Notice of Proposed Class Action Settlement

[myinsurebiz]

Ut Oh . . .


United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin

If You Received a Prerecorded Voice Message and/or Text Message from Educator Group Plans, Insurance Services, Inc. and/or Equita Financial and Insurance Services of Texas, Inc., You May Be Entitled to a Payment from a Class Action Settlement.

A Settlement with a $900,000 cash fund has been reached in a class action lawsuit claiming that Educator Group Plans, Insurance Services, Inc. and/or Equita Financial and Insurance Services of Texas, Inc. ("The Equita Group") sent prerecorded voice messages and text messages to wireless telephone numbers without consent of the recipients in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, 47 U.S.C. § 227. The Equita Group denies the allegations in the lawsuit and the Court has not decided who is right.

Who's Included? You received this email because The Equita Group's records show that you may be a Settlement Class member. The Settlement includes all persons in the United States who received one or more prerecorded voice messages and/or one or more text messages sent by or on behalf of The Equita Group between September 5, 2014 and May 24, 2019.

What Are the Settlement Terms? The Equita Group has agreed to pay $900,000 to create a fund that will be used to automatically pay individuals do not opt out of the Settlement, along with attorneys' fees, a Service Award to the Class Representative, and costs and expenses of the litigation. The cash payments from the Settlement Fund will be automatically distributed on a pro rata basis to Settlement Class members who do not opt out. Settlement Class Members who were sent either one or more prerecorded voice message or one or more text message will receive one Settlement Fund Payment. Settlement Class Members who were sent both one or more prerecorded voice message and one or more text message will receive two Settlement Fund Payments.

How can I get a Payment? You will automatically receive a payment from the Settlement if you do not opt out and the Court grants Final Approval.

Your Other Options. If you do not want to be legally bound by the Settlement, you must exclude yourself by September 2, 2019. If you do not exclude yourself, you will release any claims you may have, as more fully described in the Settlement Agreement available by click here and at www.TEGTCPASettlement.com. You may object to the Settlement by September 2, 2019 by timely and strictly complying with the objection procedures detailed in the Preliminary Approval Order. The Long Form Notice available by clicking here and at www.TEGTCPASettlement.com, explains how to exclude yourself or object. The Court will hold a Final Approval Hearing on October 2, 2019 to consider whether to approve the Settlement and a request for attorneys' fees of up to one-third of the Settlement Fund, and for a Service Award of $5,000 to the Class Representative. You may appear at the hearing, either yourself or through an attorney hired by you, but you don't have to. For more information, call (855) 769-7868 or visit www.TEGTCPASettlement.com.

The Equita Group Settlement Administrator
1650 Arch Street, Suite 2210
Philadelphia, PA 19103
Website: www.TEGTCPASettlement.com
Email: [email protected]
(855) 769-7868

 

[bboman23]

Yea, sucks the day and age we live in

We wanted to send text messages to our contracted agents inviting them to the training calls we have every morning, our Road Shows we put on, invitations to the National Calls, etc. and our agents LOVED being kept in the loop. If they didn't want to receive the notifications, they could opt out. But it only takes one bad apple to ruin everything.

We were trying to help agents get plugged in and make more money (like most IMOs try to do) and someone decided they wanted to sue for that.

At the end of the day, it is settled and we are still just as strong as a company! I do receive these same type of texts from smaller IMOs and I encourage you all to rethink that strategy and keep your E&O paid

Stay safe out there and keep grinding!

 

[Chase Urich]

Could not have said it any better. Really unfortunate but it's the world we live in nowadays. Well said Ben.

 

[myinsurebiz]

Just have them double opt-in and have a #STOP or unsubscribe in the future.

Can't be sued for that . . .

Good luck going forward.

p.s. - I'm not going to participate

 

[Newby]

Yea, sucks the day and age we live in

We wanted to send text messages to our contracted agents inviting them to the training calls we have every morning, our Road Shows we put on, invitations to the National Calls, etc. and our agents LOVED being kept in the loop. If they didn't want to receive the notifications, they could opt out. But it only takes one bad apple to ruin everything.

We were trying to help agents get plugged in and make more money (like most IMOs try to do) and someone decided they wanted to sue for that.

At the end of the day, it is settled and we are still just as strong as a company! I do receive these same type of texts from smaller IMOs and I encourage you all to rethink that strategy and keep your E&O paid

Stay safe out there and keep grinding!

Are you kidding me? It's illegal to text or call your own contracted agents?

What the H is this world coming to? I can not even comprehend that you can be fined for calling your own agents. Is snail mail still allowed? Two cans and a string? Or do you actually have to door knock all your own agents to let them know they are invited to your training call?

Is it possible to get a waiver signed when you contract them to have a signed agreement that it's OK to call them?

This is bizarre. I can not even believe that this is even possible.

 

[bboman23]

Are you kidding me? It's illegal to text or call your own contracted agents?

What the H is this world coming to? I can not even comprehend that you can be fined for calling your own agents. Is snail mail still allowed? Two cans and a string? Or do you actually have to door knock all your own agents to let them know they are invited to your training call?

Is it possible to get a waiver signed when you contract them to have a signed agreement that it's OK to call them?

This is bizarre. I can not even believe that this is even possible.

It is mind-blowing for sure. You must have express written consent if doing any type of auto texting from an automated device. This agent was an active agent writing business with us.

Here is the other catch. An iPhone is considered an auto dialer.

I have received things from people on this forum recently that can get them busted. It is just a matter of time.

I encourage everyone to not take short cuts. We got ours approved by a lawyer before doing anything and STILL got hit.

 

[Newby]

It is mind-blowing for sure. You must have express written consent if doing any type of auto texting from an automated device. This agent was an active agent writing business with us.

Here is the other catch. An iPhone is considered an auto dialer.

I have received things from people on this forum recently that can get them busted. It is just a matter of time.

I encourage everyone to not take short cuts. We got ours approved by a lawyer before doing anything and STILL got hit.

So we send an email each week to our agents with the password to log into our Weekly agent call. These are all agents who have 100% of their contracts with us and buy their leads through us. Not random agents. Is that a problem now?

If that's an issue, the pendulum has definitely swung too far. I hate telemarketers and spammers as much as the next guy, but you have to be able to communicate with your own people in business.

 

[Chase Urich]

So we send an email each week to our agents with the password to log into our Weekly agent call. These are all agents who have 100% of their contracts with us and buy their leads through us. Not random agents. Is that a problem now?

If that's an issue, the pendulum has definitely swung too far. I hate telemarketers and spammers as much as the next guy, but you have to be able to communicate with your own people in business.

No issue at all with that Scott because you're emailing. TCPA laws cover text and phone calls only. You're good to go with what you're doing.

 

[DayTimer]

So this notice should only be going out to current and former contracted agents, right? This makes very little sense. It would make more sense if this were due to pre-recorded recruiting calls to prospective agents.

 

[bboman23]

So this notice should only be going out to current and former contracted agents, right? This makes very little sense. It would make more sense if this were due to pre-recorded recruiting calls to prospective agents.

We didn't lose the recruiting call part. It was the text messaging. We had a list of ALL agents that have been contracted with EFES even though we did not send the message to all of them. If they were in the list, they were part of this thing.

So you load a list of ALL of your leads into an auto text system. Then you decide to only send the text to these 300 or so clients. If you got busted, ALL of them would be included.

Make sense?