Star Casualty Settles Florida Total Loss Claims for Up to $279.85

When a Florida driver's car is declared a total loss, the payout fight often doesn't end with the actual cash value check.

A class action settlement now gives eligible Star Casualty policyholders the chance to recover fees the insurer allegedly withheld or improperly deducted from their claims, according to Claim Depot. The Star Casualty total loss settlement covers vehicles totaled between March 22, 2018, and June 26, 2026, and eligible class members can receive up to $279.85 plus interest. Claim Depot reports that Star Casualty Insurance agreed to the settlement to resolve allegations it failed to pay required title and tag transfer fees while also improperly deducting storage and towing charges from actual cash value payments.

A Florida Settlement Puts Total Loss Payouts Under the Microscope

Total loss claims are among the most financially consequential moments in any auto insurance relationship. When an insurer declares your vehicle a total loss, they owe you its actual cash value, but in Florida, that obligation extends beyond a single dollar figure. State rules require carriers to cover specific transfer fees tied to surrendering a totaled title, and restrictions exist on how much can be deducted for storage and towing.

That is where things allegedly went wrong for Star Casualty policyholders. The lawsuit behind this settlement, formally captioned Kharevich v. Star Casualty Insurance Co., claims the insurer shortchanged customers on required fees and trimmed payouts through charges that exceeded allowable limits. The result: a class action that drew in Florida drivers across an eight-year window and ultimately produced a settlement fund with real money attached.

For Florida drivers already navigating one of the country's most expensive insurance markets, understanding these rights matters enormously. The Save Max Quote Index consistently shows Florida Auto Insurance quotes landing among the highest in the nation, making every dollar of a total loss payout count even more.

What Star Casualty Was Accused of Doing Wrong

The allegations center on two specific failures that the lawsuit claims reduced what policyholders actually received after their vehicles were totaled.

First, Star Casualty allegedly did not pay the required title transfer fee or the tag transfer fee that Florida policyholders are owed when a total loss is settled. These are not optional line items. They are mandatory fees tied to the transfer of a vehicle title when a total loss is settled.

Second, the lawsuit claims the insurer improperly deducted excess storage and towing charges directly from policyholders' actual cash value payments. Rather than covering storage within the limits permitted, Star Casualty allegedly reduced the ACV check by amounts that exceeded what was appropriate.

Star Casualty denied any wrongdoing. The company chose to settle, in its own framing, to avoid the expense and risk of continued litigation rather than as an admission of liability.

"The class action lawsuit alleged Star Casualty failed to pay certain required fees and improperly deducted charges from total loss insurance claims. The company denied any wrongdoing but agreed to settle the case to avoid the expense and risk of continued litigation."

That denial does not affect class member eligibility. If you meet the criteria, you can file regardless of how the company characterizes its conduct.

Who Qualifies as a Class Member

Eligibility for this settlement is defined by four conditions that must all be met simultaneously.

• You held a Florida automobile insurance policy issued by Star Casualty between March 22, 2018, and June 26, 2026.
• You submitted a first-party claim that Star Casualty adjusted as a total loss and settled on an actual cash value basis.
• You did not receive the full $79.85 in title transfer fees, meaning the $75.25 title fee and/or the $4.60 tag transfer fee were not paid to you.
• Star Casualty deducted excess storage or towing charges from your ACV payment.

You do not need all four issues to have occurred simultaneously. The fee shortfall alone, or the improper deductions alone, may be enough to qualify depending on your individual claim history.

Legal representatives filing on behalf of a deceased class member are also eligible, provided they can supply documentation such as a death certificate and evidence of beneficiary status. Name changes must be supported by a marriage license, divorce decree, or court order.

How the Settlement Money Is Structured

The settlement breaks compensation into three distinct categories, each targeting a different harm.

Adding the maximums across all three compensation categories produces the headline number: up to $279.85 plus interest per eligible class member.

The actual payment each class member receives will depend on how many eligible claims are filed and what type of harm each claimant experienced. The settlement documents do not specify a per-person floor, meaning the final distribution is tied to total claims volume.

"Payments to eligible class members: Dependent on number and type of claims."

Key Deadlines and How to File Your Claim

Three dates govern this entire process, and missing any of them could eliminate your right to recover.

• September 14, 2026: Deadline to request exclusion from the settlement class.
• October 12, 2026: Fairness hearing, where the court will evaluate the settlement's terms.
• October 26, 2026: Final deadline to file your claim.

Filing is straightforward. You can submit your claim online, complete the prefilled claim form that arrived with your mailed settlement notice, or request a paper form by contacting the settlement administrator directly.

Settlement administrator contact information:

• Mail: Kharevich v Star Casualty, c/o Settlement Administrator, P.O. Box 23489, Jacksonville, FL 32241
• Email: info@StarCasualtyTotalLossSettlement.com
• Phone: 800-290-2388

For online submissions, you will need the claim ID and PIN from your personalized notice. If that notice was lost or never arrived, contact the administrator by phone or email to discuss your options.

Once the court grants final approval and resolves any appeals, payments will be issued within 90 days.

What this means for you

If you held a Star Casualty policy in Florida at any point between March 22, 2018, and June 26, 2026, and experienced a total loss, check your records against the eligibility criteria immediately. Gather your policy documents, your settlement correspondence from Star Casualty, and any paperwork related to your total loss claim. File your claim before October 26, 2026, because that deadline is firm. Drivers in neighboring high-cost states like Georgia and South Carolina facing similar total loss situations should also know their own state fee-payment rules, since fee disputes like this one are not unique to Florida.

Why Total Loss Fee Disputes Keep Landing in Court

The Kharevich case is not an isolated event. Fee disputes tied to total loss settlements have become a persistent source of class action litigation against auto insurers, particularly in Florida.

The state's insurance framework requires carriers to cover specific administrative costs when a total loss is settled. Title and tag transfer fees exist because a totaled vehicle's ownership must be formally transferred, a real bureaucratic cost that falls on the policyholder if the insurer doesn't cover it. When insurers omit these payments across thousands of claims, the aggregate shortfall becomes significant even if the per-claim amount seems small.

The storage and towing deduction issue reflects a separate but related problem. Insurers sometimes recover storage and towing costs from the ACV settlement rather than handling them as separate line items, effectively reducing the core payout the driver receives for the vehicle itself.

Per the SMQI, drawn from 3.3 million+ real quote requests, Florida drivers already pay some of the steepest premiums in the country. That premium burden makes underpaid total loss claims particularly damaging, because drivers are paying more for coverage that may not fully deliver on claims.

States with comparatively lower insurance costs, like Tennessee and North Carolina, see fewer total-loss fee disputes in part because their regulatory environments and cost structures differ. Florida's unique combination of high claim frequency, litigation exposure, and regulatory complexity makes it fertile ground for exactly these kinds of class actions.

The pattern suggests that policyholders anywhere should review their total loss settlements carefully, confirm that all required fees were paid, and verify that no improper deductions reduced their ACV check.

FAQ

About Aaren Ramon

Aaren Ramon is a Senior Analyst at Save Max Auto and owner of Elite Shield Agency. He covers carrier moves, regional insurance markets, and consumer-impact reporting from the agency-owner perspective. Read more from Aaren Ramon →

Edited by Brooke Grissom.

Methodology

This article is grounded in the source linked above. Save Max Auto data points referenced here are drawn from the Save Max Quote Index (SMQI), a proprietary instrument reflecting 3,364,317 real consumer quote requests submitted to savemaxauto.com. State and carrier rankings reflect the lifetime dataset; year-over-year shifts reflect a rolling 12-month window. The index is refreshed monthly. External authority figures referenced (NAIC, NHTSA, state regulators) reflect the most recent public data releases available at time of writing.

Sources

• Primary source: Claim Depot, "Star Casualty Total Loss Auto Claims Class Action Settlement"