On Beach Boulevard in Mississippi, there are numerous messages painted on scrap wood depicting the locals’ opinions of their flood insurance. A favorite example of such signs is “Katrina: Act of God. State Farm: Work of the devil.” People on the affected coastline of Katrina’s wake have been abandoned by their insurance agencies as damage compensation payments required of companies such as State Farm grow massive. Private insurer losses are estimated at about $40 to $60 billion due to Katrina damages, making history as the costliest catastrophe ever to occur in the U.S.
Facing this massive amount of due payments, many insurance companies such as State Farm neglect their customers in an act of bad faith by denying them compensation based on ludicrous claims. Such a case happened with Joe De Benvenuitti and his family, who had $250,000 in flood damage and a “total replacement value” hurricane policy through State Farm. Their flood program paid them in the full $250,000 but State Farm claimed that it was the 140 mph winds that took out the De Benvenuitti’s home, ignoring the 30-foot storm surge, which their policies didn’t cover. The De Benvenuitti’s $700,000 damages are far from being compensated.
If you or someone you know has been injured due to insurer’s bad faith, please contact a personal injury lawyer.
