Martin v. Brighthouse Life Insurance Company

This Website explains that a settlement was reached in a class action lawsuit called Martin v. Brighthouse Life Insurance Company, Case No. 1:21-cv 02923, United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, overseen by Judge Margaret M. Garnett.

The individual who filed this lawsuit is called the "Plaintiff" and the insurance company sued, Brighthouse Life Insurance Company, is the "Defendant." Defendant denies it did anything wrong. The Court has not decided who is right or wrong. Instead, the Plaintiff and Defendant have agreed to a settlement of the class action lawsuit.

A $9.25 million class action settlement was reached in a class action lawsuit against Defendant.

The lawsuit alleges Defendant and its predecessors, MetLife Insurance Company USA, MetLife Insurance Company of Connecticut, and Travelers Insurance Company, failed to decrease cost of insurance (“COI”) rates despite improved mortality expectations and reduced expenses. In other words, the lawsuit alleges that Settlement Class Members paid more to Defendant than they should have paid to keep their life insurance policies in force.

In a class action, one or more people (called class representatives) file a lawsuit for others who have the same legal claims. Together, these people are called a “class” or “class members.” One court resolves the issues for all class members, except for those class members who opt-out of the class by the deadline.

In 2025, notice was provided because the Court established or “certified” the lawsuit as a class action. The Certified Class is defined as: all persons who own or owned a UL insurance policy with the product codes ULX or ULXP in any of the 50 states, Puerto Rico or any United States territory issued and/or currently administered by Brighthouse Life Insurance Company that contains the following language: “We will base these [cost of insurance] rates only on our future outlook for mortality and expenses.”

Settlement Class

You are a member of the Settlement Class if you own or owned a UL insurance policy in any of the 50 states, Puerto Rico or any United States territory issued and/or administered by Brighthouse Life Insurance Company that contains the language: “We will base these [cost of insurance] rates only on our future outlook for mortality and expenses,” and that was in force as determined by the applicable statute of limitations as of April 6, 2021.

The 22 Class Policies included in the Settlement Class are:

The Settlement Class excludes the Owners of the Excluded Policies, solely in their capacities as Owners of the Excluded Policies. To the extent an individual is a Settlement Class Member and an Owner of an Excluded Policy, the Owner is only excluded with respect to any Excluded Policy.

Excluded Policies means: Georgia-issued ULXP86 and ULXP88 policies.

The Settlement excludes the following:.

1. all Owners of Class Policies who submit a valid Opt-Out Request, but solely with respect to the Class Policy that is the subject of the Opt-Out Request;
2. the Honorable Margaret M. Garnett, United States District Court Judge for the Southern District of New York (or other Circuit, District, or Magistrate Judge presiding over the Action) and court personnel employed in Judge Garnett’s (or such other judge’s) chambers or courtroom;
3. Brighthouse and its affiliates, parents, subsidiaries, successors, predecessors, and any entity in which Brighthouse has a controlling interest;
4. any officer or director of Brighthouse Life Insurance Company identified in the most recent Form 10-K Annual Report filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission;
5. the legal representatives, successors, or assigns of any of the individuals or entities described above, but only in their capacity as legal representative, successor, or assignee; and
6. all Owners of Georgia-issued ULXP86 and ULXP88 policies, who are members of the putative class sought by plaintiff in Richard A. Newton, St. v. Brighthouse Life Insurance Company, No. 1:20-C- 020001-AT (N.D. Ga.) in Plaintiff’s Motion for Class Certification filed on February 27, 2023 at ECF No. 113.

If you are still not sure whether you are a member of the Settlement Class, please review FAQ 5 or call toll-free 1-877-318-7068 for more information.

Settlement Benefits

Defendant has agreed to pay $9.25 million into a Settlement Fund. If the Settlement is approved by the Court and upheld on appeal, if any, this money will be used to provide Settlement benefits to members of the Settlement Class. However, if a Settlement Class Member chooses to exclude themselves from the Settlement by submitting a timely and valid opt-out request, Defendant will reduce the amount of the Settlement Fund based on the face value of the policies that opt-out.

The Settlement Fund will also be reduced by Settlement Administration Expenses, Class Counsel’s Fees and Expenses, and a Service Award prior to any cash payment to any Settlement Class Member.

If you are a Settlement Class Member, you will automatically receive a cash payment from the Settlement Fund. Your payment amount will be determined after Settlement Administration Expenses, Service Award, and Class Counsel’s Fees and Expenses have been deducted from the Settlement Fund.

If you are a Settlement Class Member and you want to receive a cash payment, you do not need to do anything.

Cash payments will be mailed to the Settlement Class Members only if and after (1) the Court approves the Settlement and (2) any and all appeals concerning the Settlement are resolved permitting such payments. This may take time. Please check this website for updates.

If your mailing address or email address changes, please send your new contact information in writing to:

Martin v. Brighthouse
Settlement Administrator
PO Box 2477
Portland, OR 97208-2477

Release

If the Settlement is approved and becomes final after any and all appeals, all Court orders and any judgments will apply to you and legally bind you. This means you will not be able to continue or be part of any other lawsuit against the Releasees about the Released Claims in this lawsuit. A release means you are giving up your right to be part of a different lawsuit against the Releasees for the legal issues covered by the Settlement.

Section 3 of the Settlement Agreement describes the Releases in necessary legal terminology, so please read that information carefully. The Settlement Agreement is available here[CY2.1]. If you have questions about the Releases and what the language in the Settlement Agreement means, you can contact Class Counsel listed below for free, or you can talk to your own lawyer at your own cost.

Opt-Out of the Settlement Class

You may opt-out of the Settlement Class and the Court will exclude you. If you do not want to be included in the Settlement Class, you must opt-out.

If you opt-out:

1. You will not receive any benefits from the Settlement, including any cash payment.
2. You cannot object to the Settlement; and the Settlement and any judgments will not apply to you.
3. The Settlement and any judgments will not apply to you. You will keep your legal right to be part of another lawsuit about the legal claims against the Releasees involved in the Settlement.

To opt-out of the Settlement Class, you must mail a written request and include the following information:

1. Your name and address;
2. A statement that you want to opt-out of the Settlement Class, such as “I want to opt-out of the Settlement Class in Martin v. Brighthouse Life Insurance Company, Case No. 1:21-cv- 02923, United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.”
3. The policy number of the Class Policy(ies) you wish to be excluded from the Settlement; and
4. Your signature or the signature of your legal representative with documentation of the power of attorney to act on your behalf.

If you own multiple Class Policies, you may opt-out of the Settlement for some of your Class Policies while participating in the Settlement for other of your Class Policies.

Your opt-out request must be postmarked by December 11, 2026, and mailed to:

Martin v. Brighthouse
Settlement Administrator
PO Box 2477
Portland, OR 97208-2477

You cannot opt-out of the Settlement Class by telephone or by email.

No. If you opt-out of the Settlement Class, you will not receive anything from the Settlement. The Settlement will not apply to you, and you will not be bound by it or any judgments. If you want to receive a cash payment from the Settlement, do not opt-out of the Settlement Class.

Yes. Please contact the Settlement Administrator to confirm that you want to withdraw your request to opt-out and you want to receive a cash payment. If you do not withdraw your request to opt-out, you will be excluded and will not receive a cash payment from the Settlement. The deadline to withdraw your request is December 11, 2026.

No. You will give up your right to be part of a different lawsuit against the Defendant and Releasees for the legal claims involved in this Settlement. You will be bound by the Settlement, orders, and judgments in this lawsuit.

Objecting to the Settlement

As a member of the Settlement Class, you can file an objection to tell the Court you do not like any part of the Settlement. Only the Court can approve or deny the current Settlement. If the Court does not approve the Settlement no cash payments will be provided.

To object, you must file a written objection with the Court. Your objection must state that you object to the Settlement in Martin v. Brighthouse Life Insurance Company, Case No. 1:21-cv-02923, and must include the following information:

1. Your full name, address, telephone number, and email address (if any);
2. Class Policy number;
3. A written statement of all grounds for the objection accompanied by any legal support for the objection (if any);
4. Whether the objection only applies to you as the objector, a subset of the Settlement Class or the entire Settlement Class;
5. Copies of any papers, briefs, or other documents upon which the objection is based;
6. A list of all people who will be called to testify in support of the objection (if any);
7. Whether you intend to appear at the Fairness Hearing;
8. If you intend to appear at the Fairness Hearing, the names of all lawyers representing you who will appear at the Fairness Hearing;
9. Your signature or your lawyer’s signature; and
10. A list of any objections by you or your lawyer in any class action settlements in any state or federal court in the United States in the last five years.

To object, you must file a written objection with the Court so it is received by December 23, 2026.

Opt-Outs & Objections

Opting out is telling the Court you do not want to be in the Settlement Class. If you opt-out of the Settlement Class, you cannot object because you are no longer part of the Settlement Class, and the Settlement does not apply to you.

Objecting is telling the Court you do not like something about the Settlement. You can object only if you stay in the Settlement Class and you do not opt-out of the Settlement Class. If you object and the Settlement is approved and upheld on any appeal, you will still receive a cash payment because you are still part of the Settlement Class.

Postmark Deadlines

Please note that, per the United States Postal Service, mail may not be postmarked the day it is put in a mailbox or dropped off at a local post office. Postmarks occur when mail reaches a processing facility. To meet a postmark deadline, it is recommended that you send your mail at least a week prior to a postmark deadline, get a manual postmark in-person at any post office, or send via Certified Mail.

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Do Nothing

If you do nothing, you will automatically receive a cash payment, you will stay in the Settlement Class, and the Settlement will apply to you. If you do nothing, you will be legally bound by the Court’s orders and judgments.

Class Counsel

Yes. For a class action lawsuit, a judge selects lawyers called “Class Counsel” to handle the lawsuit for all class members. For this lawsuit, the Court selected the law firm of Milberg LLC as Class Counsel.

You may hire your own lawyer at your own cost if you want a lawyer other than Class Counsel to represent you in this lawsuit.

Class Counsel will ask the Court for attorneys’ fees up to 33.3% of the Settlement Fund, plus reimbursement of costs and a Service Award in the amount of $25,000. If awarded by the Court, these requested amounts will be paid from the Settlement Fund. The Court may award less than these amounts.

Fairness Hearing

When: January 26, 2027, at 10:30 am ET

Where: Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse, 40 Foley Square, New York, NY 10007, Courtroom 906

The date and time of the hearing may change without further notice. You should check this website to confirm the date and time of the hearing. The Court may decide to hold the hearing by video or telephone.

At the Fairness Hearing, the Court will decide whether to approve the Settlement, Class Counsel’s attorneys’ fees and costs, and the Service Award, and consider any objections.

Cash Payments will be provided only if the Court approves the Settlement and the Settlement is upheld on appeal, if any.

No. Class Counsel will answer any questions from the judge. You may attend the hearing at your own expense, but you do not have to attend. If you file an objection, you do not have to attend the hearing to speak about it. If your objection is filed by the deadline, the Court will consider it.

You or your lawyer may ask to appear at the hearing, but it is not required. If you file an objection by the deadline, the Court may listen to your objection at the Fairness Hearing.

Get More Information

To get more information you may call the toll-free number at 1-877-318-7068 or write to us at the address below.

Martin v. Brighthouse
Settlement Administrator
PO Box 2477
Portland, OR 97208-2477

PLEASE DO NOT CALL THE COURT OR CLERK’S OFFICE ABOUT THIS SETTLEMENT.