Terms of Use
These Terms of Use govern access to and use of the website(s), portal(s) and/or mobile applications (each, a “System”) operated by or on behalf of Ceres Life Insurance Company (the “Company”).
Please read these Terms of Use carefully before accessing or using the System. By clicking the “I AGREE” button or by otherwise accessing or using the System, you agree that you have read, understand and agree to be bound by these Terms of Use, as amended from time to time, as well as the Company Privacy Policy, which is hereby incorporated into these Terms of Use. If you do not wish to agree to these Terms of Use, do not access or use any part of the System.
These Terms of Use include, without limitation, the following terms, as further detailed below:
We reserve the right to modify these Terms of Use and the System at any time. Please pay attention to updated Terms of Use.
We disclaim warranties and limit our liability as detailed below.
By agreeing to these Terms of Use, you agree to the arbitration clause and class action waiver below that affects
your dispute rights.
TERMS OF USE MAY BE MODIFIED BY THE COMPANY
The Company may revise and update these Terms of Use at any time without notice by posting the amended terms to a System. Your continued use of the System means that you accept and agree to the revised Terms of Use. If you disagree with the Terms of Use (as amended from time to time) or are dissatisfied with the System, your sole and exclusive remedy is to discontinue using the System. THE MOST CURRENT VERSION OF THIS AGREEMENT, WHICH SUPERCEDES ALL PREVIOUS VERSIONS, CAN BE REVIEWED BY CLICKING ON THE “TERMS OF USE” HYPERLINK ON THE SYSTEM.
ACCOUNT REGISTRATION AND USE
To access the System or some of the resources it offers, you may be asked to provide certain registration details or other information. It is a condition of your use that all the information you provide on the System will be correct, current, and complete.
Any accounts and passwords used for the System are for individual use only. The Company is entitled to rely on any information entered through or instructions from your account. You will be responsible for the security of your account and password (if any). The Company may, but is not obligated to, monitor your password. If you use a password that the Company considers insecure, the Company may, but is not obligated to, require the password to be changed and/or terminate your account.
TERMINATION OR RESTRICTION OF ACCESS
The Company reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to limit, suspend or terminate your access to any or all of the Company’s Systems or any portion thereof at any time, without notice.
USE OF THE SYSTEM
You agree to use the System for lawful purposes only and not to do any of the following: (1) upload to or transmit on the System any defamatory, indecent, obscene, harassing, violent or otherwise objectionable material, or any material that is, or may be, protected by copyright, without permission from the copyright owner; (2) use the System to violate the legal rights (including the rights of publicity and privacy) of others or to violate the laws of any jurisdiction;(3) intercept or attempt to intercept electronic mail not intended for you; (4) misrepresent an affiliation with any person or organization; (5) upload to or transmit on the System any advertisements or solicitations of business; (6) restrict or inhibit use of the System by others, including disrupting the normal flow of dialogue, causing a screen to scroll faster than other users are able to type, or otherwise acting in a way which affects the ability of other people to engage in real time activities via the System; (7) upload or otherwise transmit files that contain a virus or corrupted data; (8) collect information about others (including e-mail addresses) without their consent; (9) download a file or software or include in a message any software, files or links that you know, or have reason to believe, cannot be distributed legally over the System or that you have a contractual obligation to keep confidential (notwithstanding its availability on the System);(10) post “spam,” transmit chain letters or engage in other similar activities; (11) advocate illegal activity or discusses an intent to commit an illegal act; (12) seek to exploit or harm children by exposing them to inappropriate content, asking for personally identifiable details or otherwise;(13) disobey any policy or regulations including any code of conduct or other guidelines, established from time to time regarding use of the System or any networks connected to the System; (14) falsify or deletes any author attributions, legal or other proper notices or proprietary designations or labels of the origin or source of software or other material contained in a file that is permissible uploaded; (15) contain hyperlinks to other sites that contain content that falls within the descriptions set forth in this Section; or (16) engage in any other conduct that restricts or inhibits anyone’s use or enjoyment of the System, or which, as determined by the Company, may harm the Company or users of the System or expose them to liability.
COPYRIGHT RESTRICTIONS/USE OF CONTENT
The entire contents of the System (including all information, software, text, displays, images and audio) and the design, selection and arrangement thereof, are proprietary to the Company or its affiliates or licensors and are protected by United States and international laws regarding copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets and other proprietary rights. You are authorized only to use the content on the System for personal use or legitimate business purposes related to your role as a current or prospective customer, supplier, distributor, producer, or agent of the Company. You may not copy, modify, create derivative works of, publicly display or perform, republish, store, transmit or distribute any of the material on the System without the prior written consent of the Company, except to: (a) store copies of such materials temporarily in RAM, (b) store files that are automatically cached by your Web browser for display enhancement purposes, and (c) print a reasonable number of pages of the System; provided in each case that you do not alter or remove any copyright or other proprietary notices included in such materials. Neither the title nor any intellectual property rights to any information or material in the System are transferred to you, but remain with the Company or the applicable owner of such content. Except as expressly authorized by the Company in writing, you may not reproduce, sell or exploit for any commercial purposes (x) any part of the System, (y) access to the System or (z) use of the System or of any services or materials available through the System.
USER GENERATED AND THIRD PARTY CONTENT
From time-to-time, the Company may make available certain features or functions on the System that will enable you and other users to communicate with each other and/or post content on the System.
Any content and/or opinions uploaded, expressed or submitted to a message board, blog, chatroom or any other publicly available section of the System, and all articles and responses to questions, other than the content provided by the Company, are solely the opinions and responsibility of the person or entity submitting them and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Company. You understand and acknowledge that you are responsible for whatever content you submit, and you, not the Company, have full responsibility for such content, including its legality, reliability and appropriateness. By uploading or otherwise transmitting material to any area of the System, you warrant that the material is your own or is in the public domain or otherwise free of proprietary or other restrictions and that you have the right to post it to the System. You grant to the Company the right to use all content you upload or otherwise transmit to the System in any manner the Company chooses, including, but not limited, to copying, displaying, performing, or publishing it in any format or media whatsoever, modifying it, incorporating it into other material or making a derivative work based on it. The Company will not be required to treat any public submission as confidential.
The Company reserves the right, but does not assume any responsibility, to (1) remove any material posted on the System which the Company, in its sole discretion, deems inconsistent with the foregoing commitments, including any material the Company has been notified, or has reason to believe, constitutes a copyright infringement; and (2) terminate any user’s access to all or part of the System. However, the Company can neither review all material before it is posted on the System nor ensure prompt removal of objectionable material after it has been posted. Accordingly, the Company assumes no liability for any action or inaction regarding transmissions, communications, or content provided by third parties. The Company reserves the right to take any action it deems necessary to protect the personal safety of users of the System and the public; however, the Company has no liability or responsibility to anyone for performance or nonperformance of the activities described in this paragraph.
ACCESS AND INTERFERENCE
You agree that you will not (a) use any robot, spider or other automatic device, process or means to access the System, (b) use any manual process to monitor or copy any of the material on the System or for any other unauthorized purpose without the prior written consent of the Company, (c) use any device, software or routine that interferes with the proper working of the System, (d) attempt to interfere with the proper working of the System, (e) take any action that imposes an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on the Company’s infrastructure, or (f) access, reload or “refresh” transactional pages, or make any other request to transactional servers, more than once during any three (3) second interval.
TRADEMARKS AND PROPRIETARY INFORMATION
The Company name, the Company logo, and copyrighted works on the System, and all related names, logos, product and service names, designs, and slogans are trademarks of the Company and/or its affiliates. You may not use such marks without the prior written permission of the Company. All other names, brands and marks are used for identification purposes only and may be the trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. The Company and any party that provided trademarks, service marks, logos, and copyrighted works to the Company retain all rights with respect to any of their respective trademarks, service marks, logos, and copyrighted works appearing in the System.
The material and content accessible from the System, and any other System owned, operated, licensed, or otherwise controlled by the Company (the “Content”) is the proprietary information of the Company or the party that provided or licensed the Content to the Company, whereby such providing party retains all right, title, and interest in the Content. Accordingly, the Content may not be copied, distributed, republished, uploaded, posted, or transmitted in any way without the prior written consent of the Company, except that you may print out a copy of the Content solely for your personal use. In doing so, you may not remove or alter, or cause to be removed or altered, any copyright, trademark, trade name, service mark, or any other proprietary notice or legend appearing on any of the Content. Modification or use of the Content except as expressly provided in these Terms of Use violates the Company's intellectual property rights. Neither title nor intellectual property rights are transferred to you by access to the System.
DISCLAIMER
YOUR USE OF THE SYSTEM IS AT YOUR OWN RISK. THE CONTENT IS PROVIDED “AS IS” AND WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED. THE COMPANY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, INCLUDING ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT. THE COMPANY DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE FUNCTIONS OR CONTENT CONTAINED IN THE SYSTEM WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE, THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED, OR THAT THE SYSTEM OR THE SERVER THAT MAKES IT AVAILABLE ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS. THE COMPANY DOES NOT WARRANT OR MAKE ANY REPRESENTATION REGARDING USE, OR THE RESULT OF USE, OF THE CONTENT IN TERMS OF ACCURACY, RELIABILITY, OR OTHERWISE. THE CONTENT MAY INCLUDE TECHNICAL INACCURACIES OR TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS, AND THE COMPANY MAY MAKE CHANGES OR IMPROVEMENTS AT ANY TIME. YOU, AND NOT THE COMPANY, ASSUME THE ENTIRE COST OF ALL NECESSARY SERVICING, REPAIR OR CORRECTION IN THE EVENT OF ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE ARISING FROM THE USE OF THE SYSTEM OR ITS CONTENT. THE COMPANY MAKES NO WARRANTIES THAT YOUR USE OF THE CONTENT WILL NOT INFRINGE THE RIGHTS OF OTHERS AND ASSUMES NO LIABILITY OR RESPONSIBILITY FOR ERRORS OR OMISSIONS IN SUCH CONTENT.
All of the information in the System, whether historical in nature or forward-looking, speaks only as of the date the information is posted on the System, and the Company does not undertake any obligation to update such information after it is posted or to remove such information from the System if it is not, or is no longer accurate or complete.
LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
IN NO EVENT WILL THE COMPANY OR ITS LICENSORS OR CONTRACTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES OF ANY KIND, UNDER ANY LEGAL THEORY, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR USE OF, OR INABILITY TO USE, THE SYSTEM, THE CONTENT, ANY SERVICES PROVIDED ON OR THROUGH THE SYSTEM OR ANY LINKED SITE, INCLUDING ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PERSONAL INJURY, PAIN AND SUFFERING, EMOTIONAL DISTRESS, LOST PROFITS OR DAMAGES RESULTING FROM DELAY, INTERRUPTION IN SERVICE, VIRUSES, DELETION OF FILES OR ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS, OR ERRORS, OMISSIONS OR OTHER INACCURACIES IN THE SYSTEM OR THE CONTENT OR SERVICES, WHETHER OR NOT THERE IS NEGLIGENCE BY THE COMPANY AND WHETHER OR NOT THE COMPANY HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF ANY SUCH DAMAGES.
IN NO EVENT WILL THE COLLECTIVE LIABILITY OF THE COMPANY AND ITS SUBSIDIARIES, AFFILIATES, LICENSORS, SERVICE PROVIDERS, CONTENT PROVIDERS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, OFFICERS, AND DIRECTORS TO ANY PARTY (REGARDLESS OF THE FORM OF ACTION, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, TORT, OR OTHERWISE) EXCEED THE GREATER OF $100 OR THE AMOUNT YOU HAVE PAID TO THE COMPANY FOR THE APPLICABLE CONTENT OR SERVICE OUT OF WHICH LIABILITY AROSE.
INDEMNIFICATION
You agree to indemnify and hold harmless the Company and its officers, directors, employees, agents, affiliates, third party information providers, licensors, contractors, and others involved in the System or the delivery of products, services or information over the System (collectively, the “Indemnified Parties”), from any breach of these Terms of Use by you, including any use of Content other than as expressly authorized in these Terms of Use. You agree that the Indemnified Parties will have no liability in connection with any such breach or unauthorized use, and you agree to indemnify any and all resulting loss, damages, judgments, awards, costs, expenses, and attorneys' fees of the Indemnified Parties in connection therewith. You will also indemnify and hold the Indemnified Parties harmless from and against any claims brought by third parties arising out of your use of the information accessed from the System.
PRIVACY
The Company’s use of your personal information and your responsibilities in connection with protecting your privacy are described in the Company Privacy Policy, which is incorporated by reference into these Terms of Use.
COOPERATION WITH LAW ENFORCEMENT
The Company reserves the right to fully cooperate with any law enforcement authorities or court order requesting or directing the Company to disclose the identity of anyone posting any e-mail messages, or publishing or otherwise making available any materials that are believed to violate these Terms of Use. BY ACCEPTING THIS AGREEMENT YOU WAIVE AND HOLD HARMLESS THE COMPANY FROM ANY CLAIMS RESULTING FROM ANY ACTION TAKEN BY THE COMPANY DURING OR AS A RESULT OF ITS INVESTIGATIONS AND/OR FROM ANY ACTIONS TAKEN AS A CONSEQUENCE OF INVESTIGATIONS BY EITHER THE COMPANY OR LAW ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITIES.
FEEDBACK
The Company welcomes your comments. All comments, suggestions, or other information sent by you to the System for internal use by the Company or its advertisers or business partners in response to solicitations on the System will become the Company’s property and you agree that all intellectual property rights therein are transferred to the Company. You understand that any postings, or content submitted for posting, to publicly available portions of the System are non- confidential for all purposes.
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HYPERLINKS TO OTHER SITES; REFERENCES TO THIRD PARTIES
The System may be hyperlinked to other sites which are not maintained by, or related to, the Company. Hyperlinks to such sites are provided as a service to users and are not sponsored by or affiliated with the Company. The Company is not responsible for and does not endorse the content, products, services or practices of any third party web sites, including, without limitation, sites framed within the System or third party advertisements, and does not make any representations regarding their quality, content, or accuracy. Your use of third party web sites is at your own risk and subject to the terms and conditions of use for such web sites.
COMPLIANCE
The owner of the System is based in the State of Connecticut, USA. The Company makes no representation that materials in the System are appropriate or available for use in other locations. If you access the System from other locations, you are responsible for complying with local laws.
BINDING INDIVIDUAL ARBITRATION; NO CLASS ACTIONS
PLEASE READ THIS SECTION CAREFULLY. IT AFFECTS YOUR RIGHTS, INCLUDING YOUR RIGHT TO FILE A LAWSUIT IN COURT. THERE IS NO JUDGE OR JURY IN ARBITRATION, AND DISCOVERY PROCEDURES AND APPELLATE RIGHTS ARE MORE LIMITED THAN IN COURT.
A. Disputes that Must Be Arbitrated
This agreement applies to any “Dispute” between you and the Company. “Dispute” means any dispute, claim, or controversy (excluding those exceptions listed below) between you and the Company that arise out of your use of the System or the products or services accessed therein, whether based in contract, tort, statute, fraud, misrepresentation, or any other legal theory, for which either of us seeks legal recourse, including the validity, enforceability, or scope of this agreement to arbitrate or any portion of it.
The exceptions to this arbitration requirement are: (i) claims that can be brought as individual actions in small-claims court; (ii) pursuit of enforcement actions through a government agency if the law allows; (iii) an action to compel or uphold any prior arbitration decision; (iv) your or the Company’s right to seek injunctive relief in a court of law to preserve the status quo while an arbitration proceeds; (v) claims of intellectual property infringement; (vi) claims that are the subject of a proposed class or collective action settlement in any court; (vii) the enforceability of the requirement that arbitrations must be conducted on an individual rather than a class basis; and (viii) certain roles expressly specified for courts in the terms below.
B. Informal Resolution
If you have a Dispute against the Company or if the Company has a dispute against you, the Company will attempt to resolve the Dispute informally before an arbitration is filed in order to resolve the Dispute faster and reduce costs for both parties. You and the Company will make a good-faith effort to negotiate the resolution of any Dispute for at least 30 days (“Informal Resolution”) from the day you or the Company receive a written notice of a dispute from the other party (a “Notice of Dispute”) in accordance with these Terms of Use.
You must send any Notice of Dispute by email or via U.S. mail to one of the following addresses: PolicyServices@CeresInsurance.com
PO Box 5950 Scranton, PA 18505
The Company will send any Notice of Dispute to your registered email address and ATTN: NOTICE OF DISPUTE to the email address and any address you have provided the Company. The Notice of Dispute sent by either party must include the sender’s name, address, and other contact information, a description of the Dispute (including any relevant account names), and what resolution to the Dispute is being sought.
The Notice requirement is designed to allow the Company (or you, in the case of a dispute the Company asserts against you) to make a fair, fact-based offer of settlement if the Company or you choose to do so. You and the Company cannot proceed to arbitration unless this information has been provided.
If you or the Company proceed to arbitration without providing a compliant Notice of Dispute, the sufficiency of a Notice of Dispute is an issue to be decided by a court. A court may enjoin the filing of an arbitration demand that has not been preceded by a compliant Notice of Dispute and may order a party that has filed an arbitration demand without having provided a compliant Notice of Dispute to reimburse the other party for any arbitration fees and costs already incurred.
C. Small-ClaimsCourt
You and the Company agree that notwithstanding the obligation to arbitrate Disputes, Disputes that qualify for small-claims court in either the county where you live or in Fairfield county may be brought as individual actions in such small-claims courts. The Company hopes you’ll try Informal Resolution first, and you must do so before commencing an arbitration, but you don’t have to complete the Informal Resolution process before going to small- claims court.
D. Binding Individual Arbitration
THE ARBITRATION PROCEEDINGS IN THIS SECTION WILL BE CONDUCTED ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS ONLY. Under no circumstances does the Company consent to have any Disputes arbitrated using class action procedures, even if the arbitration provider has rules permitting class arbitrations.
You and the Company agree that Disputes will be settled by binding individual arbitration conducted by the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”) according to the U.S. Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”) and federal arbitration law and according to the AAA’s Consumer Arbitration Rules, as modified by these Terms of Use. These Terms of Use affect interstate commerce, and the enforceability of this Section will be substantively and procedurally governed by the FAA, 9 U.S.C. § 1, et seq., to the extent permitted by law.
“Arbitration” means that Disputes between you and the Company will be resolved by a neutral arbitrator instead of in a court by a judge or jury.
“Individual” means that the arbitrator may award the same remedies to you or to the Company as a court could, but only to satisfy your or the Company’s individual claims. To the fullest extent allowed by applicable law, the arbitrator may not award money or other relief for the benefit of any person other than you or us as part of the resolution of any Dispute.
“Binding” means that both you and the Company will have to live with and accept the arbitrator’s decision, except to the limited extent appeals to a court are permitted under the FAA. As limited by the FAA, these Terms of Use, and the rules applicable to the arbitration, the arbitrator will have exclusive authority to make all procedural and substantive decisions regarding any Dispute and to grant any remedy that would otherwise be available in court, including the power to determine the question of arbitrability. The arbitrator will have authority to award temporary, interim, or permanent injunctive relief or relief providing for specific performance of these Terms of Use, but (as provided above) only to the extent necessary to provide relief to a party in arbitration warranted by the individual claim before the arbitrator. The award rendered by the arbitrator may be confirmed and enforced in any court having jurisdiction.
E. Arbitration Procedure and Location
You or the Company may initiate arbitration of any Disputes not resolved by Informal Resolution by filing a Demand for Arbitration with the AAA in accordance with the AAA’s Consumer Arbitration Rules. Instructions for filing a Demand for Arbitration are available at https://www.adr.org/Rules or by calling the AAA at 1-800-778-7879, TTY 711. You will send a copy of any Demand for Arbitration by email or via U.S. mail to the following address:
PolicyServices@CeresInsurance.com PO Box 5950 Scranton, PA 18505
The Company will send any Demand for Arbitration to the email address and to any address you have provided the Company.
The arbitration will be conducted by a single arbitrator. You and the Company both agree that the arbitration will be conducted in the English language and that the arbitrator will be bound by these Terms of Use.
For Disputes in which the claimant seeks less than $10,000, the arbitrator will decide the matter solely on the basis of written submissions, without a formal hearing, unless the arbitrator decides that a formal hearing is necessary. For matters in which the claimant seeks $10,000 or more, or smaller matters in which the arbitrator determines a hearing to be necessary, hearings shall be conducted by video or telephone, unless the arbitrator determines an in-person hearing to be necessary. If an in-person hearing is required, and you reside in the United States, the hearing will take place in Connecticut unless the arbitrator determines that this would pose a hardship for the claimant, in which case the in-person hearing may be conducted in the claimant’s state and county of residence. If you reside outside the United States, the site of any in-person hearing will be determined by the applicable Rules.
The arbitrator (not a judge or jury) will resolve the Dispute. Unless you and the Company agree otherwise, any decision or award will include a written statement stating the decision of each claim and the basis for the award, including the arbitrator’s essential factual and legal findings and conclusions.
To the fullest extent allowed by applicable law, the arbitrator may only award legal or equitable remedies that are Individual to you or the Company to satisfy one of our individual claims (that the arbitrator determines are supported by credible relevant evidence).
An arbitration award, and any judgment confirming it, apply only to that specific case; it cannot be used or offered as precedent in any other case except to enforce the award itself.
Any decision or award may be enforced as a final judgment by any court of competent jurisdiction or, if applicable, application may be made to such court for judicial confirmation of any award and an order of enforcement.
F. Notice and Filing
To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, you or the Company must start arbitration of a Dispute within two (2) years from when the Dispute first arose. If applicable law requires you or the Company to bring a claim for a Dispute sooner than two years after the Dispute first arose, that shorter deadline applies instead. The failure to begin arbitration regarding a Dispute within the time frames described above in this section shall bar the Dispute, which means that to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, you and the Company will not have the right to assert the Dispute.
G. Coordinated Filings
If 25 or more Disputes are initiated with the arbitrator that raise similar claims, and counsel for the claimants are the same or coordinated, these will be considered “Coordinated Cases.” The Company will pay only its share of arbitration fees for Coordinated Cases; the claimants will be responsible for their share of those fees as set by the Rules and the AAA’s fee schedule for mass arbitrations. Applicable statutes of limitations will be tolled for all claimants who have provided compliant Notices of Dispute to the Company, but demands for arbitration in Coordinated Cases shall only be filed with the arbitration provider as permitted by the bellwether process set forth below, and the Company shall not be required to pay any fees associated with cases that this agreement does not allow to be filed.
Once all Notices of Dispute have been provided to the Company for Coordinated Cases, counsel for claimants and counsel for the Company shall confer in good faith regarding the number of cases that should proceed as bellwethers, to allow each side to test the merits of its arguments, before the remainder of claims may be filed with the arbitration provider. Any number chosen must be an even number so as to allow each side to designate its half of the cases selected for bellwether trials. If counsel for claimants and for the Company do not agree on the number of bellwethers, the number shall be chosen by the arbitration provider as an administrative matter (or, in the arbitration provider’s discretion, by a process arbitrator).
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Factors that the arbitration provider may consider in making this decision include the complexity of the dispute and differences in facts or applicable laws among various claims. Once the number of bellwethers is fixed, by agreement or by the arbitration provider, each side shall select half that number from among the claimants who have provided compliant Notices of Dispute, and only those chosen claims may be filed with the arbitration provider. You agree that if your case is among Coordinated Cases filed against the Company, resolution of your personal claim might be delayed by this bellwether process. Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to delay the resolution of uncoordinated Disputes based on similar claims to Coordinated Cases filed against the Company.
A single arbitrator shall preside over each Coordinated Case chosen for a bellwether proceeding, and only one Coordinated Case may be assigned to each arbitrator as part of a bellwether process unless the parties agree otherwise.
Once all bellwether trials have concluded (or sooner if the counsel for the claimants in the Coordinate Cases and the Company agree), the parties must make a good-faith effort to resolve all remaining cases that were not chosen for a bellwether proceeding by engaging in a single mediation of all remaining cases. Each side shall pay half the applicable mediation fee. Counsel for claimants in the Coordinated Cases and for the Company must agree on a mediator within 30 days after the conclusion of the last bellwether trial. If counsel for claimants in the Coordinated Cases and for the Company cannot agree on a mediator within 30 days, the arbitration provider will appoint a mediator as an administrative matter. Counsel for the claimants in the Coordinated Cases and for the Company will cooperate for the purpose of ensuring that the mediation is scheduled as quickly as practicable after the mediator is appointed.
If the mediation does not yield a global resolution, then claimants in Coordinated Cases who provided compliant Notices of Dispute but whose claims were not resolved in bellwether proceedings shall no longer have the right to arbitrate their Dispute. Instead, outstanding claims from such cases may be filed only in the state courts in Connecticut, or if federal jurisdiction exists, in the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut, and you consent as part of these Terms to venue such cases exclusively in these courts. Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed as prohibiting either you or the Company from removing a case from state to federal court if removal is allowed under applicable law. To the extent you are asserting the same claims as other persons and are represented by common or coordinated counsel, you agree to waive any objection that the joinder of all such persons is impracticable. If a formerly arbitrable Dispute is brought in court, claimants may seek class treatment, but to the fullest extent allowed by applicable law, the classes sought may comprise only the claimants in the Coordinated Cases who provided compliant Notices of Dispute, and the Company reserves the right to contest class certification at any stage of the litigation and on any available basis.
A court shall have authority to enforce this bellwether process and may enjoin the filing of lawsuits or arbitration demands not made in compliance with it.
H. Continuation in Effect
The dispute resolution process set forth in this agreement survives the termination of any other agreement between you and the Company.
I. Future Terms Changes
Although the Company may revise these dispute resolution terms in its discretion, the Company does not have the right to alter this agreement, or the arbitration rules specified herein, with respect to any Dispute once that Dispute arises if such change would make arbitration procedures materially less favorable to the claimant. The question of whether a change is materially less favorable to the claimant shall be decided by the arbitration provider as a process matter.
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J. Class Action Waiver
To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, disputes, claims, and controversies not subject to the requirement to arbitrate (including, but not limited to, claims filed in small claims court and claims that are deemed not subject to the requirement to arbitrate) may not be aggregated together in a class action, except that (as set forth above in Coordinated Filings provision) if a formerly arbitrable Dispute is brought in court, claimants may seek class treatment, but to the fullest extent allowed by applicable law, the classes sought may comprise only the claimants in the Coordinated Cases who provided compliant Notices of Dispute, and the Company reserves the right to contest class certification at any stage of the litigation and on any available basis. Accordingly, to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, you and the Company will only bring disputes, claims, or controversies between the Company in an individual capacity only and shall not:
seek to bring, join, or participate in any class or representative action, collective or class-wide arbitration, or any other action where another individual or entity acts in a representative capacity (like private attorney general actions); or
consolidate or combine individual proceedings or permit another to do so without the express consent of all parties to these Terms.
K. Severability
If all or any provision of these Terms of Use or the dispute resolution procedures is found invalid, unenforceable, or illegal, then you and the Company agree that the provision will be severed, and the rest of these terms shall remain in effect and be construed as if any severed provision had not been included. The sole exception is that if the prohibition on class arbitrations is found invalid, unenforceable, or illegal, you and the Company agree that this entire agreement to arbitrate (but not the separate class action waiver) will be void and unenforceable and any dispute will be resolved in court subject to the venue and choice of law clauses specified herein.
L. Your 30-Day Right to Opt Out
You have the right to opt out of and not to be bound by the Binding Individual Arbitration provisions set forth in these Terms of Use (except for the class action waiver, which is not subject to an opt-out). To exercise this right, you must send written notice of your decision by email or via U.S. mail to one of the following addresses:
PolicyServices@CeresInsurance.com
PO Box 5950 Scranton, PA 18505
Your notice must include your name, mailing address, and email address associated with your account with/ relationship to the Company, and state that you do not wish to be bound by the Binding Individual Arbitration provisions set forth in these Terms. TO BE EFFECTIVE, THIS NOTICE MUST BE EMAILED, POSTMARKED, OR DEPOSITED WITHIN 30 DAYS OF THE DATE ON WHICH YOU FIRST ACCEPTED THESE TERMS UNLESS A LONGER PERIOD IS REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE LAW; OTHERWISE, YOU WILL BE BOUND TO ARBITRATE DISPUTES IN ACCORDANCE WITH THIS SECTION. You are responsible for ensuring that the Company receives your opt-out notice, so you may wish to send it by a means that provides for a delivery receipt. If you opt out of these provisions, the Company will not be bound by them with respect to disputes with you.
MISCELLANEOUS
These Terms of Use shall be governed in all respects by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Connecticut, USA, without regard to its conflicts of law principles.
These Terms of Use, as they may be amended from time to time, completely and exclusively state the agreement between you and the Company with respect to the System, and no other terms that may have been communicated to you orally or in any other manner shall have any force or effect.
If any part of these Terms of Use is unenforceable, the unenforceable part shall be construed to reflect, as nearly as possible, the original intentions of the parties. The other provisions of these Terms of Use shall remain in full force and effect.
The Company’s failure to insist upon or enforce strict performance of any provision of these Terms of Use shall not constitute a waiver of the provision. Neither a course of dealing or conduct between you and the Company nor any trade practices shall be deemed to modify these Terms of Use.
You agree that no joint venture, partnership, employment, or agency relationship exists between you and the Company as a result of this agreement or use of the System.
A printed version of this agreement and of any notice given in electronic form shall be admissible in judicial or administrative proceedings based upon or relating to this agreement to the same extent and subject to the same conditions as other business documents and records originally generated and maintained in printed form.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, any additional terms and conditions on the System will govern the items to which they pertain.
The Company may revise these Terms of Use at any time by updating this posting.
Last updated on 4/18/2025.