Barquest v. Farmers Insurance

This webpage is intended to provide information to people who have been contacted concerning Barquest v. Farmers Insurance Co. of Washington, filed as a class action lawsuit in King County Superior Court.  To learn more about this case, please see the Supplemental Notice.

If you have been contacted regarding this case, you may or may not be a potential member of any class that is certified, and you may or may not be entitled to compensation if it is certified.

The parties currently are performing discovery (investigation) prior to the certification process.  As part of discovery, the plaintiff has requested copies of a number of claim files from Farmers Insurance.  A Superior Court judge has ordered Farmers to produce these files, but also has entered protective orders that strictly limit who can see them and prohibit them from being publically released.  To read these orders, please see the Order Modifying Order Granting Plaintiff’s Motion to Compel and Approving Supplemental Notice, Objection Form and Administrator Script.

The court also will enact further orders to ensure that none of the claim materials, including any medical records, can be filed in court proceedings without first removing all personal identifying information.  Any claim materials that are filed in the court file also must be filed under seal and will not be available to the public.  At the conclusion of the trial, all copies of confidential claim files produced to plaintiff’s attorneys will be destroyed.

However, you may object to the production of your claim file and/or seek further protection.  IF YOU DO NOT OBJECT to production of these files under these circumstances, you do not need to do anything.  IF YOU DO OBJECT to release of your records, you have three choices:

  • You may fill out the Objection Form, sign it, and return it to the Barquest v. Farmers Administrator at the following address:

Barquest v. Farmers Administrator
P.O. Box 1948
Faribault, MN 55021-6091

So long as your objection is RECEIVED by October 13, 2008, your file will not be released at this time.  If the attorneys believe they still need to see your records, you will be sent an additional notice and provided an opportunity to participate in a hearing.

  • You may file a motion for a protective order as described in the first notice.

  • You may appear at the October 3, 2008, hearing as described in the first notice.

ANY of the above actions will prevent your file from being produced at this time.