This Website serves as an informational hub for the proposed settlement of the class action lawsuit, Norflet v. John Hancock Life Insurance Company, Case No. 3:04cv1099 (JBA), which is pending in the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut (the "Court").

As set forth in detail in the Long Form Notice, the Court has certified this lawsuit for class treatment and defined the Class as follows: all African American individuals who are purchasers, owners, insureds or beneficiaries of industrial weekly life insurance policies or monthly debit policies (i.e. monthly premium industrial and monthly debit ordinary life insurance policies) issued by John Hancock Life Insurance Company (“John Hancock”) prior to 1959. However, no finding of liability has been made by the Court.

Class Members’ rights may be affected by a proposed Settlement that was reached by the parties and preliminarily approved by the Court. You may be entitled to share in the Settlement Fund (i.e. a monetary payment). If you have not yet received the Long Form Notice and Claim Form, you may download them here or you may obtain copies by contacting:

Norflet v. John Hancock Life Insurance Company
Settlement Administrator
c/o A.B. Data, Ltd.
PO Box 170500
Milwaukee, WI  53217-8042

To be eligible to share in the distribution of the Settlement Fund, Class Members must have submitted a Claim Form to the Settlement Administrator at the above address along with the requisite supporting documentation, which is outlined in the Long Form Notice, postmarked no later than November 19, 2009. Please be advised that the claims filing deadline has now passed.

The Court is scheduled to hold a Fairness Hearing (the “Hearing”) at 10:00 a.m. on August 21, 2009. The address of the Court where the Hearing is scheduled to take place is: United States District Court of the District of Connecticut, U.S. Courthouse, Courtroom 2, 141 Church Street, New Haven, CT 06510. At the Hearing, the Court will consider whether the Settlement is fair, reasonable, and adequate, and warrants final approval. The Court will also hear objections to the Settlement, if any, and determine whether the application by Class Counsel for fees and expenses should be approved and whether, in accordance with the Settlement, an order and judgment should be entered bringing the litigation to a conclusion.

Class Members may request to be excluded from (or “opt out” of) this Settlement. If they do, they will not be eligible for any monetary award as part of the Settlement. Class Members who wish to exclude themselves from the Settlement must mail their requests for exclusion to the Settlement Administrator in the manner described in the Long Form Notice, postmarked no later than May 11, 2009.

Class Members who do not opt out of the Settlement may still object to it. In order to object to the Settlement, Class Members must submit a written objection to the Court, Class Counsel, and Counsel for John Hancock, in the manner described and at the addresses identified in the Long Form Notice, postmarked no later than May 11, 2009. You may combine your objection with a letter stating your intention to appear at the Hearing, but it is not necessary to appear at the Hearing for your written objection to be considered by the Court.

If you have any questions about this matter, please call Class Counsel at 1-866-464-9097.