Hi All -- I thought some people might be interested in this. Perhaps you all have seen President Bush saying he is going to try to find out about insurance coverage for damages and losses related to Katrina. It's going to be a matter of determining what was the cause of the losses, where a chain of causes is involved. I know which way most insurers will prefer to argue it! But then again, there will be a lot of pressure from public scrutiny on these determinations that may help people in a bind - let's hope. This blurb is from Mealey's Insurance Litigation Reports.
Regards, Ricki Utah Homeowners' CLASS ACTION seeks coverage for flooding in new orleans BATON ROUGE, La. - A class action lawsuit filed Sept. 16 against the Louisiana insurance commissioner and numerous insurance companies seeks a declaration that flooding in the City of New Orleans sustained during Hurricane Katrina was caused by breaches in the city's flood walls and does not fall within the exclusions for "rising water" or an "act of God," contained in most standard homeowners' policies (Gladys Chehardy et al., v. Lousiana Insurance Commissioner J. Robert Wooley, et al, No. 536451, 19th Jud. Dist). The plaintiffs also ask the 19th Judicial District Court for the Parish of East Baton Rouge to find that the losses from water entering the city are attributable to a windstorm, a standard covered peril in the insurance policies. According to the complaint, up to 160,000 homes are estimated to be unusable as a result of the hurricane and it appears that after investigations are completed, there will tens and possibly hundreds of thousands of people who could be part of the class action lawsuit. "The issues presented in this Petition should be decided by declaratory judgment inasmuch as their resolution involves a major public policy issue which will affect thousands of Louisiana citizens, many of whom will suffer enormous emotional and financial damage until the issue is decided. While the insurance companies may continue to make investment income during the course of any protracted legal proceedings, homeowners on the other hand have little recourse but to sit idly by awaiting a decision, all the while being unable to begin reconstruction or renovation of their homes until they have the money to pay their contractors. As a result, without resolution of this issue by declaratory judgment, thousands of homeowners will be left stranded for months, or perhaps even years," the plaintiffs say. To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace-chat [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
