Larry Curtis - Breaux Bridge, Louisiana Oil Field Accident Lawyer

April 22, 2008 - Fraud Claim Rejected In Hurricane Katrina Lawsuit

A federal judge on Monday dismissed a key Hurricane Katrina lawsuit alleging fraud against State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. The suit was filed by Biloxi, Mississippi couple Thomas and Pamela McIntosh, after State Farm blamed most of the damage to their home on Katrina's storm surge, and paid them only $36,228. Dozens of lawsuits were filed in the wake of Hurricane Katrina's devastation of the gulf coast on August 29, 2005. Many of them, the McIntosh's included, centered around allegations that State Farm routinely denied claims based on bad faith and fraud.

The McIntosh suit claimed that State Farm, through Alabama-based firm A.E. Renfroe & Company, who provided State Farm with damage assessment reports, produced two separate engineering reports in October 2005, shortly after the Katrina damage occurred. They alleged that State Farm used the two reports to minimize the value of the wind damage sustained by their home and to avoid liability for their claims against their homeowners' policy. The couples' policy did not include coverage for flood damage.

In his Partial Summary Judgment, U.S. District Court Judge L.T. Senter, Jr., says that while the McIntosh's contention that State Farm and A.E. Renfroe worked together to deliberately underestimate the damage to their home would support a finding of bad faith, it is not sufficient to warrant such a finding. A.E. Renfroe & Company, he further finds, cannot have aided and abetted a fraud that did not occur.

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Larry Curtis, Personal Injury Attorney handles all types of Personal Injury cases including: Automobile Accidents, Maritime Accidents, Spinal Cord Injuries, Traumatic Brain Injuries, Wrongful Death, Insurance Bad Faith, Airplane Accidents, Drunk Driving Injuries, Large Truck Accidents, Motorcycle Accidents, School Bus Accidents, Slip and Fall Accidents.

Larry Curtis, Personal Injury Attorney serves the following Louisiana areas: Southern Louisiana, Lafayette, Acadia Parish (Crowley), Allen Parish (Oberlin), Ascension Parish (Donaldsonville), Assumption Parish (Napoleonville), Avoyelles Parish (Marksville), Beauregard Parish (DeRidder), Bienville Parish (Arcadia), Bossier Parish (Benton), Caddo Parish (Shreveport), Calcasieu Parish (Lake Charles), Caldwell Parish (Columbia), Cameron Parish (Cameron), Catahoula Parish (Harrisonburg), Claiborne Parish (Homer), Concordia Parish (Vidalia), DeSoto Parish (Mansfield),East Baton Rouge Parish (Baton Rouge), East Carroll Parish (Lake Providence), East Feliciana Parish (Clinton), Evangeline Parish (Ville Platte), Franklin Parish (Winnsboro), Grant Parish (Colfax), Iberia Parish (New Iberia), Iberville Parish (Plaquemine), Jackson Parish (Jonesboro), Jefferson Parish (Gretna), Jefferson Davis Parish (Jennings), Lafayette Parish (Lafayette), Lafourche Parish (Thibodaux), LaSalle Parish (Jena), Lincoln Parish (Ruston), Livingston Parish (Livingston), Madison Parish (Tallulah), Morehouse Parish (Bastrop), Natchitoches Parish (Natchitoches), Orleans Parish (New Orleans), Ouachita Parish (Monroe), Plaquemines Parish (Pointe a la Hache), Pointe Coupee Parish (New Roads), Rapides Parish (Alexandria), Red River Parish (Coushatta), Richland Parish (Rayville), Sabine Parish (Many), St. Bernard Parish (Chalmette), St. Charles Parish (Hahnville), St. Helena Parish (Greensburg), St. James Parish (Convent), St. John the Baptist Parish (Edgard), St. Landry Parish (Opelousas), St. Martin Parish (St. Martinville), St. Mary Parish (Franklin), St. Tammany Parish (Covington), Tangipahoa Parish (Amite), Tensas Parish (St. Joseph), Terrebonne Parish (Houma), Union Parish (Farmerville), Vermilion Parish (Abbeville), Vernon Parish (Leesville), Washington Parish (Franklinton), Webster Parish (Minden), West Baton Rouge Parish (Port Allen), West Carroll Parish (Oak Grove), West Feliciana Parish (St. Francisville), Winn Parish (Winnfield)

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