Posted on 03/24/2006 8:03:20 PM PST by WKB
GULFPORT, Miss. - A federal judge on Friday refused to throw out a lawsuit that a couple filed against Allstate Insurance Co. after the insurer refused to cover damage to their home from Hurricane Katrina.
The lawsuit, filed by Elmer and Alexa Buente of Gulfport, is one of many spawned by a fierce debate over whether Gulf Coast homes were destroyed by the Aug. 29 hurricane's wind or water.
U.S. District Judge L.T. Senter Jr., said the question of how much damage to the couple's home was caused by wind and water is a "fact-specific" inquiry that must be decided at trial.
"I cannot say that there is no set of facts the plaintiffs may establish in support of their claim that would entitle them to relief," wrote Senter, who sits in Mississippi.
Richard "Dickie" Scruggs, a high-profile attorney who represents the Buentes, said the ruling is a "huge victory" for all Allstate policyholders whose post-Katrina claims were denied.
"This was their kill shot," Scruggs said of Allstate's motion to dismiss the case. "They asked for the case to be thrown out. Instead, it was rejected right back in the faces."
Allstate spokesman Michael Siemienas said the judge indicated "there are factual issues still to be explored."
However, the company "is pleased that the judge ruled, 'The exclusions found in the policy for water damage and for damages attributable to flooding are valid and enforceable policy provisions,'" Siemienas added, quoting from the 11-page ruling.
The Buentes, who bought their Gulfport home in June 2005, claim the Allstate agent who sold them their policy told them they didn't need to purchase "flood coverage" because they didn't live in a flood plain.
Allstate paid the couple $2,600 for damage caused by wind, but the Buentes say their home sustained up to $100,000 in damage. Allstate argues that its policies do not cover damage from "storm surge," or wind-driven water.
Allstate, based in Northbrook, Ill., is the second-largest U.S. personal-lines insurer behind State Farm.
Scruggs' legal team is suing four other insurance companies - Metropolitan, State Farm, Nationwide and United Services Automobile Association.
Scruggs said Friday's ruling could be "precedential and highly influential" to the other cases.
"This is exactly what we were trying to get accomplished," he said.
In an interview with The Associated Press last week, Scruggs said he's gathering evidence that companies are pressuring engineers to alter their conclusions on storm damage so claims can be denied.
Scruggs said a whistleblower - a "highly placed insider" at a major insurance company - has given him copies of "coerced and altered engineering reports" that companies tried to keep "under lock and key."
Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood also is suing insurance companies for denying Katrina claims. Hood has said he also is investigating insurance companies for their "fraudulent" handling of claims.
Mississippi Ping
About time Insurance Companies are the biggest rip offs around!
Mind-boggling to me that anyone living anywhere near Gulfport Mississippi wouldn't think they needed flood insurance for the possibility of storm surge.
I have a friend who has served as defense counsel for Allstate. He recently confided, "you want to go to bat for your client, not go to hell for them". Come Judgement Day, I know he will have other problems just for being an attorney but he now longer works for Allstate because he "doesn't want to go to hell".
Want a good feel for how people in the industry feel about Allstate"? Go to www.allstateinsurancesucks.com.
It's doesn't matter. The flood insurance company will say that wind destroyed the houses and the housing insurance have said that water destroyed the houses. Neither would pay and since as Hurricane is both wind and water this pasring of words is fraud and the insurance companies should be sue to pay for their previous agreements.
Nothing personal, but you don't know much about insurance. There are no "flood insurance" companies, the federal government (YOU and ME) are the flood "insurers". Commercial insurers are much too smart to take on flood risks and don't except in special situations. So, almost all flood "insurance" is sold by FEMA/NFIP and the losses are covered by the US Treasury.
The states regulate and promulgate insurance. The insurers do not even write the policy forms. The states write the policies and usually home insurance policy forms specifically exclude flooding (rising water). So, the "commercial" insurers have not anticipated flood losses and have never collected any premium for such losses because they simply are not covered. But people like Trent Lott want the commercial insurers to pay for what are flood claims and so do these lawyers. That's not right. It might feel good but it isn't right.
After listening to over 200 flood insurance ads over the course of three years, I disagree.
Beside which, you missed my entire point.
I hear you.
I lived a good many years in Florida, and knew several people who bought homes, and eschewed flood insurance.
Mostly because they could not afford the premiums and/or insurance was not to be had.
Others "lost" their property due to floods and hurricanes, but they never seemed to suffer much...
Better known as Trent Lott's brother-in-law, aka Tobacco Company chaser.
New All State motto, "You're in the toilet with All State"..
Yes, there are.
Maybe I didn't get your point. I read your post again and it didn;t make sense.
Name them.
http://www.thefloodinsuranceagency.com/
You can buy some right there, for starters.
My point is that no matter how much you pay to insurers, those insurers will not honor their agreements, unless you sue them.
They sell FEMA/NFIP insurance. IE: Federal Flood Insurance.
Who needs flood insurance?
By Insure.com
When your home is flooded, it can lead to financial ruin if you don't have the proper insurance. And note this: A basic homeowners policy won't cover your flood damage! You need flood insurance — a special policy backed by the federal government, with cooperation from local communities and private insurance companies.
About 200 insurance companies, possibly including the company that already handles your homeowners or auto insurance, write and service flood insurance policies for the government, which finances the program through premiums.
http://info.insure.com/home/flood/
Picking a company
Since the federal government sets the rates, private insurance companies that sell flood insurance compete on service, not on price. These "Write Your Own" companies make their profit from service fees allotted by the NFIP. When comparing insurers, one question to ask is how quickly are claims resolved? A company in poor financial health may not be able to pay its claims as promptly as a prosperous company.
When writing flood insurance policies, companies tend to focus on specific regions. Unisun, for example, provides coverage to homeowners from Virginia to Texas. Other major flood insurers, such as Bankers Insurance Group, write policies throughout the country, but are not considered national providers. State Farm, Allstate, Mutual of Omaha, and Travelers are examples of companies that write nationally.
**So there ARE companies that sell flood insurance.
Absurd. Like I said, you don't know what you are talking about.
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