Life Insurance Class Certification Reversed in Win for Allianz

A federal appeals court decertified a class challenging the lapse of life insurance policies over unpaid premiums where the insurer, an Allianz SE unit, didn’t strictly comply with notification requirements.

A lower court was wrong to grant class certification because the plaintiff hadn’t shown that either subclass met the requirements, Judge Richard C. Tallman of the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit said in an opinion for the panel published Tuesday.

Lawanda Small, who was a beneficiary and additional insured under her deceased husband’s life insurance policy, sued Allianz Life Insurance Co. of North America in the US ...