Articles Posted in Hail Claims

Arlington insurance attorneys can tell you that it is sometimes hard to sue an adjuster. Federal Courts look at these situations really close. This is illustrated in the 2014, US Northern District Court, Dallas Division, case, One Way Investments, Inc. v. Century Surety Company, et al. Here is some information from that case.

One Way sued the insurance company and the adjuster, Mattoni. One Way asserts that its own roofing contractor and public adjusters determined, after conducting a thorough inspection of the exterior and interior, that hail had caused extensive damage requiring urgent repairs and replacement of the roof and building appurtenances, and that Mattoni under-scoped the damages during his investigation. One Way also avers that Century, VeriClaim, and Mattoni misrepresented that the damage to the property was not covered under the Policy, even though the damage was caused by a covered occurrence, thereby violating Section 541.060(a)(1); failed to make an attempt to settle One Way’s claim in a fair manner, although they were aware of their liability under the Policy, thereby violating Section 541.060(a)(2)(A); failed to affirm or deny coverage of One Way’s claim within a reasonable time, thereby violating Section 541.060(a)(4); refused to fully compensate One Way under the Policy, even though Mattoni failed to conduct a reasonable investigation, thereby violating Section 541.060(a)(7); and knowingly or recklessly made false representations as to material facts and/or knowingly concealed all or part of material information from One Way. One Way sued Mattoni under Section 541.151 based on the alleged violations of Section 541.060(a). The case was filed in State Court and the insurance company had the case removed to Federal Court.

Ome Way filed for remand back to the State Court.

Dallas attorneys who handle hail storm claims need to know where the hail events are happening. The reasons are many. Usually when an insurance company denies a hail claim, a major reason cited is that the damage is pre-exixting. This is a reason for knowing when the storms have occurred and the gathering of records showing the exact locations of the hail and the size of the hail.

The Insurance Council of Texas is a good source for keeping up with where hail events are occurring. A May and June report are cited here.

The first one is titled, Denton Storm Number Rises. Here is what it tells us.

Dallas area attorneys handling hail damage claims have a case to review as an example of how NOT to handle a claim. This is a United States Northern District Court case. It is a 2014 opinion and is styled, Stevenson v. Nationwide Property and Casualty Insurance Company.

Beatrrice Stevenson filed suit against Nationwide. Her claims include: (1) breach of contract; (2) violation of Section 542 of the Texas Insurance Code; (3) violation of the Deceptive Trade Practices Act; (4) violation of Section 541 of the Texas Insurance Code; (5) breach of duty of good faith and fair dealing; (6) fraud; and (7) conspiracy to commit fraud. She also states that Nationwide has waived and is estopped from asserting any coverage defenses, conditions, exclusions, or exceptions to coverage not contained in any reservation of rights letters to her. She seeks damages, plus prejudgment interest, attorney’s fees, additional damages, and exemplary damages. The case was removed to Federal Court.

Stevenson submitted a claim to Nationwide for damage, water damage, hail damage, windstorm damage, and mold damage to the Property as a result of the storm. She states that she asked Nationwide to cover the cost of repair to the Property pursuant to the Policy and any other available coverages under the Policy. She contends that the adjuster failed to properly adjust the claim made by her. Additionally, she contends that Nationwide has denied at least a portion of the claim without an adequate investigation. She asserts that Nationwide has failed to compensate her adequately under the terms of the Policy.

Attorneys handling Texas hailstorm claims need to keep up with events happening throughout the state related to hailstorms. Insurancenewsnet.com ran an article in June of 2014, that talks about some of the recent hailstorm events in Texas. Abilene, Texas got hit particularly hard. Here is some of the information from that article.

As reports of damage from the recent hail storms continue to pour in, people wait for insurance adjusters to estimate repair costs.

Three Abilene Independent School District elementary schools received roof damage. Repairs will cost the district at least $250,000, the amount of the district’s deductible, said Phil Ashby, communications director. This is a high deductible which essentially means the School District was self-insured up to that amount.

An Abilene insurance lawyer is probably keeping up with hail storm events in Abilene. The Insurance Council of Texas released a small article in July that has some general information in it about some hail storms in Abilene.

Abilene is by many standards a small town. In a small town such as Abilene it is often times hard for a person to find an attorney who focuses in an area of law such as insurance law. There is a lot of need for attorneys handling family law cases as well as cases related to criminal matters, probate, debt collection, bankruptcy, energy, and property. But niche areas such as insurance law are not as common an issue. Plus, when there is an issue, often times the person who a claim may be involved in a claim may be a friend or good acquaintance such as a local insurance agent or a local insurance adjuster whom local attorneys have business and social contacts relationships. Often times it is best to seek the advice of an out of town attorney to help an individual or small business person to peruse a claim that is being denied for some reason or another.

Here is a little of what the article tells us.

Fort Worth insurance lawyers who handle hail damage claims need to be know how courts interpret appraisal clauses in insurance policies. A 2009, Texas Supreme Court case is a must read for helping to understand the appraisal process. The style of the case is, State Farm Lloyds v. Johnson. Here is some of the relevant facts and information to be taken from the case.

A hailstorm moved through Plano, Texas in April of 2003, damaging the roof of Johnson’s home. She filed a claim under her homeowners insurance policy with State Farm Lloyds. State Farm’s inspector concluded that hail had damaged only the ridgeline of her roof, and estimated repair costs at $499.50 (less than the policy’s $1,477 deductible). By contrast, Johnson’s roofing contractor concluded the entire roof needed to be replaced at a cost of more than $13,000.

To settle this difference, Johnson demanded appraisal of the ” amount of loss” under the following provision in her standard-form policy:

Insurance lawyers in the Dallas / Fort Worth area will see lots of hail claims. An article this year from the “Claims Journal” needs to be read by those lawyers to keep informed. The title of the article is, The Emerging Hail Risk: What The Hail Is Going On? Here is what the article tells us.

The number of reported claims involving hail damage to residential and commercial roofing products has increased dramatically over the past few years. Some reports place the increase at almost double historical claim totals.

What is the cause of this significant increase? There is no disputing that in recent years there have been significant hail events in large metropolitan areas. But does this alone account for the near-double increase in claim filings? Plus, in addition to the increase in the number of claims, an abnormally high percentage of these claims are ending up disputed and ultimately in appraisal or litigation. In Texas, hundreds, literally hundreds, of lawsuits are being filed each week in Dallas, Tarrant, Potter, Hidalgo, and other counties involving alleged underpayment of hail related roof damage claims – far, far more than has ever previously been the case.