Published
August 23, 2026
This settlement covers GEICO customers and other drivers who disputed information GEICO had reported to LexisNexis for C.L.U.E. auto insurance reports. There is no claim form: if you were mailed or emailed a notice and you stay in the class, a payment of roughly $150 is scheduled to reach you automatically once the Court rules.
Current Status
There is no claim form and no claim deadline in this settlement — payment is automatic. The Court granted preliminary approval, notices have gone out, and the deadline to opt out is October 20, 2026; the deadline to object is October 31, 2026. The final approval hearing is set for January 14, 2027 at 2:30 p.m. before Judge Theodore D. Chuang in Greenbelt, Maryland, and no final approval order had been entered as of August 23, 2026. If you received a mailed or emailed notice and do nothing, a payment expected to be about $150 is scheduled to be sent after the settlement becomes final. The one optional step is on the settlement website: through January 14, 2027 you may use the Notice ID and PIN from your notice to correct your mailing address or elect a digital payment instead of a check.
Status
Pending Final Approval
Hearing set for January 14, 2027
Claim Deadline
None — Payment Is Automatic
Opt out by October 20, 2026 · object by October 31, 2026 · optional payment election by January 14, 2027
Estimated Payout
About $150
An equal share of the $1,650,000 fund after fees and costs · the notice calls this an expectation, not a guarantee
Proof Required
Automatic Payment
No claim form to file · the Notice ID and PIN are used only to update an address or choose a digital payment
What Changed Recently?
The Court granted preliminary approval of the settlement and notices are being distributed to the class, which is what put the opt-out, objection and hearing dates on the calendar. The underlying case is Kohama v. GEICO, No. 8:24-cv-00743-TDC, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, Southern Division. The named plaintiff alleges that GEICO reported inaccurate information about her to LexisNexis Risk Solutions, that the information appeared on C.L.U.E. reports other insurers used to price her coverage, and that GEICO failed to reinvestigate and correct the information — or to mark it as disputed — after she disputed it through LexisNexis. The legal claim is brought under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1681 et seq.GEICO denied and continues to deny the allegations, and the Court has not decided who is right or whether the case could have proceeded as a class action if it had not settled. Class Counsel say they agreed to resolve the case because continued litigation carried a real risk of no recovery at all, or of a smaller recovery years from now.
Who Qualifies?
The Settlement Class is narrow and defined by what a person actually did through LexisNexis, not by whether they were a GEICO policyholder. Under the notice, it covers all people who filed one or more disputes through LexisNexis Risk Solutions between March 13, 2022 and May 1, 2026, where all of the following also apply:- The dispute concerned information the person contended was incorrectly linked to their C.L.U.E. report, or that reflected a mixed file — meaning the disputed information did not belong to them.
- The disputed information was not attributable to an insured or to a member of their household.
- LexisNexis responded that the source of the disputed information was GEICO.
- LexisNexis responded that the disputed information was "unverifiable" or "accurate."
- GEICO did not notify LexisNexis that the disputed information should be corrected or removed from the consumer's file.
- The disputed information remained uncorrected or unremoved from the person's C.L.U.E. report.
- The person is reflected in the Settlement Class List generated by GEICO.
Because membership is tied to that class list, receiving a mailed or emailed notice is the practical signal that you are in the class. The notice says so directly: if you received the notice, you may meet the criteria for membership.
How Much Can You Get?
GEICO agreed to pay a maximum of $1,650,000 to create the Settlement Fund. That single fund covers everything — payments to class members, the cost of notice and administration, a service award requested for the class representative, and Class Counsel's approved fees and expenses. Whatever is left after those deductions is divided equally among participating class members rather than scaled to any individual's circumstances, so every payment is the same size.The notice states these payments are expected to be approximately $150 each. Treat that as an estimate. The deductions have not been fixed yet: Class Counsel will ask the Court to approve attorneys' fees of no more than one-third of the fund, or $549,945, plus up to $10,000 in litigation costs and expenses, and a separate service award of up to $10,000 for the class representative. The Court can award different amounts, and the final per-person figure also depends on how many class members remain after opt-outs and undeliverable notices. Class Counsel's fee request is scheduled to be posted to the settlement website on October 21, 2026, which is the document to read if you want to see the actual numbers before the objection deadline.
One structural detail is worth knowing: the notice conditions the automatic payment on a notice that was not returned as undeliverable. That is the reason the address-update tool exists, and the reason it is worth using if you have moved.
What Proof or Notice ID Is Required?
None to be paid. There is no claim form, no receipts, and no documentation step — a class member who does nothing at all is still scheduled to receive a check.The Notice ID and PIN printed on the mailed or emailed notice are used only for the optional Payment Election and Address Verification form on the settlement website, which lets you update your contact information or switch from a mailed check to a digital payment. Because that form does not gate the payment itself, this page is marked Automatic Payment rather than proof-required. If you believe you qualify but never received a notice with a Notice ID, the settlement website's contact page is the route to ask the Settlement Administrator about your status.
What Are the Key Dates?
The notice gives dates without stating an official timezone, so only the dates are published here.- October 20, 2026 — deadline for a Request for Exclusion to be postmarked. Excluding yourself is the only way to keep the right to sue GEICO separately over these claims, and it forfeits any payment.
- October 21, 2026 — Class Counsel's fee and expense request is scheduled to be posted to the settlement website.
- October 31, 2026 — deadline for a written objection to be submitted or postmarked. You cannot both opt out and object.
- January 14, 2027 — final approval hearing at 2:30 p.m. in Courtroom 2B of the federal courthouse in Greenbelt, Maryland. This is also the deadline for the optional payment-election and address-verification form.
How Do You Take Action?
For most class members the correct action is none: stay in the class, and the payment is sent automatically after the settlement becomes final and effective. The steps below are the optional ones, and all of them run through the official settlement website at Kohama 2026 Settlement.com.- Update your address or choose a digital payment. Log in to the Payment Election and Address Verification form with the Notice ID and PIN from your notice, by January 14, 2027. This matters most if you have moved since the notice was mailed.
- Exclude yourself. A Request for Exclusion must be a written, signed statement saying you are opting out of the Settlement Class in Kohama v. GEICO, including your name, mailing address and telephone number, mailed to the Settlement Administrator and postmarked by October 20, 2026. The mailing address is printed in the official notice, which is embedded further down this page.
- Object. A written objection must include your contact information, the specific legal and factual bases for every objection, whether you intend to appear at the hearing, a statement of your class membership, and a detailed list of any other class action settlement objections you or your lawyers have submitted anywhere in the United States in the previous five years. It must be submitted or postmarked by October 31, 2026.
You are not charged for Class Counsel, and the settlement website posts the Settlement Agreement and the case documents. Filing anything in this settlement is free.
What Happens Next?
The next milestone is the final approval hearing on January 14, 2027, where the Court will consider whether the settlement is fair, reasonable and adequate, and will rule on the fee, expense and service-award requests. Preliminary approval is not final approval, and a hearing being scheduled is not a ruling. No payment date has been announced. Payments follow only after the Court enters a final approval order and the settlement becomes effective, which can be delayed if anyone appeals. Any change to the hearing date or time is to be posted on the settlement website.Sources and Verification
- Notice of Class Action Settlement, Kohama v. GEICO, No. 8:24-cv-00743-TDC (D. Md.) — embedded below.
- Official settlement website — Kohama 2026 Settlement.com, including its FAQ, Important Documents, and Payment Election and Address Verification pages.
- Settlement Agreement and Release, posted on the settlement website (released-claims definition and release section).
- Court docket, U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, Southern Division, No. 8:24-cv-00743-TDC.
Related OCA coverage: our explainer on the Fair Credit Reporting Act covers what a furnisher owes you after a dispute, and the LexisNexis deceased-reports settlement involves the same consumer reporting agency on the receiving end of this case.
Questions
What is a C.L.U.E. report and why does GEICO send information to it?
C.L.U.E. stands for Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange, a database operated by the consumer reporting agency LexisNexis Risk Solutions. Insurers report claim activity into it, and other insurers pull C.L.U.E. reports when they price or underwrite a policy. Because the entries sit on a consumer report, the Fair Credit Reporting Act governs how a company that furnishes the information must handle a dispute about it.
Do I have to file a claim to get paid in the GEICO C.L.U.E. settlement?
No. There is no claim form. Under the notice, every Settlement Class Member whose notice was not returned as undeliverable and who does not opt out is scheduled to receive an automatic payment if the Court grants final approval. A check is mailed to the address the parties identified, unless the class member uses the settlement website to update that address or choose a digital payment instead.
What happens if I never received a notice but think I am in the class?
The class list was generated by GEICO, and the notice says class membership is reflected in that list. Someone who believes they qualify but did not receive a Notice ID can use the contact page on the official settlement website to ask the Settlement Administrator about their status. OpenClassActions is not the administrator and cannot look up or confirm class membership.
Why is the payment about $150 instead of a larger amount?
The $1,650,000 is a gross fund. Notice and administration costs, the requested $549,945 in attorneys' fees, up to $10,000 in litigation expenses, and a requested $10,000 service award come out of it first, and whatever remains is divided equally among participating class members. The notice describes roughly $150 as an expectation, not a guaranteed figure, and the Court still has to rule on the fee and service-award requests.
Does GEICO admit it did anything wrong in this settlement?
No. The notice states that GEICO denied and continues to deny the allegations, and the Court has not decided who is right. The settlement resolves the claims without any finding of liability against GEICO.
What do I give up by staying in the GEICO settlement class?
If the Court grants final approval, class members who do not opt out release the claims brought in the case, and claims that could have been brought in it, against GEICO. The precise scope is set out in the released-claims definition and the release section of the Settlement Agreement, both posted on the official settlement website. Opting out by October 20, 2026 is the only way to keep the right to sue GEICO separately over these claims.
Official Settlement Notice
For more class actions keep scrolling below.
Settlement Amount
$1,650,000
Case Title
Kohama v. Government Employees Insurance Company
Case Number
8:24-cv-00743-TDC
Court
U.S. District Court, District of Maryland, Southern Division
Final Approval Hearing
January 14, 2027 at 2:30 PM
Courtroom 2B, federal courthouse in Greenbelt, Maryland
Administrator
Court-appointed Settlement Administrator (not named in the Notice)
Official Website
Kohama 2026 Settlement.com
