persons, representatives, employees, attorneys, accountants, financial or investment advisors or agents, insurers, heirs, executors, trustees, general or limited partners or partnerships, personal representatives, estates or administrators.

Also, the proposed settlement applies to Medical Payments, Uninsured Motorist, and/or Underinsured Motorist coverage provided under a personal auto or other personal motor vehicle policy issued in Montana by a Nationwide/Allied entity.

No. As part of the claim review process initialized by the submission of your claim form, Nationwide/Allied will review your claim file for records of any unpaid medical expenses. Accordingly, you do not have to request such records from Nationwide/Allied. However, you must submit any additional records that you want considered by Nationwide/Allied in connection with your settlement claim.