Articles Posted in Value of Claim

What is the value of my/an insurance claim?

That questions is often asked and the answer will vary depending on many factors.  However, one of the factors that is important and asked by people seeking legal advice is, “Can I get back my legal fees?”

This issue is discussed in a 2023 opinion from the Western District of Texas, Austin Division.  The opinion is styled, Jyoti Singh v. Riversource Life Insurance Company.  Only the part of this case discussing the standards for recovering legal fees will be discussed here.

What is the value of a claim?  That is always the question.  Just how much can be recovered depends on lots of factors.

The Southern District of Texas, Houston Division, had a case recently wherein the insurance company filed suit in the Federal Court and the defendant tried to have the case dismissed due to the amount in controversy not being the minimum required under Federal law.

The case style is, Palomar Specialty Insurance Company v. Maria Penaloza M. Beltran.

A Texas Hill Country Insurance Lawyer will need to be able to discuss the value of a claim with a new client.  This discussion needs to be had along with a discussion of what court the case will be fought.  The Eastern District, Sherman Division, issued an opinion on how Federal Courts look at the value of a claim.  The opinion is styled, Tommy Wilson v. Allstate Insurance Company.

Tommy Wilson (Plaintiff) sued Allstate (Defendant) in County Court for losses under a homeowners policy.  Defendant caused the case to be removed to Federal Court based on diversity and the amount in controversy, stating the amount in controversy exceeds $75,000.00, which is the Federal Court minimal jurisdictional limits pursuant to 28 U.S.C., Section 1332(a).

Plaintiff argued that the amount in controversy was less than $75,000.00 and points to the following allegations regarding the amount in controversy alleged in his petition:

There probably is not any insurance lawyer that can specifically tell a client exactly what the value of a claim is.  But there are issues, legal and otherwise, to consider when trying to determine the value of a claim.  A 14th Court of Appeals opinion offers so guidance.  The opinion is a 2017, opinion and is styled, In Re State Farm Lloyds.

This case is a dispute between insureds and their insurer under an appraisal clause in the insurance contract.  It is a mandamus proceeding seeking to have the trial judge enforce the appraisal clause.

After a claimed loss sustained under the policy, State Farm’s adjuster agreed that there was a loss but valued the loss at $432 which was less than the $8,000 deductible.  The insured had hired a public adjuster who valued the loss at $73,000.  The insured’s sued State Farm for breach of contract and various violations of the Texas Insurance Code.

Lawyers handling property damage claims will find this article interesting.  The article is from the Claims Journal.  It was published in September 2016, and is titled, Damage To Property Without Market Value.

The amount and dollar value of insurance claims relating to property loss alone dwarf all other lines of insurance.  Water losses in the U.S. result in more than $9 billion in property damage annually.  Fire losses result in more than $12 billion in annual damage.  Hailstorms cause over $1 billion in damage.  Homeowners’ and commercial property policies often provide that the insurer is not required to pay more than the actual cash value (ACV) of the damaged property.  Increasingly, however, policies may provide for replacement cost value (RCV) once the insured has replaced the damaged policy in such first-party claims.

When the insurer attempts to subrogate such property losses, there is a big disconnect between the damages recoverable by the insured in a first-party claim and the damages the insurer can recover when it subrogates the claim against the third-party tortfeasor responsible for causing the loss.  First-party claim payments are governed by applicable policy language.  Third-party property damage recovery is governed by applicable state tort damage laws.  First-party replacement value insurance claim payments cannot be recovered in third-party subrogation cases because the default rule for measuring direct damages from partial destruction of personal property is the difference in the market value immediately before and immediately after the damage to such property at the place where the damage was occasioned.  “Replacement cost insurance” is optional additional coverage that may be purchased for casualty insurance to insure against the possibility that the improvements will cost more than the ACV and that the insured cannot afford to pay the difference.  Unlike standard indemnity, replacement cost coverage places the insured in a better position than he or she was in before the loss and any purported windfall to the insured that purchases replacement cost insurance is precisely what the insured contracted to receive in the event of a loss.

Texas insurance lawyers have to read the recent Texas Supreme Court case, J&D Towing, LLC v. American Alternative Insurance Corporation. The facts are set out in the March 3 writing. This is an appeal from the Waco Court of Appeals.

The Court starts out: We begin with first principles. Compensation is the chief purpose of damages awards in tort cases. Indeed, we have long held that the basic reason underlying rules for the ascertainment of damages for any tortious act is a fair, reasonable, and proper compensation for the injury inflicted as a proximate result of the wrongful act complained of. Reasonable and proper compensation must be neither meager nor excessive, but must be sufficient to place the plaintiff in the position in which he would have been absent the defendant’s tortious act. In this way, compensation through actual-damages awards functions as an instrument of corrective justice, an effort to put the plaintiff in his or her rightful position.

Actual damages must be either direct or consequential. Direct damages compensate for a loss that is the necessary and usual result of the tortious act. By contrast, consequential damages, also known as special damages, compensate for a loss that results naturally, but not necessarily, from the tortious act. Although consequential damages need not flow from the act, they must be both forseeable and directly traceable to the act. If the purported consequential damages are too remote, too uncertain, or purely conjectural, they cannot be recovered.