Progressive Insurance Wins Appellate Unbundling of Class Suit

Progressive Direct Insurance Co. won’t have to face class-wide claims alleging it breached its own policy terms after a split federal appeals court ruled on Monday that the class was improperly certified.

Lynn Freeman, the intended lead plaintiff, failed to allege an insurance contract breach that harmed her that’s typical of a class of policy holders and failed to satisfy the commonality and predominance requirements of Rule of Federal Civil Procedure 23, Judge Paul V. Niemeyer said for a 2-1 majority of the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

“To prove the breach, Freeman and every purported class ...