2008 Woodie Awards
Jury: State Farm owes punitive damages of $2.5 million
Issue date: 1/15/07 Section: News Briefs
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A jury on Thursday awarded $2.5 million in punitive damages to a couple who sued State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. for denying their claim after Hurricane Katrina, a decision that could benefit hundreds of other homeowners challenging insurers for refusing to cover billions of dollars in storm damage.
A federal judge only hours earlier had taken part of the case out of jurors' hands before they awarded punitive damages to State Farm policyholders Norman and Genevieve Broussard.
U.S. District Judge L.T. Senter Jr. ruled Thursday morning that Bloomington, Ill.-based State Farm is liable for $223,292 in damage caused by Hurricane Katrina to the Broussards' home.
Senter's decision to make a directed verdict rather than let the jury decide the entire case appeared to surprise everyone in the courtroom.
Some of Senter's earlier rulings in other Katrina cases have favored the insurance industry, but his decision Thursday calls into question the companies' refusal to cover billions of dollars in damage from Katrina's storm surge.
The Broussards sued State Farm for refusing to pay for any damage to their home, which Katrina reduced to a slab. The couple, who wanted State Farm to pay for the full insured value of their home plus $5 million in punitive damages, claimed that a tornado during the hurricane destroyed their home. State Farm blamed all the damage on Katrina's storm surge.
State Farm and other insurers say their homeowner policies cover damage from wind but not from water, even if hurricane-force winds preceded a storm's rising water.
A federal judge only hours earlier had taken part of the case out of jurors' hands before they awarded punitive damages to State Farm policyholders Norman and Genevieve Broussard.
U.S. District Judge L.T. Senter Jr. ruled Thursday morning that Bloomington, Ill.-based State Farm is liable for $223,292 in damage caused by Hurricane Katrina to the Broussards' home.
Senter's decision to make a directed verdict rather than let the jury decide the entire case appeared to surprise everyone in the courtroom.
Some of Senter's earlier rulings in other Katrina cases have favored the insurance industry, but his decision Thursday calls into question the companies' refusal to cover billions of dollars in damage from Katrina's storm surge.
The Broussards sued State Farm for refusing to pay for any damage to their home, which Katrina reduced to a slab. The couple, who wanted State Farm to pay for the full insured value of their home plus $5 million in punitive damages, claimed that a tornado during the hurricane destroyed their home. State Farm blamed all the damage on Katrina's storm surge.
State Farm and other insurers say their homeowner policies cover damage from wind but not from water, even if hurricane-force winds preceded a storm's rising water.
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