Ballard Sues Farmers Over Accusations

Austin, Texas-based homeowner advocate, Melinda Ballard, announced she filed a lawsuit in Travis County District Court against Farmers Insurance (Farmers) and its paid spokesman for falsely accusing her of committing insurance fraud in connection with water damage claims filed on her home in Dripping Springs, Texas.

Ballard said that she sued Farmers in 2001 over water damage claims and that a Travis County jury found Farmers engaged in deceptive and misleading conduct and fraudulent acts and practices in connection with its handling of Ballard’s claims.

According to Ballard any proceeds resulting from the award will be donated to the Texas Department of Insurance for the purposes of establishing a voluntary and independent panel to review homeowners disputes. Such a panel is in place for disputed health claims but no such panel exists for homeowners.

Ballard claims that in an article carried by major Texas newspapers including the Austin American Statesman, Bill Miller, a paid spokesman for Farmers and principal in Austin-based Hillco Partners LLC, stated that Ballard’s claims against Farmers were “fraudulent.”

The lawsuit maintains the statement is, in essence, an accusation that Ballard committed a crime in connection with the insurance claims she made under the homeowners policy sold to her by Farmers. Ballard believes that Farmers and Miller caused the publication of this defamatory statement in order to distract from the bad publicity Farmers continues to receive as a result of its own conduct in Texas. She noted that the jury in her water damage claims case against Farmers found that Ballard had made no misrepresentations.

Ballard heads Policyholders of America, a nonprofit association dedicated to eradicating bad faith and fraud committed against policyholders by insurance companies. Policyholders of America plans to urge Texas legislators to introduce several bills in the next session beginning in January, 2003. One bill, an alternative dispute resolution mechanism (also known as “tort reform”), establishes a panel at the Texas Department of Insurance to hear disputes from homeowners who otherwise cannot find legal representation.

Vic Feazell of Feazell, Rosenthal & Watson, P.C. is representing Ballard in the suit. “Apparently Farmers has not learned its lesson,” Feazell said. “A Texas jury found that Farmers defrauded Melinda, and Farmers reacts by turning around and accusing her of insurance fraud, which is a felony in Texas. It’s time to tell Farmers yet again that it can’t treat its customers this way. We’re confident a jury will send that exact message.”

Feazell intends to move for an expedited trial and hopes to begin jury selection early next year.

Topics Lawsuits Texas Fraud Claims Agribusiness Homeowners