Bad Faith Insurance claims in Texas are not as easy as many people think. This is illustrated in this 2024, opinion from the Western District of Texas, Austin Division. The opinion is styled, Franklin Square Condo Owner Ass’n v. Amguard Insurance Company. This is a summary judgment opinion.
After Franklin Square submitted a claim for the damage caused by the hailstorm, AmGuard sent an adjuster to inspect the property damage, notified Franklin Square that its inspector had assessed $13,034.90 in damages, and sent Franklin Square a check for an amount of $5,534.90 (the $13,034.90 in damages minus the deductible). Franklin Square indicated that they disagreed with the assessment of the roof damage. In response, AmGuard sent an engineer, Wyatt Hardenberg, to inspect the property on October 26, 2022, who found that 41 roof tiles exhibited hail damage, but observed that other cracked tiles lacked “a centralized focal (impact) point on the tile surface” as would indicate hail damage. Hardenburg further observed that the cracked tiles evidenced earlier damage than the hailstorm and that the roof had been treated with sealant prior to the hail damage, indicating “prior maintenance activities to arrest known water intrusions.” After Hardenburg’s assessment, AmGuard notified Franklin Square that it had readjusted its estimate and provided an additional check for $2,409.20 to replace the 41 cracked tiles and a broken window screen.
Franklin Square was dissatisfied with the amount paid and sued AmGuard for breach of contract damages, Insurance Code violations and bad faith the way the claim was handled. There were other issued in the case related to experts that will not be discussed here.