Declarations

Third denial

“These lessons confirm the reasoning of my decisions on the plaintiff’s previous motions for class certification and inevitably lead me to the conclusion that there are as many differences between the ‘slab cases’ as there are similarities in terms of the evidence available to ascertain the cause of the destruction and damage to these properties. For this reason, I do not believe there is any procedural advantage in creating a class of State Farm ‘slab cases’ that would not be offset by the factors that will ultimately require the individual treatment of these claims.”

U.S. District Court Judge L.T. Senter Jr. in his decision to again disallow a class action suit against State Farm Fire and Casualty Co. regarding “slab” claims from damage caused by Hurricane Katrina. Senter said he believes there are too many differences among the claims to permit them to be addressed as a group.

Own merits

“We’re pleased that Judge Senter listened to and understands that each claim should be decided on its own merit — that with each slab claim there are differing levels of storm surge and wind that caused the damage.”

State Farm company spokesman Phil Supple welcoming Senter’s ruling denying a class action suit against State Farm on “slab” claims.

Lott of disclosure

“Insurance policies are notoriously hard to read and understand because they’re primarily written in complex legalese. While insurance is a legal contract, it also is a product purchased by consumers. That’s why I believe every insurer should include a plain-English description of a homeowner’s policy, prominently displayed on the policy’s first page.”

U.S. Senator Trent Lott, R- Miss., who wants to require insurers to disclose property insurance coverage and noncoverage in plain language on the front page of each homeowner’s policy and has introduced a bill giving the Federal Trade Commission enforcement authority to see this is done. Lott’s bill will require this basic description be contained in a “noncoverage disclosure” box stating in bold font, twice the size of the body of the policy’s text, all conditions, exclusions and other limitations pertaining to the individual policy’s coverage.

Near term model

“Our model reflects the widespread agreement among researchers that hurricane activity in the North Atlantic has increased since 1995 and that this period of elevated activity will last for at least another 10 years. The long-term historical average significantly underestimates the hazard posed by hurricanes for the foreseeable future.”

Mitch Statler, vice president of public policy at RMS, defending his firm’s “near-term” hurricane loss model based on five-year forecasts which has come under fire by some consumer groups.

Topics Hurricane