Kokua Line June Watanabe

---

State Farm suit covers specific customers

Question: Is it still possible to file a claim against State Farm Insurance Co. over the use of credit scores to set Hawaii insurance rates? If so, how do I go about it and what forms will I need?

Q: I read last week that State Farm was ordered by the court to pay a sum to customers who had auto insurance during a specific period because it used credit ratings to determine rates. Whom do I contact to apply for this money? How much are they supposed to pay back per customer?

Answer: Call the law firm of Bronster, Crabtree & Hoshibata at 524-5644 and you'll be able to find out if you qualify for part of the $1.2 million announced settlement from State Farm.

It's important to point out that not everyone who is or was a State Farm customer during the past five or six years is part of the class-action lawsuit, said plaintiff attorney Jeffrey Crabtree.

"The class action was only on behalf of a specific subgroup of State Farm auto insureds," he said. It "does not apply at all" to people with homeowners or life insurance.

Then, an even smaller subgroup comes into play: "It's only people for who were discriminated against after State Farm pulled their credit report and charged them higher premiums because they had bad credit," Crabtree said.

State Farm did not check credit reports on thousands of auto insurance customers, he said, while there were thousands of others who had their credit reports pulled, but "have good credit, so they did not get discriminated against."

In the end, "We spent a lot of effort on the lawsuit coming up with all the data from State Farm on who had a report pulled, who had bad credit of that list, and who was charged higher than they should have been because of it," he said.

If you still think you qualify for a refund, Crabtree said to call him or Janis Fenton and they can check the list of 1,396 names.

---

Q: What is the status of the World War II Pacific Museum on Ford Island and how can I get in touch with someone there?

A: As Burl Burlingame reported Monday -- starbulletin.com/2006/10/30/features/story01.html -- the $11 million first phase of the Pacific Aviation Museum is on target to open on Dec. 7, on the 65th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Opening ceremonies begin at 11:30 a.m.

The public is invited, but must purchase an admission ticket at the ticket office at Halawa Landing, then board a trolley to cross over to Ford Island, where the museum is located.

Admission rates are $14 for adults and $7 for children, 4 to 12; $10 for kamaaina adults and military; and $5 for kamaaina children. The museum will be open from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week.

Three more phases of the museum, at a projected cost of $90 million, are planned within the next two to three years, said Allan Palmer, executive director and chief executive officer.

Call 690-0169 or check www.pacificaviationmuseum.org for more information.