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Hurricane & Storm Damage
& Related Newswire
7/5/2006 10:37:00 AM | Investigating insurers 
=(0) Three insurance companies in Louisiana are to have a market behavior audit from the Louisiana Department of Insurance. The companies, Allstate, St. Paul Travelers, and Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corp., were the subjects of many customer complaints following last year's hurricanes. The Department allowed for that increase but is chec...
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6/30/2006 1:50:00 AM | Citizens ordered to disclose settlements =(0) Citizens Property Insurance in Florida has been ordered to disclose the terms of settlements it has been making with litigants outside of a class action suit that is ongoing. The company is fighting portions of claims relating to the hurricanes of 2004, but has begun quietly settling with individual policyholders. A judge has ruled that t...
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6/9/2006 3:38:00 PM | Insurance will not pay for mold woes =(0) Homeowners need to be aware of the dangers of toxic mold, both to their health and their wallets. Many insurance companies do not cover mold removal in their standard homeowner policies; it must be purchased separately. Mold develops when moisture accumulates; that may happen for a variety of reasons including roof leaks, drainage proble...
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6/3/2006 6:51:00 AM | $3M suit blames hurricane plan =(0) A Long Beach, Mississippi woman is suing the Port of Gulfport, State Port Authority, Mississippi Development Corp. and several companies involved in shipping, because a cargo container allegedly washed up and destroyed her house during Hurricane Katrina. The plaintiff says the risks were known because of events during previous hurricanes and t...
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6/1/2006 12:08:00 PM | Class Action Suit Filed in New Orleans Against 15 Homeowners ... =(0) Many homeowners' Hurricane Katrina insurance suits in the greater New Orleans area have been consolidated into a class-action lawsuit against fifteen companies. Issues of complaint include the wind-water-flood decisions, arbitrary rulings on waterlines and other evidence, and failure to advise policyholders of risks and the availability of flo...
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6/1/2006 7:04:00 AM | Bill raises stakes in insurance delays =(0) A new law, now working its way through the Louisiana legislature, would increase penalties to insurance companies who do not pay claims on time. Companies are supposed to pay within 30 days once the claim is legally established. The penalty for late payment now is 25% of damages owed but the new law raises it to 50% and includes the possibilit...
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5/31/2006 1:44:00 AM | Judge denies extension for 'ineligible' evacuees =(0) More than 2000 hurricane evacuees will immediately lose housing assistance, as a request for a restraining order against FEMA was denied. However the judge did urge FEMA to expedite review procedures. The restraining order had been requested to give families more time, until a class action lawsuit against FEMA could be heard. The next he...
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5/30/2006 4:09:00 AM | Workers: Asbestos danger =(0) The destruction caused by last summer's hurricanes along the Gulf Coast is in turn spawning another disaster: those engaged in the cleanup, and even the public at large, are being exposed to dangerous levels of asbestos because regulations are not being followed. Workers and advocacy groups are telling the local media that the way in which bui...
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5/27/2006 10:38:00 PM | Couple Gets $13M in Tornado Damage Suit =(0) In a case that could be seen as encouraging to last year's hurricane victims, a couple won a $13 million judgement against State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. in Oklahoma for tornado-related damages. It was part of a class-action suit claiming that State Farm intentionally underpaid policyholders after tornados destroyed their homes in 1999. A...
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· FEMA's Defense - Fort Worth Star Telegram
5/27/2006 2:47:00 AM | FEMA defends itself from lawsuit =(0) In response to a class action lawsuit by hurricane evacuees claiming inadequate housing aid, FEMA defended itself mostly by citing procedural issues: FEMA states it is shielded from the suit by "sovereign immunity" which bars lawsuits against government agencies; FEMA states plaintiffs do not have the standing to file the suit and that th...
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5/27/2006 1:07:00 AM | Windstorm insurance rates set to increase =(0) The Texas Windstorm Association (Windpool) will be allowed to raise its rates 3.1% for home policies and 8% for businesses according to a decision by Texas Insurance Commissioner Mike Geeslin. The increase is substantially less than the association had requested. The Windstorm Association expects as much as a 60% increase in participants ...
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5/26/2006 4:25:00 AM | 243 policyholders sue Nationwide =(0) A group of 243 policyholders are suing Nationwide Insurance in a lawsuit similar to those against State Farm and Allstate. Portions, or all, of their damage claims from Hurricane Katrina were denied on the basis of "storm surge" damage which is considered flooding, as opposed to "wind" damage, which was covered. The plaintiffs claim that it was the...
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5/25/2006 5:55:00 PM | 26 Indicted For FEMA Fraud =(0) Twenty-six central Florida residents have been indicted for FEMA fraud. They allegedly defrauded FEMA of $150,000 in bogus claims, as the hurricanes they claimed damage for (Katrina and Rita) did not even hit central Florida. They allegedly took advantage of a special process designed to get funds to victims as quickly as possible, and now fac...
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5/25/2006 10:54:00 AM | Judge rules against State Farm in suit over flood exclusions =(0) State Farm has lost a round in a lawsuit over hurricane damage in Mississippi. A judge ruled that the wording in State Farm's policy was "ambiguous" and "unenforceable" because it contained some contradictions - for example, coverage due to wind damage would be denied if the wind acted together with an excluded event such as tidal surge. ...
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5/25/2006 5:20:00 AM | Official hopes Katrina made need for flood coverage clear =(0) An official from the Insurance Information Institute strongly urges homeowners to consider purchasing flood insurance. In the US, homeowner's insurance purchased through insurance companies does not cover floods; you can get flood coverage through FEMA's National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) for your home (whether owned or rented) and business.&n...
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5/24/2006 7:17:00 PM | Changes in wind insurance affecting TX Gulf Coast =(0) Allstate has joined other insurance companies in discontinuing wind damage coverage for properties along the Texas Gulf Coast. Homeowners will have to find another company, or, as a last resort, enter the Texas Wind Pool, a state-run insurance plan. Wind Pool coverage might involve headaches of its own, as certain repairs or improvements...
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5/24/2006 12:19:00 PM | Arbitrator Certifies Class Action Against Ryland Homes in Florida =(0) A California-based homebuilder is the defendant in a class action lawsuit concerning thousands of homes built in Florida since 2000. The houses, built by Ryland Homes, become wet inside during rainstorms with no apparent source of leakage, and the problem became much worse during the many hurricanes that hit Florida in the last two years. ...
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5/24/2006 6:35:00 AM | Insurance public hearing set =(0) The State of Mississippi will hold public hearings in June concerning proposed rate increases by the Mississippi Windstorm Underwriting Association, also known as the "Windpool", which insures thousands of homes and businesses in the highest risk coastal areas of the state. The State Insurance Commissioner must decide whether to approve rate i...
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5/19/2006 8:13:00 PM | Hurricane Evacuees Sue FEMA Over Housing =(0) A group of Hurricane Katrina and Rita victims has filed a class action suit against FEMA for allegedly not living up to its promise of continuing to provide housing aid. FEMA announced that 17,000 families will no longer receive rental help after May 31, 2006 and that stricter qualification standards will be applied for those in emergency hous...
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5/18/2006 12:21:00 PM | McGraw files suit against Hurricane roofer =(0) The Attorney General of West Virginia is suing Mountaineer Roofing and Siding, a hurricane roofing company, for failure to complete work, a violation of the West Virginia Consumer Credit and Protection Act. There have been 21 consumer complaints against the company since 2001. The State has also requested a list of the company's customers and...
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