Published
August 22, 2026
This settlement resolves claims that Transamerica Life Insurance Company failed to credit certain Cash Value Increases on Direct Recognition Life policies. If you own or owned a DRL-10 or DRL-11 policy that was in effect on January 1, 2016, you share in a $110 million fund without filing anything — the only decision in front of you is whether to stay in.
Current Status
There is no claim form in this settlement and nothing to file. The Court authorized notice to the Settlement Class, and Transamerica Life Insurance Company's records determine who is entitled to a payment; eligible policyowners receive a check in the mail from the Settlement Administrator once the Settlement is approved. The deadline to exclude yourself or to object is October 2, 2026 — the Notice gives only the date and does not specify a cutoff time or timezone. A fairness hearing is scheduled for November 9, 2026 at 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time in Riverside, California. No final approval order had been entered and no payment date had been announced as of August 22, 2026.
Status
Pending Final Approval
Opt-Out Deadline
October 2, 2026
Also the objection deadline · no claim deadline exists
Estimated Payout
Varies by policy
$110M fund · scaled to the value of qualifying CVIs · no per-person figure published
Proof Required
Automatic Payment
No claim form to file — checks are mailed automatically
What Changed Recently?
The Settlement Administrator began mailing notice to Direct Recognition Life policyowners, which is what put dates on the calendar: an October 2, 2026 exclusion and objection deadline and a November 9, 2026 fairness hearing. The case behind it, Wren, et al. v. Transamerica Life Insurance Company, has been in the Central District of California since 2021 and reached settlement after discovery and mediation before a JAMS mediator.The claim at the center of it is narrow but expensive: plaintiffs allege Transamerica improperly failed to credit certain Cash Value Increases associated with Direct Recognition Life policies, and failed to act in good faith in connection with those increases. Transamerica denies all of the allegations, denies any liability, and maintains that its conduct complied with the terms of the policies, the applicable agreements and governing law. No court has decided who is right — the parties agreed to settle to avoid the risks, costs and delays of continued litigation.
Disputes over how life insurers credit and charge policy values have produced their own settlements — the Kansas City Life cost-of-insurance settlement covered the deductions side of the same ledger, and it also paid class members automatically.
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Who Qualifies?
You are a Settlement Class Member if all three of the following are true:- You own or owned a Transamerica universal life insurance policy that was in effect on January 1, 2016;
- The policy was known by the product names "Direct Recognition Life 10" or "Direct Recognition Life 11," or by the attribute codes "DRL-10" or "DRL-11"; and
- The policy was established and defined by the provisions of a Group Master Policy, a Group Insurance Certificate and an Issue Illustration.
Note the past tense in the first line: policyowners who no longer hold the policy are not automatically excluded, so long as the policy was in effect on January 1, 2016.
The class excludes Transamerica itself, its officers and directors reported in its most recent Annual Statements and their immediate families, the presiding judge and his immediate family, anyone employed by Class Counsel's firms, policyowners who properly and timely file a request for exclusion, certain policyowners Transamerica has identified as excluded under prior confidential agreements, and the legal representatives, successors or assigns of anyone excluded.
How Much Can You Get?
Transamerica has agreed to create a $110 million Settlement Fund. After Settlement Administration Expenses, any service awards, any attorneys' fees and expenses awarded by the Court and any other Court-approved payments are deducted, the remaining Net Settlement Fund is distributed to Settlement Class Members under a Court-approved Plan of Allocation. What an individual policyowner receives depends on factors including the relative value of the qualifying CVIs associated with that policy or policies. The Notice publishes no per-person estimate and no minimum payment, so any figure you see quoted for an individual policy is not coming from the official documents.Class Counsel will ask the Court for attorneys' fees of up to one-third of the gross settlement benefits provided to the class. Those fees would come out of the $110 million fund and out of a separate $5,835,397.97 fund created by the Settlement in connection with the Bonus Crediting Project described below. Class representatives may request service awards of up to $25,000 each, also paid from the Settlement Fund. Class members are not responsible for paying any of these amounts directly. The Court decides what is actually awarded, and the fee motion is posted on the official settlement website before the objection deadline.
Three non-cash terms sit alongside the fund, and for a policy still in force they may matter more than the check:
- Bonus Crediting Project. Transamerica has agreed that it will not rescind, revoke or reverse certain credits it paid, and has committed to pay, under a project it undertook in 2025 and 2026 as a result of this litigation, under which it credited or will credit 30-Year Guaranteed CVIs to in-force DRL policies.
- 40-Year Guaranteed CVI Benefit. Transamerica has agreed that it will credit the 40-Year Guaranteed CVI for certain eligible DRL policies if they remain in force on their 40-year policy anniversaries.
- Non-Contestability Benefit. Transamerica has agreed that it will not seek to void, rescind, cancel, declare void or otherwise deny certain death claims submitted by Settlement Class Members based on an alleged lack of insurable interest or alleged misrepresentations made in connection with the original application process.
What Proof or Notice ID Is Required?
None. There is no claim form, no online portal to log into, no Class Member ID or PIN to enter and no documentation to upload. Eligibility and payment amounts are drawn from Transamerica's own policy records, and the Settlement Administrator mails checks to the addresses it has on file. That makes one piece of housekeeping worth doing: if you have moved since your policy was issued, make sure the administrator has a current mailing address, because a check that cannot be delivered is the main way an eligible policyowner ends up unpaid. The official settlement website explains how to update your address.What Is the Deadline?
There is no claim deadline, because there is no claim to file. The date that does matter is October 2, 2026, and it governs two different choices:- Exclusion (opting out). A written request for exclusion must be mailed to the Settlement Administrator and postmarked by October 2, 2026. It has to identify the case by name and civil action number, give the policyowner name and mailing address, list the policy numbers to be excluded, state that you want out of the Settlement Class, and be signed by every policyowner. Owning multiple policies means exclusion covers all of your Settlement Class policies — with a narrow exception for someone who holds policies in a representative or agency capacity for more than one principal, who may exclude one principal's policies while staying in for the others.
- Objecting. An objection has to be filed with the Court and served on Class Counsel and Transamerica's counsel by October 2, 2026, with the case name and number, your contact information, your qualifying certificate numbers, the legal and factual basis for the objection, any supporting documents, whether you intend to appear at the fairness hearing, and your signature.
The Notice gives only the date for both, with no cutoff time or timezone. It also warns that these deadlines may be moved or modified, so the official settlement website is the place to confirm them. If you do nothing by October 2, 2026, you stay in the class and are bound by the Court's orders.
How Do You Take Action?
For most policyowners the answer is that no action is required — staying in the class is the default, and it is what produces a payment. The official Wren CVI Settlement website hosts the Long Form Notice, the Settlement Agreement and the Plan of Allocation, along with the exclusion and objection instructions and the mailing address for the Settlement Administrator. The full case file is also available through the Court's PACER system for a fee, or at the Clerk's office for the Central District of California in Riverside.Read the Settlement Agreement's release language before deciding to stay in. Staying in releases claims arising out of or relating to Transamerica's refusal to credit the Settlement Class Policies' CVIs and its good faith in connection with the same. It does not release a claim for payment of a death benefit on a DRL policy other than a claim for unpaid CVIs as a portion of a death benefit, claims or rights to otherwise enforce a DRL policy on matters unrelated to the CVIs, or claims to enforce the Settlement itself.
What Happens Next?
The Court will hold the fairness hearing on November 9, 2026 at 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time in Riverside, California, and will consider whether the Settlement is fair, reasonable and adequate, whether to certify the Settlement Class, and whether to approve the requested attorneys' fees, expenses and service awards. Objections are heard at the same hearing. Attendance is optional; a properly filed and served objection is considered whether or not the objector shows up, and a class member who wants to speak has to say so in the objection and be on file at least 14 days before the hearing. The Court may reschedule the hearing without further mailed notice.A hearing being held is not the same as approval being granted. If the Court does approve the Settlement, payments are mailed after final approval and after any appeals are resolved, which can add time. No payment date had been announced as of August 22, 2026.
Sources and Verification
- Court-approved Long Form Notice and postcard notice in Wren, et al. v. Transamerica Life Insurance Company, No. 5:21-cv-00178-JGB-SP (C.D. Cal.) — embedded below.
- Official settlement website, which hosts the Settlement Agreement, the Plan of Allocation and the motion for attorneys' fees.
- Docket for Case No. 5:21-cv-00178-JGB-SP, U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, available through PACER.
- Ninth Circuit opinion in Wren v. Transamerica Life Insurance Co., No. 22-56131 (Mar. 7, 2024), which revived the claims and returned the case to the district court.
OCA is not the settlement administrator and cannot look up your policy, confirm your eligibility or tell you what your payment will be. Those answers come from the official settlement website.
Questions
Do I have to file a claim to be paid in the Transamerica settlement?
No. There is no claim form in this settlement. If the Court grants final approval and you are entitled to a payment, the Settlement Administrator mails you a check. Payments are calculated from Transamerica's own policy records under a Court-approved Plan of Allocation.
What is a Cash Value Increase on a Direct Recognition Life policy?
The lawsuit uses Cash Value Increase, or CVI, for credits the Direct Recognition Life policies provided at certain long-term policy anniversaries, including 30-year and 40-year guaranteed increases. Plaintiffs allege Transamerica improperly failed to credit certain of those increases and failed to act in good faith in connection with them. Transamerica denies the allegations.
I surrendered my Direct Recognition Life policy years ago. Am I still included?
Possibly. The Settlement Class covers people and entities that own or owned a qualifying Transamerica universal life policy that was in effect on January 1, 2016, so former owners are not automatically excluded. Whether a former owner receives a payment still depends on the Court-approved Plan of Allocation and on Transamerica's records for that policy.
What does the Non-Contestability Benefit actually do?
Transamerica has agreed that it will not seek to void, rescind, cancel or otherwise deny certain death claims submitted by Settlement Class Members on the basis of an alleged lack of insurable interest or alleged misrepresentations made during the original application process. It is a non-cash term of the settlement and applies separately from the $110 million fund.
Why would anyone opt out of a settlement that pays automatically?
Excluding yourself is the only way to keep the right to sue Transamerica separately over the released CVI claims, and it is generally relevant to a policyowner who believes an individual case is worth more than a share of the fund. A policyowner who excludes themselves receives no cash payment from the settlement. Exclusion requests must be mailed to the Settlement Administrator, postmarked by October 2, 2026.
When will Transamerica settlement checks be mailed?
No payment date has been announced. The Notice states that payments are mailed after the Court grants final approval and after any appeals are resolved. The fairness hearing is scheduled for November 9, 2026, and a hearing being held does not mean approval was granted.
Official Settlement Notice
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Settlement Amount
$110,000,000
Case Title
Wren, et al. v. Transamerica Life Insurance Company
Case Number
5:21-cv-00178-JGB-SP
Court
U.S. District Court, Central District of California
Final Approval Hearing
November 9, 2026 at 9:00 AM PT
Riverside, California — the Court may reschedule it without further mailed notice
Administrator
JND Legal Administration
Official Website
Wren CVI Settlement.com
