Our case of Y.L. et al., v. Truck Insurance Exchange, et al., Case No. 24 CV063297, went to jury trial in Alameda County Superior Court in November 2025. The jury found that Truck Insurance Exchange, a member of the massive Farmers Insurance Group of Companies, acted in bad faith when it refused to defend its insured, Patricia Aguinaga, in an underlying dog bite action and caused a $10 million judgment to be entered against her. The jury deadlocked, however, on whether Farmers also acted with malice, fraud or oppression (for purposes of punitive damage liability), prompting the trial court to declare a mistrial and to reset the case for trial on March 23, 2026.
Internal Farmers documents and deposition testimony that had been subject to a pre-trial protective order were entered into evidence and are, therefore, now publicly available. Farmers fought to keep this information sealed. The trial court refused to do so. It discloses the fact that Farmers gives its Coverage Review Team — the unit responsible for making coverage determinations for all Farmers entities—a “closing ratio goal.” The goal is to have a closing ratio at or near 100%. That is, for every claim submitted to the Coverage Review Team, it is to close a claim. Farmers keeps track of its Coverage Review Team’s progress in meeting the goal by maintaining a Closing Ratio Report. The quickest way to close a claim is to deny coverage, and predictably, the vast majority of closures made by the Coverage Review Team are coverage denials. This system is highly improper and incentivizes the wrongful denial of claims. We are now able to share this information to other policyholder counsel litigating bad faith cases against Farmers. To request access to the documents and testimony, please email using the form on this page, or email Mr. Coleman directly: [email protected]
Terrance J. Coleman bio
Pillsbury & Coleman, LLP
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