Insurance Dispute Lawyer Blog

For those Louisiana residents, whether you live in Lake Charles, Shreveport, Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Kentwood or any other of the great cities across this state, looking for more information on their possible personal injury claim, check out our blog dedicated to these legal matters:

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This blog discusses the legal issues relating to Admiralty/Maritime law, Animal/Dog Bites, Car Accidents, Chemical/Industrial Spills, the intricacies of Expert Testimony, Insurance Disputes, employee rights under the Jones Act, Legal Duty, Civil Lawsuits, Criminal prosecution, Medical Malpractice, Mesothelioma/Asbestos, Motorcycle Injury, Negligence, Offshore Accidents, Product Defects, Chinese Drywall, Strict Liability, Workers' Compensation and Wrongful Death. All of these issues are crucial to citizens rights and residents of Louisiana.

To better understand the complexity of the law, contacting an attorney is crucial. However, to get a better understanding of the general issues, we hope this resource is invaluable. Feel free to browse this legal resource dealing with a variety of harms or damages you may have suffered in order to understand how your issue matches up with the law.

If you would like to speak with an attorney, check out our contact information. We represent Louisiana residents across the state and would be happy to discuss with you how to move forward with your unfortunate circumstances.

The Wall Street Journal, in its editorial section yesterday, commended Judge Duval for finding the Army Corps of Engineers at fault for the flooding of areas of New Orleans. The editorial, entitled 'A win for New Orleans,' celebrates the win as an opportunity for those whose homes flooded to receiving financial settlements to make up for the inability of the Corps to develop and operate adequate water projects.

The lawsuit was brought by seven plaintiffs. Judge Duval ruled against the plaintiffs from New Orleans East but awarded $720,000 to those from St. Bernard and the Lower Ninth.

The judge's decision could lead to thousands of people joining class actions seeking billions of dollars in damages. Lawyers for the plaintiffs are calling on the federal government to offer a universal settlement with the people of New Orleans. The Obama administration and members of Congress should listen. While there are limits on how much people should expect -- the government is strapped for cash, after all -- it's difficult to see what purpose would be served by dragging this case through appeals all the way up to the Supreme Court. Unless the government has a persuasive defense for the negligence decried by Judge Duval, it would be better to settle now.

This is a good sign that the national press is following Gulf Coast issues closely and hopefully people get the results they are looking for in terms of more Corps attention and effort into improving the water systems. Any progress and attention to issues relating to New Orleans and its recovery, though, is positive and hopefully will help lead to those efforts that prevent the devastation of Katrina from occurring again.

Governor Bobby Jindal has responded to U.S. District Judge Stanwood Duval Jr.'s ruling that the flooding of areas within New Orleans was the direct fault of the Army Corps of Engineers inability to develop and execute proper water resource projects within Louisiana. The press release, posted below, condemns the Corps for their failure and is a strongly worded encouragement of the Corps to rectify and improve its efforts in the near future.

The Office of the Governor states

Baton Rouge: Governor Bobby Jindal issued the following statement regarding the ruling by U.S. District Judge Stanwood Duval Jr. that the Army Corps of Engineers' was directly responsible for flood damage to portions of the New Orleans region following Hurricane Katrina because of their failure to properly operate and maintain water resources projects in Louisiana:

"This ruling highlights the fact that Hurricane Katrina’s damage was exacerbated by the failure of the Corps of Engineers to properly operate and maintain water resources projects in Louisiana. There are very real and human implications of the failure to quickly solve challenges and address vulnerabilities in our hurricane protection system. I hope this decision will serve as a catalyst for the Corps, Congress and the Administration to aggressively move forward on hurricane protection and coastal restoration efforts in Louisiana."

While Judge Stanwood Duval Jr.'s ruling is progressive in the sense it keeps the matter from simply being blamed on the unknown, the development of the levee and water systems around New Orleans is the most important thing that can happen in the coming months and years to protect the city from future harm. Our firm can only hope that Corps will learn from its mistakes and help make the state safer from flooding in the future.

Hurricane insurance claims continue to be filed in the Gulf Coast, this time in Texas. The Southeast Texas Record reports a wide assortment of filings over the last week of October. Examples include:

Joseph and Julia Crow of Beaumont allege Texas Windstorm Insurance Association denied their claim for roof, water, wind, foundation, structural and contents damages caused to their home after Hurricane Ike struck on Sept. 13, 2008. TWIA denied the claim after its Vice President of Claims Reggie Warren assigned adjusters to investigate.

June Jennings of 1908 North 21st St. in Nederland alleges Texas Windstorm Insurance Association improperly paid her claim for dwelling and contents damages caused to her home after Hurricane Ike struck on Sept. 13, 2008.

These two cases highlight a common thread in insurance disputes: claim denials and low-ball financial compensation offers. Further, many insurance companies hope that homeowners do not know how long they have to file and try to convince them that a low settlement is the only solution. In many cases this is simply not the case and accepting such an offer is disastrous.

The Berniard Law Firm is very familiar with attacking both of these strategies when its clients are taken advantage of by the insurance companies and employs a myriad of experts that will help you receive the justice you deserve.

The Wall Street Journal reports that companies in the Gulf and outside of it are not seeking insurance for catastrophe this hurricane season. Citing "improved technology and increased regulations" as rationale for avoiding the provisions, these companies still stand at some peril as hurricane season escalates. The article notes

Many energy companies are facing the late-blooming Gulf Coast hurricane season without insurance against storm damage to their offshore platforms, pipelines and drilling rigs.

Although the annual storm season has been mild so far, the first hurricane, Bill, brewed up in the Atlantic last weekend, and federal forecasters are predicting three to six hurricanes this year, one or two of which will probably qualify as major.

Consumers are less likely than in earlier years to see spiking prices if hurricanes hit, experts said, because big stockpiles of oil, natural gas and gasoline have built up in the U.S. since the recession began.

But for small and midsize energy companies, a storm's impact could be serious, because they would have to pay for repairs out of their own pockets at a time when revenues have been shrinking because of the global slump in oil and natural-gas prices.

This seems to be similar to the gamble that states are taking for reinsurance, as mentioned in the blog here. All the more, very close attention is going to be paid to developing storms as the season rolls on and the gambles states and companies are taking either pay off or blow up in their faces.

An article from 2005 while Hurricane Katrina raged through the States remains relevant today.

In today's five tips, we're going to tell you what you need to know about your insurance if your home as been damaged or destroyed in the hurricane.

1. Contact your insurer, stat.
2. Document, document, document.
3. Live with it...for now.
4. Watch out for scammers.
5. Protest your settlement.

Each tip carries with it a brief description of what to do. Take, for instance, CNN's suggestion for "Living with it now"

Make only temporary repairs before the insurance adjustor has a chance to come in and access the damage. Of course you should not compromise your safety. But if you have a leaky roof, just put some pots and pans around instead of having the damage fixed by a professional.

This is a good way to make sure that you are reimbursed for any repair. If you are currently underinsured or you have a sizable unreinbursed property loss estimate, you may be able to deduct this from your taxes.

First, subtract any insurance you anticipate receiving. Then subtract $100. The loss must be further reduced by 10 percent of your adjusted gross income, according to Tom Ochsenschlager of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. The balance remaining is what you can deduct from your taxes.

Just some things to keep in mind in case hurricane season doesn't remain as quiet as it has been.

The New York Times recently brought up a casualty of the economic climate facing many states: the cost/benefit analysis being made by states in regards to insurance against dangerous storms. Often extremely costly and unnecessary, this reinsurance looks to bolster defenses against disastrous natural calamities but, with budget cuts at a premium, states are beginning to count every dollar and looking to go without.

Public insurance programs in some coastal states are flirting with the notion of saving millions of dollars every year by shrinking or canceling the coverage they buy from private reinsurers -- the deep-pocketed companies that insure insurers whose exposure to loss exceeds the budgets of some nations.

States are the insurers in this case. And they are either tired of paying piles of cash for reinsurance policies that are rarely needed, or too broke financially to maintain coverage that has saved state residents from paying billions in hurricane damage claims. In the parlance of the insurance business, without coverage or a hedge against their expensive risks, they are "running naked."

Here's the bet: Save hundreds of millions with no disaster, or pay perhaps billions with one.

Two of the nation's biggest states are looking to gamble on the odds of a disaster-free summer:

Texas let its policy die at the end of May, less than a year after reinsurers paid $1.5 billion in claims related to Hurricane Ike. That's not a bad return on the state's investment. Texans paid $180 million for the policy.

Texas will buck this hurricane season with no reinsurance.

California is also looking to reduce its coverage.

Overall an unfortunate situation that will leave many state budget workers hoping they made the right decision, depending on what decision they make.

A quick news blurb regarding a topic we brought up earlier: the nearing expiration of the National Flood Insurance Program. Such an expiration has been delayed another six months as the House agreed to extend the program through the 2009 hurricane season:

Set to expire on Sept. 30, the House approved a six-month extension to March 31, 2010. The Senate and president must approve the extension.

The NFIP bill (HR 3139) was sponsored by House Financial Services Housing Subcommittee Chairwoman Maxine Waters (D.-Calif.) and committee chairman Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.).

In March, President Barack Obama extended the program through September just as it was about to expire. Frank and Waters introduced the new legislation in July for a second extension, citing the importance of the program following Hurricane Katrina and other storms that devastated the Gulf Coast.

Definitely a good thing.

Catching up on June happenings, it is important for those individuals affected by Hurricane Katrina to know that the timeline in which they may file for claims involving damage from the epic storm has been reset.

From NOLA.com

The class action allegations against insurers in the consolidated levee breach litigation have been dismissed, restarting the clock for anyone who is dissatisfied with the results of their Katrina claim and allowing them to file a lawsuit against their insurer nearly four years after the storm.

Home and business owners and renters had two years to file lawsuits against insurers over claim disputes after the Aug. 29, 2005, storm. Class action lawsuit filings stop the legal clock by covering the rights of all potential members of a class, but if that petition fails to get certified as a class or individual defendants get cut from the proceedings, plaintiffs' individual legal rights to pursue similar claims are restored.

On Tuesday (June 16), U.S. District Court Judge Stanwood R. Duval Jr. granted a request by insurers to be severed from the Katrina Canal Breaches Consolidated Litigation, saying that disputes against insurers were individual, and not suitable to be handled as part of a class action.

It is important for Louisiana homeowners to work immediately to look for legal action should they not have already and hold insurers responsible in the event their homes were damaged. Late answers to policy claims and frivolous delays or demands should
be answered by demanding the rights promised to them by the country's judicial system and contacting an attorney should working through their agent be stonewalled is the most definitive and proper action.

The recent events in Florida and the exit of various insurance companies from areas surrounding the Gulf Coast have raised a lot of speculation on how to preserve competition within these states while at the same time not forcing the government's hand to bail out in the event of a disaster. About a month ago The Florida Times-Union wrote on this topic and how drastic the decisions may be to keep a level playing field for residents.

Florida's property insurance system is a ticking time bomb, one that could wreak havoc on the state's economy when - that's when, not if - the next hurricanes hit.

This is because the state-run catastrophic fund, which shares property insurance risks with companies that sell policies here, is egregiously underfunded.

In a worst-case scenario, insured homeowners might face long delays in getting money to rebuild their hurricane-damaged houses - and all Floridians could be stuck with very high taxes or "assessments" to raise the needed money.

So, what's the solution?

Ideally, it would be to spread out some of the costs through a federal catastrophic natural disaster fund, similar to the federal flood insurance program.

It's doubtful that either of Florida's senators, or any of its House members, have enough clout with their colleagues to get the job done.

While there is no clear answer in sight and Florida is not alone on this issue as insurers in Louisiana and Texas have shown the same sort of reluctance and could go the way of others soon, debate on reform is essential. Without this topic being out in the public discourse, policy holders can be left shocked when a provider pulls out of a state or region.

KBMT in Southeast Texas similarly outlined issues relating to premiums and insurance agents in discussing the problems facing their viewership

According to the Insurance Information Institute, homeowners insurance premiums are up about three percent nationwide and probably more in some coastal areas where the potential for damage is greater.

Several factors are affecting premiums and coverage, including the $26 billion insurers paid out on catastrophic losses in 2008 and the impact of financial market turmoil on the companies earnings.

Changes in state regulations are also driving some premiums higher.

This outlook is not all that positive for homeowners in the region as a whole but, when combined with the first article, demonstrates how significantly important it is for some solution to be reached in the coming years to prevent residents of the Gulf Coast, in various states, from being damaged harshly by these insurance issues. By staying on top of the issue and making sure that the elected officials of the area and on the federal level are doing everything they can to keep insurance companies in the region and more money in the pockets of policy holders.

With hurricane season in full swing, it is important for home and property owners to be fully aware and clear about their insurance and coverage, or lack thereof, that it provides. Whether living in a flood plain or tucked safely in a non-flooding area, residents of the Gulf Coast can be affected all the same by a hurricane by the list of dangers such as wind or rain damage. Going through your policy and making sure the proper cover necessary to properly rebuild in the event of storm damage is there will help prevent nasty surprises should the unthinkable happen and serious destruction befalls you.

Tim Engstrom from Southwest Florida's News-Press has more

Most homeowners - especially those outside high-hazard coastal zones - can find coverage, but it is likely to be with a newer, less-familiar company, said Randy Duncan, an agent with the Insurance Depot of Lee County in Cape Coral.

"The days of name-brand coverage are over," Duncan said. "All that really matters is whether the company is A-rated - can it cover its expenses in the event of a loss?"

There is no "hurricane insurance"; homeowners' insurance is actually a collection of insurance coverage that includes such hazards as windstorm, fire, lightning and more.

Duncan said homeowners frequently forget that their windstorm coverage typically carries a much higher deductible - based on a percentage of the insured value - than other coverage.

The article goes on, citing the need to reup your policy coverage in the event of home upgrades or additions, as well as keeping an extra copy of insurance documents with personal documentation in a safety deposit box or other "outside" storage area away from the home. Available here, the article is a good read for anyone living in the Gulf Coast to make sure they are up to task on their preparation and insurance values.

Per The Times-Picayune

Newly revised Preliminary Digital Flood Insurance Rate Maps showing the potential for flooding caused by a 100-year rainfall and hurricane-strength surge for New Orleans will be available for review and discussion at a Wednesday open house in City Park.

The event will be held from 2 to 8 p.m. at the Pavilion of the Two Sisters in the City Park Botanical Gardens on Victory Drive.

Specialists will be available to answer questions about the maps, which will be available in paper and digital formats.

Viewing the maps is a great opportunity for home and property owners to see an updated technological analysis of their risk of flooding. With experts on hand to help explain what is being illustrated, New Orleans residents may find out more on how rainfall specifically may affect and harm their home depending on where it sits in the city.

The Louisiana Mapping Project may be found online at www.lamappingproject.com. There you will find more information and details regarding FEMA's Louisiana Mapping Project and how they are developed and adopted. You may also call the project through their call center at (866) 751-3989, M-F 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

While the Army Corps of Engineers continues to design, build and implement a storm preparedness system that prevents the type of flooding New Orleans saw after Hurricane Katrina, the price has gone shockingly high. Per an Associated Press article, creating a satisfactory system of floodgates and other water barriers will cost nearly two billion dollars, nearly 15% of the budgeted money the area was given to rebuild.

Top brass at the Army Corps of Engineers say the estimated price of a major project to build three floodgates and a 1.8-mile storm surge barrier to protect New Orleans from hurricanes is now $1.8 billion.

The cost of closing off the Inner Harbor Navigation Canal has risen since the project began last year. The structures being built on the eastern flank of New Orleans are among the most important features in the Army Corps' plan to defend the city against hurricanes.

Army Corps officials say they have asked Congress to allow it to use $540 million in funds slated for other projects to finish the work on the canal by 2011.

In all, Congress gave the corps $14.3 billion after Hurricane Katrina to build a better flood protection system for the New Orleans region.

It is important this project does not get weighed down in the bureaucracy of delays and halts while budgeting is figured out because the city cannot afford, literally, to experience another meltdown of implemented fail-safes as it did in the wake of Katrina. By prioritizing this effort, the government would demonstrate a clear desire to protect the city from future harm and give the corps a project it can be proud of completing. To not do so would be catastrophic when the next great hurricane comes.

In something that will likely not come as a surprise to residents of New Orleans, a planned command center for emergency operations in the event of a hurricane that was scheduled to be ready last Monday is nowhere near ready.

In pictures provided by WWL, the site looks more like a recent renovation than what is supposed to be the nerve center for communications should a devastating storm return to the city.

WWL's Scott Satchfield reports

When hurricanes threaten emergency operations centers, or EOC’s, across the state are the nerve centers for first responders and emergency managers. It's where they come together to make key decisions for public safety.

That won’t be happening anytime soon inside the space that is designated to become the New Orleans’ new emergency operations center.

Located on the ninth floor of City Hall, it's mostly empty aside from some wires hang from the ceiling, and piles of broken concrete sitting on the floor.

It was supposed to be ready by Monday, the first day of hurricane season.

While an office exists now, there is a very urgent need for the delays that have put off this new site's construction to be removed and work to go forward. Though it will obviously not be in place for this year, one can only hope it will be operational in 2010.

This weekend is as good a time as any to prepare your family, home, business and/or property for hurricane season. Our blog has featured various tips on how to be ready in the event of a hurricane and what steps you can take to insure you are on solid footing in the aftermath of a storm.

Simply go to the Storm and Hurricane tips section of this blog to find out more information.

In a report by Fox News, most coastal residents are not prepared for hurricane season.

Many Americans who live in Gulf and Atlantic Coast states are not prepared for an active 2009 hurricane season, despite being slammed last year, a new Mason-Dixon poll found.

More than half those surveyed, 66 percent, said they don't have a hurricane survival kit and 62 percent said they don't feel vulnerable to a hurricane or related tornado or flooding.

A majority of them, 83 percent, said they haven't done anything in the past year to make their houses more hurricane-resistant, according to the poll.

While the last fact, that more preparation has not been undertaken since last year, may be a bit misleading as many residents of the Gulf Coast took extraordinary measures in the wake of Katrina to be ready, these numbers are still troubling. Storm and Hurricane preparation and informational tips are available within this blog and residents of Louisiana, Florida, Alabama, Texas and other states are urged to become vigilant in keeping up in their preparations. Check your insurance information to see if it covers any new developments or additions to your home or property and, again, follow some of these tips. The time is most definitely well spent as the storm season approaches.

Today, according to the Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, marks the beginning of hurricane season.

The Atlantic hurricane season is officially from 1 June to 30 November. There is nothing magical in these dates, and hurricanes have occurred outside of these six months, but these dates were selected to encompass over 97% of tropical activity. June 1st has been the traditional start of the Atlantic hurricane season for decades. However, the end date has been slowly shifted outward, from October 31st to November 15th until its current date of November 30th.

Now, before it's too late, make sure your insurance premiums are up to date, your coverage is what you wanted and your home plan on emergency preparation is ready. For more information on how to be prepared for storms and hurricanes, check out our blog posts that go over a variety of ways to be prepared in the event of a disaster or tropical storm.

The Louisiana senate move forward with changes for Citizens insurance that will hopefully help home and property owners with their coverage and recovery in the event of a hurricane or natural disaster. NOLA.com reports:

The state-run insurer of last resort should have new guidelines to set rates and possibly slow the increase in premiums to homeowners, the Senate decided today.

Approved 30-2, Senate Bill 130 by Sen. Troy Hebert, D-Jeanerette, goes to the House Insurance Committee for more debate.
Hebert said if the bill had been in effect this year, the average 7 percent rate increase imposed May 1 by the Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corp., would have been about 3.2 percent.

Hebert's bill would require the reworking of the formula Citizens uses in setting rates. Under existing law, Citizens cannot charge competitive rates with private insurance companies in an area. It must add a 10 percent surcharge on top of the highest rate charged by private insurers in a parish.

With Louisiana, and any legislature in general, any progress is good progress. Hopefully rates will fall progressively with this new measure as coverage and damages require a full, multi-lateral effort amongst all involved.

While stories have been popping up progressively in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina, Gustav and Ike, one interesting development has been the efforts by lawmakers and citizens for preparedness should an unpredictable catastrophe befall their hometown. States along the Eastern Seaboard have been taking action instituting insurance measures and local disaster drills should an unexpected and devastating hurricane knock on their doorstep.

New Jersey is one of those states, taking it as far as to create a fund that would help make sure homeowners would be protected in the event of a cataclysmic storm:

Today, the Legislature will begin hearings on how to best protect New Jersey homeowners from the devastation of major hurricanes or other natural disasters. This is an important and timely step; the Atlantic hurricane season begins in less than a month and New Jersey is both exposed and vulnerable to those storms.

The Senate Commerce Committee will hear testimony on the "New Jersey Consumer Catastrophe Preparedness and Protection Act" (S2089), sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Steve Sweeney (D-Gloucester). It would use private insurer dollars to create a fund that would stand behind the traditional insurance market to cover the most extreme losses from truly massive hurricanes -- not the routine storms that sweep across beachfront properties, but those whose devastation would stretch far beyond our coastal communities and well into many of our urban centers.
Because the fund would be a pubic-private partnership, private insurer dollars that are deposited into the fund, as well as the fund's investment income, would be exempt from state and federal taxes. Mandatory annual deposits combined with tax-free investment income would help the fund to grow year after year.

A portion of the investment income, but not the principal deposits, would by law be annually appropriated for preparation and planning so that damages from storms could be minimized. A portion would be used to enhance first-responder training and equipment so that lives could be better protected when the unthinkable does happen. A portion would also be dedicated to improve consumer and homeowner education so that residents can be informed and prepared in the event of a massive natural event.

It's good to see that the lessons of the past will not be forgotten so easily, even in states that did not face such hardships directly.

In a move set to memorialize and preserve the memory of the carnage and harm recent hurricanes have caused, the NOAA is retiring several notable storm names from active use in the upcoming hurricane season.

The names Gustav, Ike and Paloma will never be associated with future hurricanes or tropical storms on account of their deadly romp through the Caribbean last year, the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has announced.

The storms claimed more than 200 lives and left a trail of destruction calculated in the billions across the region from August to November 2008.

Under the normal six-year rotation, the names would have been up to be used again in 2014. However, they will be replaced by Gonzalo, Isaias and Paulette.
An NOAA spokesman said the names were retired for reasons of sensitivity.

This is a good move by the weather service and a chance to move forward in the wake of these storms' deadly destruction.