[StBernard] Louisiana Value Policy Law

[Westley Annis]

I found another article.
Cindy
 
 
Inside Report for Mar. 8
Fla. insurance ruling could offer guidance in La.
By ADRIAN ANGELETTE
Advocate staff writer
Published: Mar 8, 2006 
 	 Zennon Mierzwa is a name many Louisiana homeowners in
hurricane-ravaged areas could come to know.

Mierzwa, a Fort Lauderdale resident not satisfied with the response of his
insurance company following Hurricane Irene in 1999, took the company to
court under Florida's Valued Policy Law.

Before it was amended last summer, the law said if part of any damage to a
property came from a covered peril - such as wind - then the insurance
company is responsible for the entire damage even though part of the damage
also came from flooding or some other event that is not covered.

Mierzwa had $281,000 in coverage from the Florida Windstorm Underwriting
Association as well as federal flood insurance. Aft er his house was
condemned, Florida Windstorm offered $68,000 and his federal flood policy
offered $54,000.

Mierzwa lost in Florida district court, but a state appellate court in 2004
ordered Florida Windstorm to pay the full face value of his policy because
part of the damage was caused by wind, a covered peril.

Louisiana also has a Valued Policy Law, and legal experts are already
studying the possibilities for Louisiana homeowners with damaged property.

Although the Louisiana and Florida laws are not identical, both were
intended to cover the same issues, said Warren Byrd, chief legal counsel for
the Louisiana Insurance Department.

While any Florida court rulings on Florida laws would have no binding
effects on Louisiana laws and courts, Louisiana courts can use the Florida
ruling for guidance.

Byrd said the Florida ruling does not give Louisiana judges a clear-cut
decision to apply to cases arising from hurricanes Katrina and Rita. That's
becau se in Florida, judges determined there are conflicting clauses within
Mierzwa's wind-damage policy.

"It's not a perfectly clean case to rely upon, but it was a strong ruling,"
Byrd said. 

Brian Donovan, a Tampa lawyer with Louisiana ties, said he thinks the ruling
could easily influence Louisiana cases. Donovan said judges in the Mierzwa
case found that insurance companies are quick to say their policies don't
cover flooding, regardless of the circumstances. Wind damage, however, is
covered and that could bring the Valued Policy Law into play.

Donovan points to the Florida appellate court decision in the Mierzwa case,
which says ". Once there is a determination that there is a covered peril
and a total loss, the actual cause of the total loss is irrelevant."

Donovan, a former Lafayette lawyer, said he became interested in the plight
of Louisiana property owners during a visit to his wife's family in Kaplan.
He heard many stories of the destruction in Ca meron and Vermilion parishes.


On the return trip to his Florida home, Donovan said, he and his wife drove
through New Orleans and were amazed by the damage.

Louisiana's Valued Policy Law has yet to be tested in the courts and it
remains unclear whether homeowners will get the same relief Mierzwa
received. 

W. Shelby McKenzie, a Baton Rouge lawyer with Taylor, Porter, Brooks and
Phillips, said he expects the Louisiana law to be tested soon.

"The question will be whether the Florida case ended with a good decision
that can be applied in Louisiana," said McKenzie, who has taught insurance
law at LSU since 1971. He said the insurance companies did not appeal the
case to the Florida Supreme Court.

McKenzie predicts insurance companies will argue that Louisiana judges
should ignore the Florida ruling because there are substantial differences
in the laws, and homeowners will contend that different words were used, but
the intent of the two laws was the same.

"That's a decision the Louisiana Supreme Court is going to have to make,"
McKenzie said.

Adrian Angelette covers courts in Baton Rouge for The Advocate
 
http://www.2theadvocate.com/opinion/2426056.html

-------original message--------
MY AUNT EMAILED ME TODAY AND SAID SHE HEARD ON TV THAT THERE IS A LOUISIANA
LAW ---- THINKS IT WAS CALLED THE LOUISIANA VALUE POLICY LAW --IF SHE
UNDERSTANDS IT CORRECTLY --IF THE HOUSE THAT YOU ARE LIVING IN IS DESTROYED
YOU CAN COLLECT FLOOD INSURANCE & THE INSURED VALUE ON YOUR HOME OWNER
POLICY ---NOT JUST WIND BUT THE WHOLE HOUSE -----IT IS A OLD LAW ON THE
BOOKS AND THEY SUGGESTED YOU GET A LAWYER TO HELP WITH YOUR CLAIM ----HAS
ANYONE EVER HEARD OF SUCH A LAW? THANKS.

Heather C. LaBauve