Raizner Law has filed a bad faith insurance lawsuit on behalf of a Laredo, Texas commercial building owner against United Fire & Casualty Company after its hail damage insurance claim was wrongfully denied under Texas law.
May 2017 Hailstorm
The plaintiff owns and operates three commercial properties in Webb County, Texas. On May 21, 2017, a wind and hail storm ripped through Laredo and Webb County, causing significant damage to the plaintiff’s buildings. As a result of the hail and windstorm, the properties were substantially damaged. Sizeable portions of the properties’ roofs were compromised by hail and wind. As a result of the roof damages, the properties also sustained interior damages.
Immediately upon discovering the damages, the plaintiff filed an insurance claim with United Fire and asked that the cost of repairs be covered pursuant to its policies. United Fire’s claims-handling process resulted in a wrongful denial that omitted a wealth of facts, physical evidence, obvious hail and wind damages, and meteorological data supporting the plaintiff’s claims. United Fire unreasonably pinned the loss on anything but the hail and wind, an action designed to save the company hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages to the properties and the businesses.
United Fire assigned two claims adjusters to adjust the claim who were unqualified and incapable of adequately assessing the damages to these types of commercial properties. These adjusters were also the source of many delays throughout the claims process. United Fire and its adjusters took months to even inspect the properties or attempt to assess the damages. United Fire continued to delay the claim resolution and did not provide the insured with answers to its repeated requests for information about its pending claims.
United Fire ultimately denied the claims on March 20, 2018, despite the fact that wind and hail damages were obvious and that liability under the policy was reasonably clear. Their conclusions, denials, and refusal to acknowledge or pay the claim were based on an outcome-oriented investigation aimed at denying the plaintiff’s claims from the outset. United Fire, its adjusters, and consultants ignored obvious catastrophic hail and wind damage to the properties and refused to consider that hail and wind were actually the source of obvious damages. The claims adjustment process was unnecessarily complicated, disorganized, and conducted behind closed doors until United Fire ultimately wrongfully refused to compensate its insured for any of the obvious covered damages under the policy.
United Fire & Casualty Company Violated Texas Law
To this day, United Fire has refused to pay for any covered damages under the policy. United Fire violated numerous sections of the Texas Insurance Code, including failure to effectuate the prompt, fair, and equitable settlement of a claim and failure to provide promptly a reasonable explanation for the denial of a claim. Our client also alleges United Fire violated the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act (DTPA).
Get Help With Your Hail Damage Insurance Lawsuit
If your insurance company has delayed, underpaid, or outright denied your hail damage claim, the experienced insurance lawyers at Raizner Law can help with you with your hail damage insurance lawsuit. Contact us today to schedule a free consultation to see how we can help with your hail damage insurance lawsuit.
