It appears that State Farm may have been sued again for Bad Faith as a result of Hurricane Katrina Catastrophe Claims -- indirectly, this time.
There was once a settlement agreement, among many
policyholders and State Farm, in Mississippi. The proposed settlement agreement was
subject to Federal Court approval. The Federal Judge was confronted with more questions than answers when he was presented with the proposed settlement for his approval. The Federal Judge refused to approve it, at least until the many questions were answered.
State Farm then
reportedly reached a settlement agreement of many of the same claims
with the Mississippi Insurance Commissioner's Office. This lengthy
previous history was summarized in "Update to the Update: New
Settlement in Mississippi," posted on March 20, 2007 on "Insurance Claims And Issues".
It is now reported that the State of
Mississippi, through the Mississippi Attorney General, filed a new Complaint on Monday, June 11, 2007 in Mississippi State
Court. The new Complaint contains allegations, it is reported, that State Farm breached the (first)
settlement agreement and thus breached a contract. The new Complaint contains demands for compensatory and punitive damages. More will be posted as the Complaint becomes available. As of the night of June 11, 2007,
there was a momentary silence on the subject on the web sites of both
the Mississippi Attorney General and the Mississippi Insurance
Commissioner.
Here is a link to State Farm's Press Release of June 11, 2007,which
State Farm entitled "Mississippi Attorney General's Lawsuit Threatens
to Disrupt Hurricane Katrina Settlement Process with MIssissippi
Insurance Department".
Here is a link to the whole available story on "Insurance Claims And Issues".
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