Raizner Law has filed a bad faith insurance lawsuit on behalf of a New Braunfels hotel against AmGuard Insurance Company after its insurance claim for Hurricane Harvey damages was wrongfully denied under Texas law.
Our client owns and operates a four-story hotel consisting of 47,800 square feet of finished space. On August 25, 2017, Hurricane Harvey came ashore along the Texas coast and travelled inland toward the Hill Country. Harvey brought extreme winds and rain that caused significant damage to the plaintiff’s property. Sizable portions of the roof and exterior were compromised by wind, and as a result, there was also substantial interior damage caused by the rainfall.
Once Hurricane Harvey had passed, the plaintiff filed an insurance claim with AmGuard and asked that the cost of repairs be covered pursuant to the policy. AmGuard’s claims-handling process resulted in a wrongful refusal to pay and omitted a wealth of facts, physical evidence, obvious wind damages, and meteorological data supporting the plaintiff’s claim. AmGuard unreasonably pinned the losses on anything but the wind, an action designed to save the company millions of dollars in damages to the property and the business.
AmGuard engaged third party adjusters that were not experienced in evaluating this type of claim. These adjusters wrongly stated that, “there was no storm-related damage to the roof covering.” The adjusters further blamed damage on “improperly installed fasteners,” and other damage caused by “storm events that have occurred since the building was constructed.”
Nineteen months after the Hurricane Harvey winds severely damaged this property, based on inadequate investigation, wrongful delays, and refusals to fully pay for reasonably clear damages, AmGuard has not issued a full payment. To this day, due to AmGuard’s outcome-oriented, inadequate, and haphazard investigation, AmGuard has refused to pay for covered damages under the policy.
Violations of Texas Law
Our client believes AmGuard has violated numerous aspects of the Texas Insurance Code, including failure to effectuate a prompt, fair, and equitable settlement of a claim, failure to implement reasonable standards for prompt investigation of claims , and refusal to pay a claim without conducting a reasonable investigation.
Get Help With Your New Braunfels Hurricane Harvey Claim
The experienced insurance lawyers at Raizner Law are helping Hurricane Harvey victims across the state get the most out of their policies with dishonest insurance companies. If you need help with your New Braunfels Hurricane Harvey claim, call us today for a free consultation.
