Farmers TCPA Settlement: What a DNC Call Case Means for Agencies That Buy Leads (2026)

The short answer

Farmers has agreed to a proposed $1.25 million TCPA settlement over alleged marketing calls and texts to people on the National Do-Not-Call Registry. Farmers denies the claims. Entrovox is TCPA compliant in all 50 states: real-time DNC checks, legal calling hours, and AI disclosure on every attempt, so that fact pattern never starts.

This is not legal advice. It is a reading of the court notice for agency owners who already buy internet leads.

What the notice actually says

On September 7, 2026, a consumer legal site circulated the Farmers TCPA settlement. The court notice is the better source. Use that, not a blog recap, if the dates disagree.

The case is Heckathorn v. Farmers Insurance Exchange, et al., No. 26SL-CC03879, in the Circuit Court of St. Louis County, Missouri, Division 17. The named plaintiff is Spencer Heckathorn. The defendants named in the notice are Farmers Insurance Exchange, Farmers Insurance Company, Inc., and Fire Insurance Exchange.

The lawsuit claims that insurance agents Nickolas Ward, Nate Esparza, Kyle Ryan Gray, Dustin Huffman, Jason Hall, Brian Shirey, and/or LeNard Rhone, or their agencies, called and texted people to market Farmers products even though those numbers were on the National Do-Not-Call Registry. Farmers denies the claims. No court has decided who should win. The parties agreed to a settlement to avoid the cost of more litigation.

The proposed fund is up to $1,250,000. A class member who files a valid claim can receive a pro rata share, up to $160, after administration, attorney fees and costs, and any service award. The notice says Class Counsel will ask for up to $396,666.67 in fees and expenses, and $11,000 for the plaintiff. The court can award less. If many people file, the check is smaller than $160.

About 12,545 people may have received the calls or texts. That is not a finding of how many agencies dial this way. It is the size of the list produced in this case.

A separate Farmers TCPA settlement, Starling v. Farmers, covers a different agent and a different fund. Do not mix the two.

Who the notice says is in the class

The settlement class, as the notice states it, is people who from April 19, 2020 to preliminary approval:

• received two or more texts or calls in a 12-month period from those named agents or their agencies, marketing Farmers products
• had a number registered on the Do-Not-Call Registry for more than 30 days when the contact arrived
• had a number registered to an individual, not a business

The notice also says you are included if you got those calls or texts from April 19, 2020 through June 15, 2026 and your cellular number appeared on a list produced in the litigation.

Payment is narrower than class membership. To get a check, the person must submit a claim by September 14, 2026, and certify that they did not visit a website to request a Farmers quote before the calls or texts, and that they were not a Farmers customer at the time or within 18 months before.

The exclusion and objection deadline in the notice was August 27, 2026. The final approval hearing is set for 10:30 a.m. on September 23, 2026, in Clayton, Missouri. Payments, if the court approves and any appeals end, come later. The official site is HeckathornTCPAsettlement.com.

If you personally got one of these calls, read the notice or call the administrator at 1-800-261-9045. This page is not a claim form and not a solicitation.

What this is not

This is not a holding that every Farmers agent broke the law. Farmers has not admitted wrongdoing.

It is not a holding that an AI voice agent is illegal, or that a first dial on a web lead is a TCPA violation. The complaint described in the notice is marketing contact to Do-Not-Call numbers, including a claim that the plaintiff never gave permission.

It is also not a license to ignore the Do-Not-Call Registry because you bought a lead. A purchased number and a person who just submitted a quote form are different records. The claim certification in this settlement is built around that difference.

If you need a rule for your book, ask a lawyer who handles calling law. Do not take a dialer setting, or this post, as that advice.

How Entrovox keeps this fact pattern off your book

Entrovox is TCPA compliant in all 50 states. Before a dial goes out, the platform checks the Do-Not-Call list, the lead's local calling window, and the consent on that lead source. The AI says it is AI. If the person declines or opts out, the sequence stops. That is the protection, not a policy PDF.

The Heckathorn claim form draws the line this lawsuit is about. To get paid, a person has to certify they did not request a Farmers quote online and were not a Farmers customer. Entrovox does not dial that kind of number. It calls a lead that just asked, on a source you certified, then warm-transfers to a licensed producer.

The agency still has to send consented leads. Here is what runs on every attempt, automatically:

• Real-time DNC check. A number on the National Do-Not-Call Registry, or on an internal opt-out, does not get the next dial. The Farmers notice is about registry numbers contacted anyway.
• State calling hours. Evenings and Saturdays are worked, but only from 8am to 9pm in the lead's time zone. After-hours coverage is not a late-night blast.
• Consent on the lead source. You connect internet lead sources. You certify the consent basis before that source goes live. A purchased list with no request is not a web lead, and the platform is not a way to call it faster.
• The AI discloses that it is AI on the call. It does not quote, bind, or give coverage advice. A licensed producer does that after the warm transfer.
• Opt-out is the end of the sequence. Connect, decline, or STOP, and the follow-ups stop. Six attempts is for a live request that has not said no. It is not six hits on a Do-Not-Call record.
• Consent records sit with the call, so the desk is not reconstructing "who said we could call" from a spreadsheet after a letter arrives.

That is how an agency stays out of the Heckathorn fact pattern: no named producer improvising marketing texts to registry numbers that never raised a hand. The first dial is on a form that just landed. The agency name is on the caller ID. The person can stop the calls. Entrovox does not make you immune from the TCPA. It makes the illegal pattern the one you cannot run by accident.

If you buy internet leads and want to hear a branded first dial on a form that just landed, text DEMO to (206) 809-9586.

Sources

• Court notice, Heckathorn v. Farmers Insurance Exchange, et al., No. 26SL-CC03879, Circuit Court of St. Louis County, Missouri. Claim deadline September 14, 2026. Final approval hearing September 23, 2026. Official site: HeckathornTCPAsettlement.com
• Settlement administrator: Atticus Administration, 1-800-261-9045, [email protected].