Mr. Cracken sued the Farmers and Allstate insurance companies, alleging that their practice of double-rounding insurance premiums was a rip-off of consumers. (The practice involved the rounding of both the annual and semi-annual premiums paid by most motorists.) He was right. The practice was a rip-off. The extra few cents exacted per consumer amounted to a windfall for the companies.

But the insurers produced evidence indicating that Texas regulators had forced them to do it, and Texas Insurance Commissioner Elton Bomer admitted that his department (years before he assumed his post) had consistently advised the insurers to double-round.

The apparent complicity of Texas regulators is why there never should have been a class-action suit in the first place. The offending practice should have been corrected administratively by the insurance department, not by a hand-picked South Texas court known for its sympathies to plaintiffs.

The settlement seems even more sour when one takes into account the following: Mr. Bomer's actuaries have calculated that only about $10 million of the $25 million set aside for policyholders will be paid out. That's because people who held policies before 1995 and are no longer with either insurer must request their refunds in writing. So much for defending consumers' interests.