Dec. 27, 2016—An Ohio court of appeals recently upheld a trial court’s decision to deny class certification to four independent body shops in their recent lawsuit against insurer Progressive. The shops had sued Progressive in state court, seeking damages for parts and labor and declaratory relief that would require Progressive to indemnify them from any liability occuring from their compliance with the insurer’s restrictions, legalnewsline.com noted.
Progressive argued that its practices and rates are competitive based on Ohio’s current market. The class the plaintiffs sought to certify included all Ohio registered body shops or registered individuals (excluding Progressive DRP members) that perform body repairs covered by the insurer’s policies from Aug. 7, 2005, to present. Mainly, the plaintiffs’ motion was the argument that their two claims differed; the court disagreed and found the relief sought was “merely incidental” to plaintiffs’ damages claims against the insurer.
Because the decision was specific to the request for class action certification, the court made no ruling on the merits of the independent lawsuits of the four body shop owners.
