A latest federal court docket determination favoring Liberty Mutual Insurance coverage Firm in a pipe burst declare1 left me occupied with two classes. First, this case strongly reminds policyholders to pay attention to closing dates of their insurance coverage insurance policies and take motion as quickly as they imagine their declare shouldn’t be being dealt with pretty. That is very true of one-year limitation durations to file a lawsuit. It additionally highlights the significance of hiring a public adjuster when an insurer refuses to find out the worth of a declare pretty.
In April 2019, the policyholder’s residence and private belongings have been broken when a pipe burst in her basement, inflicting a flood that was combined with sewage. The harm was extreme, leaving a lot of her belongings lined in filth. She reported the declare to her insurance coverage firm, which employed a contractor, 1-800-Packouts, to take away her broken property and place it in storage. Nonetheless, the gadgets have been by no means cleaned earlier than being put into storage, leaving them contaminated and lined in mildew over time.
The insurance coverage firm later decided how a lot it might pay for repairs and private property damages. The house owner believed she was owed rather more and argued that the insurance coverage firm had didn’t correctly consider the extent of her losses. She ultimately sued her insurer, claiming breach of contract and unhealthy religion. Nonetheless, the insurance coverage firm requested the court docket to dismiss the case as a result of she had filed her lawsuit too late.
Just about all insurance coverage insurance policies embody a deadline for submitting lawsuits. Whereas some states might override what’s discovered within the coverage, all policyholders and public adjusters ought to decide quickly after a loss when the deadline is to file a lawsuit within the occasion there’s a disagreement with the insurance coverage firm. On this case, the coverage required any authorized motion to be introduced inside one 12 months of the date of loss, that means the house owner had till April 2020 to sue. She didn’t file her lawsuit till April 2022, greater than two years after the loss. The court docket dominated in favor of the insurance coverage firm, stating that she had waited too lengthy and couldn’t proceed together with her case.
The house owner argued that the insurance coverage firm triggered delays by suspending its investigation and refusing to find out the worth of her broken belongings. She was left to kind by means of the filthy, contaminated gadgets on the storage facility to create a list listing. Regardless of spending vital time documenting her losses, she struggled to finish the method whereas coping with work obligations and the affect of the COVID-19 pandemic. The insurance coverage firm refused to step in and worth the gadgets, regardless of its good religion accountability to completely examine claims—together with the contents declare. As an alternative, Liberty Mutual insisted that the house owner full the stock herself, regardless that the situation of the eliminated gadgets arguably made that process practically not possible.
On March 5, 2020, simply six weeks earlier than the lawsuit deadline, the insurance coverage firm despatched a letter to the house owner stating that it was suspending its investigation. The letter stated the corporate would wait till she accomplished the proof of loss and supplied the mandatory data. She argued that this letter led her to imagine that the declare course of was nonetheless ongoing and that she didn’t must rush to file a lawsuit. Nonetheless, the court docket disagreed. It dominated that regardless that the insurance coverage firm had paused its investigation, the house owner was nonetheless chargeable for assembly the coverage’s deadline to file swimsuit.
This case is a cautionary story for policyholders. Insurance coverage firms usually have strict closing dates for lawsuits, and courts usually implement them with out exception. Ready too lengthy to take authorized motion can imply dropping the best to get well any extra cash, even when the insurance coverage firm acted unfairly.
One other key lesson from this case is the significance of hiring a reliable public adjuster if an insurance coverage firm refuses to find out the worth of a declare. The house owner on this case struggled to doc her losses, resulting in delays and confusion. A public adjuster, who works for policyholders somewhat than insurance coverage firms, might have helped her correctly stock her broken gadgets and negotiate a good settlement. A public adjuster would have additionally pushed the insurance coverage firm to meet its responsibility to judge the loss somewhat than putting your complete burden on the house owner.
A potential third lesson is to rent a reliable lawyer. Whereas all of the information will not be clear on this level, the insurance coverage firm made the next argument in its transient:
Defendant didn’t lull Plaintiff into sitting on her contractual rights as a result of she was represented by counsel. On September 11, 2019, Plaintiff’s counsel forwarded Defendant a letter of illustration advising that his agency was retained by Plaintiff to symbolize her in her declare… Because the date of loss was April 21, 2019, Plaintiff had authorized illustration a minimum of seven months earlier than the contractual limitation interval expired, which made it even much less possible that she might have been lulled into lacking the deadline for submitting swimsuit. Within the District of Columbia, ‘[a]lthough a claimant’s illustration by an lawyer shouldn’t be dispositive in figuring out whether or not an insurance coverage firm is estopped due to deceptive statements from asserting the statute of limitations… courts typically are reluctant to seek out the claimant has been misled by the insurance coverage firm the place the claimant was subtle in enterprise issues or had retained authorized counsel….’
Submitting an insurance coverage declare may be sophisticated. When an insurance coverage firm disputes the worth of a declare or refuses to evaluate it correctly, a public adjuster can assist. Certainly, the very best time to rent a public adjuster is correct after the loss occurs. If a dispute can’t be resolved, a reliable lawyer could also be wanted. Nonetheless, as this case exhibits, it’s important to pay attention to closing dates to file swimsuit and take authorized motion earlier than the deadline expires.
Owners coping with insurance coverage claims ought to rigorously learn their insurance policies, doc their losses as totally as potential, and search skilled assist. In my expertise, many insurance coverage firms fail to regulate contents losses correctly. Many make the policyholder, the adjuster, and the coverage a self-service product when it comes time to research and consider private property protection. In case your insurance coverage firm is handing you items of paper and telling you to find out the contents loss by your self, rent a reliable public adjusting agency with private property specialists who will modify your total declare.
An instance of a reliable public adjuster who handles contents claims the best means and within the method all insurance coverage firms ought to do as effectively is present in my publish, Alice Younger—Public Adjuster Highlight. Alice Younger is on the Board of Administrators for the Nationwide Affiliation of Public Insurance coverage Adjusters, a company by which lots of the nation’s most interesting public adjusters are members.
Thought For The Day
If a person is known as to be a road sweeper, he ought to sweep streets at the same time as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He ought to sweep streets so effectively that every one the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, ‘Right here lived an amazing road sweeper who did his job effectively.’
—Martin Luther King Jr.
1 Andrews v. Liberty Ins. Corp., No. 22-1694 (D.D.C. Jan. 24, 2025).
