A class action is a special type of lawsuit that is brought by one or more persons on behalf of a larger group of people whose claims share common legal issues.

Class actions provide a cost-effective way for groups of people with common legal interests to pursue a lawsuit. A class action allows groups of people to benefit from a legal case without them having to spend their own money on legal and other expenses and without having to manage all of the steps and obligations related to their own legal case.

On July 25, 2016, a class action was commenced against Ontario Energy Group (“OEG”) and Home Trust. The class action alleged, among other things, that OEG’s Lease Agreements failed to comply with legal requirements under Ontario’s Consumer Protection Act, 2002 and other applicable laws. Home Trust’s involvement in the action is limited to its involvement with OEG’s Lease Agreements. The class action sought damages and other remedies.

A Settlement Agreement was reached on behalf of settlement Class Members to resolve the class action lawsuit against OEG and Home Trust.

The Settlement Agreement was approved by the Superior Court of Justice on October 21, 2021.

The settlement provides for payment by the defendants of CAD $14,950,000 for the benefit of settlement Class Members, and other important benefits, including reduced-cost exit options, and up to 225 cancelled agreements in exceptional circumstances.

The settlement is not an admission by the defendants of liability, fault, or wrongdoing, but is a compromise of disputed claims.

The settlement includes all persons in Ontario who are or were at any time party to a Lease Agreement for Equipment with OEG, entered into between May 1, 2012, and December 31, 2016, except Excluded Persons.

If you opted out of the class action, you are excluded from the settlement.

If you did not submit a claim on or before September 24, 2023, you cannot receive money from the settlement, but you remain eligible for other settlement benefits such as the reduced-cost exit options and improvements to your Lease Agreement going forward.

During the claims period, all Class Members were eligible to apply for settlement benefits in accordance with the Court-approved Distribution Protocol. This included Class Members who were in an active Lease Agreement (and still rent Equipment from OEG), and Class Members that previously bought out or terminated their Lease Agreement (and no longer rent Equipment from OEG). The claims deadline was August 25, 2022. The final date to submit a late claim was September 24, 2023. It is no longer possible to submit a late claim.

The settlement benefits are summarized as follows:

Class Member	Benefits
You continue to rent Equipment from OEG under one or more active Lease Agreement(s) and submitted a claim on or before September 24, 2023.	Eligibility for a single cash payment representing a refund of a portion of monthly rental payments paid; Potential eligibility for an increase to the single cash payment, where certain demonstrated individual circumstances apply; Improvements to the Lease Agreement on a “go-forward” basis, including: A reduction of the allowable increase of the monthly rental payment each year; Access to a new lower cost buyout program, with fixed and transparent prices that decrease every year; Other clarifications, enhancements, and improvements to your rights under the Lease Agreement, all of which is outlined in more detail in the Settlement Agreement; A commitment from the defendants to a reasonable management of debts and arrears; and, Potential eligibility to have your Lease Agreement cancelled, Equipment gifted, and arrears forgiven in exceptional circumstances. Such benefits will, except in limited cases as set out in the protocol, be provided in lieu of the single cash payment described above.
You have exited a Lease Agreement(i.e. you bought out or terminated your Lease Agreement and no longer rent Equipment from OEG) and submitted a claim on or before September 24, 2023.	Eligibility for a single cash payment representing a portion of the amount you paid for: monthly rental payments before the date of your termination or buyout; and your termination, buyout, and/or associated arrears, interest, and NSF fees; and, Potential eligibility for an increase to the single cash payment, where certain demonstrated individual circumstances apply.

Improvements made to ongoing Lease Agreements will be made on a “go-forward” basis, and apply to all Class Members, even if they did not submit a claim.

Improvements to ongoing Lease Agreements include:

1. A reduction of the allowable increase of the monthly rental payment each year (capped at 2.5%, versus 3.8% previously);
2. Access to a new lower cost Buyout Schedule, with fixed and transparent prices that decrease every year (a copy of the reduced Buyout Schedule is available here); and
3. Other clarifications, enhancements, and improvements to your rights under the Lease Agreement, all of which is outlined in more detail at sections 2.2(3)-(10) of the Settlement Agreement.

A copy of the Settlement Agreement and other related documentation is available by clicking here.

Class Members in active Lease Agreements with OEG who filed a claim form on or before September 24, 2023 have the following options:

1. By having submitted a claim and providing information to the Claims Administrator, your Lease Agreement may be considered for one of the cancellations under the Settlement Agreement. Cancellations will be selected after the conclusion of the claims process.

   Class Members who do not receive a cancellation can otherwise arrange for a reduced cost buyout or termination with OEG, together with receiving a cash payment from the Settlement. OEG is required to honour the reduced-cost buyout table contained in the Settlement Agreement, which is available here.

   1. Buyouts or terminations will not be completed through this claims process. You need to contact OEG directly if you wish to complete a reduced-cost buyout or termination. While we are not OEG, we recommend calling 1-800-510-4047, or e-mailing info@ontarioenergygroup.com to reach them. More information on terminations and buyouts can be found at FAQ#18 and FAQ#19.

2. You can stay in the Lease Agreement, with improvements explained below and at FAQ#6, together with cash compensation from the Settlement. Your Lease Agreement otherwise ends when the leased equipment stops working or otherwise reaches the end of its useful life. If your equipment stops working your Lease Agreement is over, and you can ask OEG to remove it or have a technician return it to them. OEG cannot replace failed equipment in order to extend or renew your Lease Agreement, unless you agree to do so with a full understanding of costs and other obligations that are required of you.

Class Members in active Lease Agreements with OEG who did not file a claim form on or before September 24, 2023 have the following options:

1. You can stay in your Lease Agreement, with improvements described at FAQ#6, until the Lease Agreement ends. The Lease Agreement ends when the leased equipment stops working or otherwise reaches the end of its useful life. If your equipment stops working your Lease Agreement is over, and you can ask OEG to remove it or have a technician return it to them. OEG cannot replace failed equipment in order to extend or renew your Lease Agreement, unless you agree to do so with a full understanding of costs and other obligations that are required of you.

2. You can end your lease by terminating the agreement and returning the equipment to OEG. For more information on how to terminate your lease, please see FAQ#18.

3. You can end your lease by buying out of the agreement and keeping the equipment. For more information on how to buyout of your lease, please see FAQ#19.

The settlement does not otherwise cancel Class Members’ ongoing payment obligations to OEG.

The settlement does not cancel all arrears or money owed to OEG, unless your Lease Agreement is one of the up to 225 Lease Agreements selected for cancellation.

The claims deadline was August 25, 2022. The final date to submit a late claim was September 24, 2023. Late claims filed after August 25, 2022, but on or before September 24, 2023, were accepted by Order of the Court.

It is no longer possible to submit a late claim.

When you completed your claim, you were asked to provide:

1. Information about the money you paid to OEG or in connection with your Equipment – monthly payments, buyout or termination payments, servicing expenses, property damage, other general expenses, etc.; and


2. Information about any extraordinary problems you encountered with OEG.

With this information, the Claims Administrator will assess your eligibility and calculate the amount of your cash payment. The cash payment will represent a refund of a portion of payments you made to OEG and/or Home Trust, and the amount of the cash payment may be increased where extraordinary problems with OEG are demonstrated.

To be eligible to receive a cash payment, you must have submitted a completed Claim Form, including all required documents to the Claims Administrator on or before September 24, 2023, and your claim must satisfy the criteria set out in the Distribution Protocol, which is available for viewing by clicking here. It is no longer possible to submit a late claim.

At the end of the claims process, up to 225 active Lease Agreements will be identified for cancellation, with Equipment gifted and arrears forgiven, pursuant to the Settlement Agreement and Distribution Protocol.

Outside of submitting your claim, you do not need to make a specific request for a cancellation to the Claims Administrator.

In addition to the cancellation of the up to 225 agreements, the settlement also creates a less expensive buyout program that you can use alongside your claim for cash in order to reduce the cost to buyout the Equipment and to exit your agreement. If you wish to seek a buyout, you must make that request to OEG and not the Claims Administrator.

The settlement also clarifies the option to terminate your agreement (pay a fee to remove the Equipment from your home, end the contract, and remove any lien on your title) which can also be used alongside your claim for cash under the settlement. If you wish to seek a termination, you must make that request to OEG and not the Claims Administrator.

For more information on your options for ending your agreement, see FAQ#7.

If a claim is found to be deficient – meaning it is missing necessary information or documents to support the claim, you will have received a letter from the Claims Administrator, by e-mail or regular mail, explaining the deficiencies.

If you received a deficiency letter, please contact the Claims Administrator as soon as possible but no later than the deadline set our in your letter to correct the deficiency and/or to provide the missing or additional information or documents necessary to review your claim.

If you do not respond to the Claims Administrator and provide them with the requested information or documents by the deadline set out in your letter, it may impact: (i) your eligibility to receive benefits and/or (ii) the amount of money you receive.

The requested information or documents must be sent to the Claims Administrator, in one (1) of three (3) ways:

1. E-mail: info@OEGclassaction.ca
2. Fax: 1-866-262-0816
3. Mail: to the following address listed below:
   Epiq Class Action Services Canada Inc.
   Attention: OEG Class Action
   PO Box 507 STN B
   Ottawa ON K1P 5P6

The Claims Administrator has completed their review of all claims submitted on or before September 24, 2023, and the deficiency period has begun. Deficiency letters were sent out via e-mail or regular mail to individuals whose claims are missing essential information or documents. If you received a deficiency letter and are unsure what you need to do, see FAQ#12.

Once the deficiency period is over, the Claims Administrator will review the additional information and documents provided and finalize claim decisions. Class Members will then be sent a decision letter, by e-mail or letter, explaining their claims decision.

If you wish to dispute the decision, you may request a review of the determination by sending a statement in writing asking for a “Claims Review” and explaining the reason(s) that you believe the result is incorrect.

The Claims Administrator must receive all Claims Review requests within fifteen (15) days of receipt of their decision letter. In the event, you maintain an objection or disagreement with the Claims Review decision, the Claims Administrator has the discretion to assess the objection or disagreement and an additional process may follow pursuant to the Distribution Protocol.

The Claims Review request must be sent to the Claims Administrator, in one of three (3) ways:

1. E-mail: info@OEGclassaction.ca
   OR
2. Fax: 1-866-262-0816
   OR
3. Mail: to the following address listed below:
   
   Epiq Class Action Services Canada Inc.
   Attention: OEG Class Action
   PO Box 507 STN B
   Ottawa ON K1P 5P6

There are lawyers representing the representative plaintiff and the class. These lawyers are called “Class Counsel”. Class Counsel in this case is:

Foreman & Company
Phone: 1-855-814-4575 ext. 109
E-mail: oeg@foremancompany.com
Website: www.foremancompany.com/ontario-energy-group

The lawyers can provide general guidance and answer questions about the settlement. For questions regarding deficiency or decision letters, please contact the Claims Administrator at the information provided at FAQ#14.

The Court has approved lawyers fees representing 25% of the settlement amount, together with repayment of other expenses they paid for in connection with the lawsuit.

Legal fees and expenses will be paid out of settlement money from the defendants. Class Members do not need to pay the lawyers “out of pocket”.

The period for opting out or “excluding” yourself from the class action has passed. There is no further opportunity to opt-out. If you did not opt-out of the class action, you are bound by the Court-approved settlement.

If you did not submit a claim on or before September 24, 2023, you still remain bound to the terms of the settlement.

A termination is a right you have under the Lease Agreement to end your Lease Agreement, have the lien removed, and have OEG remove the Equipment from your home.

The settlement requires OEG to charge no more for a termination than the amounts explicitly stated in your Lease Agreement.

Terminations are usually cheaper than buyouts, but involve the Equipment being removed from your home. You need to contact OEG directly if you wish to complete a termination.

• While we are not OEG, we recommended calling 1-800-510-4047, or e-mailing info@ontarioenergygroup.com to reach them.

A buyout is where you pay OEG to buy the Equipment from them, to end your Lease Agreement, and have the lien removed.

The settlement requires that OEG charge no more for buyouts than what is specified in a new lower cost Buyout Schedule (a copy of the reduced Buyout Schedule is available here).

The reduced buyout prices are in effect now, and all Class Members are able to complete a reduced-cost buyout, even if you did not submit a claim. You need to contact OEG directly if you wish to complete a buyout.

• While we are not OEG, we recommended calling 1-800-510-4047, or e-mailing info@ontarioenergygroup.com to reach them.

The Settlement does not automatically cancel all security registrations.

The lien/security registration is OEG’s way of giving notice that the Equipment in your home is owned by them.

As such, the lien will be removed only if you are no longer renting the Equipment that OEG owns in your home. Your options for ending your agreement and having the registration removed are described in FAQ#7, FAQ#18 and FAQ#19

Questions for the Claims Administrator should be directed to:

Epiq Class Action Services Canada Inc.
Attention: OEG Class Action Settlement
P.O. Box 507 STN B
Ottawa ON K1P 5P6
Telephone: 1-833-358-9423
Fax: 1-866-262-0816
E-mail: info@OEGclassaction.ca

Questions for Class Counsel should be directed to:

Foreman & Company
Attention:  OEG Class Action Settlement
4 Covent Market Place
London ON N6A 1E2
Telephone: 1-855-814-4575 ext. 109
Fax: 1-226-884-5340
E-mail: oeg@foremancompany.com
Website: www.foremancompany.com/ontario-energy-group