Raizner Law has filed a Hurricane Harvey Insurance Lawsuit on behalf of a Victoria, Texas hotel owner against Palomar Specialty Insurance Company after its insurance claim was wrongfully denied under Texas Law.
Hurricane Harvey Causes Catastrophic Damage
On August 25, 2017, Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Texas and caused widespread damage. Our client’s Texas hotel is a two-story structure that contains a main lobby, offices, a restaurant, conference rooms, and 126 hotel rooms. When Hurricane Harvey swept through Victoria, Texas, the storm caused significant damage to the property. Sizeable portions of the property’s roof were compromised by wind. As a result, there was also interior damage to HVAC, ceiling, insulation, flooring, and drywall. Immediately upon discovering the damages, the plaintiff filed an insurance claim with Palomar.
Palomar’s claims-handling process resulted in a wrongful denial that omitted a wealth of facts, physical evidence, obvious wind damage, and meteorological data from Hurricane Harvey supporting the plaintiff’s claim. Palomar unreasonably pinned the loss on anything but the wind, an action designed to save Palomar hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages to the property and the business.
Palomar assigned an internal adjuster to handle the claim who was located in Indiana. The internal adjuster was unqualified, incapable of adequately assessing the damages to the property, and was the source of many delays throughout the claims process. After utilizing a preferred vendor to inspect the property in December, four months after Harvey hit, Palomar and the internal adjuster continued to delay claim resolution and ignored the insured’s requests for updates. The plaintiff and its representative continued to press Palomar for updates and/or an estimate of damages after their inspection, but they declined and ignored the requests. Two months after the inspection, three months after the initial inspection, and after the plaintiff’s representative continuously pressed Palomar and the internal adjuster for updates, the internal adjuster simply said Palomar was “still reviewing” the claim. Palomar eventually denied the claim in February 2018.
Violating the Texas Insurance Code
Palomar made numerous violations of the Texas Insurance Code, including failure to effectuate a prompt, fair, and equitable settlement of a claim, failure to adopt and implement reasonable standards for the investigation of a claim, and refusal to pay a claim without conducting a reasonable investigation.
Hurricane Harvey Insurance Lawyers
Policyholders that regularly pay their premiums deserve full coverage under their policies in the event of a natural disaster. If your business was damage by Hurricane Harvey and the insurance company has delayed, underpaid, or outright denied your claim, contact Raizner Law today for a free consultation.
