The only insurer to voluntarily allow an extension is the Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corp., the state-created insurance provider of last resort. The majority of “property insurance policies in Louisiana carry a one-year time limit for lawsuits disputing their settlements. After that period, homeowners lose critical leverage to negotiate with insurers.”
The reality is many Katrina related claims have not been filed. This fact could lead to a surge of lawsuits up to the August 29th deadline. In order to avoid these lawsuits insurers are sticking to the fine print in their policies in order to avoid setting a “precedent”. Instead of thinking of the special circumstances surrounding the disaster of Katrina insurers are worried about precedents.
They are not willing to change existing policies but will comply with new legislation. Following the recent state legislative session, “a new law calls upon a legal principle recognized by the courts that basically says it is unfair to impose a time restriction on a legal filing if a person was unable to file a suit for some valid reason.”
Does Hurricane Katrina qualify as a “valid reason”? Being displaced from your home because your home and your entire neighborhood were destroyed suffices.
Comment Preview