DIVERGING VIEWS ON CLASS CERTIFICATION IN THE INSURANCE INDUSTRY: UNIFORM VALUATION METHODS FOR TOTALED VEHICLES

Authors

• Celine Makhani

Document Type

Comment

Abstract

This comment explores the legal challenges surrounding how insurance companies calculate the "actual cash value" of totaled vehicles . The author focuses on the controversial use of "negotiation adjustments"—deductions insurers apply based on the assumption that buyers typically negotiate car prices downward—which policyholders argue systematically undervalues their claims. The central conflict of the article is a significant circuit split: while the Ninth Circuit in Jama v. State Farm recently allowed these claims to proceed as class actions, the Fifth Circuit in Sampson v. USAA reached the opposite conclusion, requiring individual proof of harm for each policyholder . Makhani analyzes these contrasting judicial views, ultimately favoring the stricter Fifth Circuit approach for its emphasis on individualized evidence of injury, while also discussing the broader implications for forum shopping, regulatory compliance, and consumer access to justice .

First Page

112

Last Page

145

Recommended Citation

Celine Makhani, DIVERGING VIEWS ON CLASS CERTIFICATION IN THE INSURANCE INDUSTRY: UNIFORM VALUATION METHODS FOR TOTALED VEHICLES, 19 J. Bus. Entrepreneurship & L. 112 (2026)
Available at: https://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/jbel/vol19/iss1/4