Allstate Total Loss Settlements: What the Cases Covered
Two class actions accused Allstate of the same thing in two states: when a leased vehicle was written off, the payout left out sales tax the policyholder still had to pay. Both are resolved and neither accepts claims. What remains useful is the arithmetic — and the fact that the same allegation keeps being brought against different insurers.
Editorially Reviewed — Content reviewed for accuracy using published legal research, government data, and verified court records. See our methodology
Reviewed by Leonard Goldberg, Editor · Last updated
What the lawsuits said
Pennsylvania law requires that a total-loss settlement on a leased vehicle include the sales tax the lessee is liable for. The class action alleged Allstate did not include the full amount when it adjusted those claims. The Louisiana case made a parallel claim about sales tax and transfer fees on first-party total-loss claims.
The Pennsylvania complaint put a figure on the shortfall across the class: the total sales tax that was not reimbursed during the class period was estimated at between $3,427,380 and $3,981,780. That is the whole class, not one person — divided across thousands of insureds it is a few hundred dollars each, which is precisely why an individual rarely challenges it alone and why the claim is brought as a class. Case identity for every matter below was checked against the federal court docket. Amounts, class periods and deadlines come from the published settlement notices; the court-authorised websites for these closed matters are no longer online, which is a large part of why this page exists.
Case Details
Erby v. Allstate Fire and Casualty Insurance Company, No. 2:18-cv-04944, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (filed 14 November 2018). A separate Louisiana matter concerning sales tax and transfer fees on first-party total-loss claims received a Final Order and Judgment approving class settlement on 10 February 2025; we have not been able to verify its case number against the docket and therefore do not state one.
Both are closed
Total-loss underpayment cases against other insurers are still running. A USAA matter in Michigan accepts claims until 8 October 2026 and a State Farm matter in Louisiana until 19 October 2026.
Who the Pennsylvania class covered
Anyone who submitted a damage claim for a leased vehicle between 1 January 2012 and 29 April 2022 and was not paid the full sales tax when Allstate adjusted the claim as a total loss.
The word doing the work is leased. On a lease, the sales tax obligation sits with the lessee in a way that makes the omission clear-cut; on an owned vehicle the analysis differs and was not part of this class. The ten-year class period is unusually long and is what turns a few hundred dollars per person into a multi-million-dollar shortfall.
What it was worth
Pennsylvania’s base rate is 6 %, with an extra 1 % in Allegheny County and 2 % in Philadelphia. On a $22,000 vehicle that is $1,320 at the base rate and $1,760 in Philadelphia — the gap between a payout that covers the car and one that covers replacing it.
Across the class the unreimbursed tax was estimated at $3,427,380 to $3,981,780. No single per-person figure was published, because the payment tracked each vehicle’s value.
How the Pennsylvania case ran
- 1
1 January 2012 — the class period opens
The class reaches back a full decade before the settlement, covering leased-vehicle total-loss claims from the start of 2012.
- 2
14 November 2018 — Erby is filed
Erby v. Allstate Fire and Casualty Insurance Company opens in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania as case 2:18-cv-04944.
- 3
29 April 2022 — the class period closes
Claims adjusted after this date fall outside the class. The end date is normally fixed when the parties reach agreement in principle.
- 4
September 2022 — settlement reported
The settlement is reported in the trade and legal press, covering thousands of Pennsylvania insureds and a decade of leased-vehicle total-loss claims.
- 5
10 February 2025 — Louisiana is finally approved
A separate Allstate matter concerning sales tax and transfer fees on Louisiana first-party total-loss claims receives final approval. It is closed and accepts no new claims.
If someone contacts you about one of these
A closed settlement with a well-known insurer’s name on it is a convenient cover story. Three things to hold on to.
Neither case accepts claims
Pennsylvania is resolved and Louisiana was finally approved in February 2025. An invitation to file an Allstate total-loss claim today is about something else, or it is not genuine.
The official site is offline — checked, not assumed
erbytotallossinsurancesettlement.com no longer resolves (28 August 2026). Administrators retire settlement sites once payment is complete; a lookalike appearing later is a warning sign.
Filing a real claim never costs anything
No court-approved administrator charges a fee or needs your bank login before sending money. That does not change once a case closes.
Questions people actually ask
My Allstate car was totaled recently. Can I still claim?
Not in these settlements. Whether your own payout was complete is a separate and checkable question: compare what you were paid against the vehicle value plus your state’s sales tax and its title, tag and registration fees. Your valuation report itemises it. If a line is missing, raise it with the insurer, and failing that with your state insurance regulator.
Was this only about leased vehicles?
The Pennsylvania class was, yes. Leases recur in these cases because the tax obligation on a lease sits with the lessee in a way that makes an omission easy to demonstrate. The Louisiana matter concerned first-party total-loss claims and transfer fees more broadly.
How much would an individual have received?
No single figure was published, because payment followed each vehicle’s value: 6 % of the adjusted cash value plus local tax. On a $22,000 vehicle that is roughly $1,320, and about $1,760 in Philadelphia with its additional 2 %.
Does this mean Allstate broke the law?
A settlement is not a court finding, and insurers in these cases routinely settle while denying wrongdoing. What can be said is that a federal court approved a class settlement resolving the allegation, and that the same allegation has been brought against several major insurers.
Why does the same claim keep appearing against different insurers?
Because it turns on a question every insurer answers in its own policy language: does „actual cash value“ include the tax and fees needed to replace the vehicle? Different answers in different states produce the same lawsuit repeatedly — GEICO in California, Texas and Florida, USAA in Michigan, State Farm in Louisiana.
Where can I read the court file?
Erby v. Allstate Fire and Casualty Insurance Company is docket 2:18-cv-04944 in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, searchable free of charge on CourtListener and through PACER. For the Louisiana matter we were not able to confirm a case number and therefore do not publish one.
Separate from this case: were you injured in the last 2 years?
Class-action payouts are fixed amounts through an administrator. A personal injury claim is a different case — and often worth far more. Free estimate, no obligation.