United States Fifth Circuit

In an action against an insurer seeking proceeds for property damage due to Hurricane Katrina, summary judgment for defendant is affirmed in part where: 1) the district court did not err in concluding that defendant was entitled to judgment as a matter of law on the claim for loss of contents; and 2) because plaintiffs did not establish any plausible breach of contract for unpaid additional living expenses (ALE), there was no basis for asserting a bad faith claim against defendant with respect to unpaid ALE. However, the judgment is vacated in part where: 1) under the policy's total loss provision, plaintiffs were entitled to recover up to the policy limit for covered losses, and the district court erred by ignoring the total loss provision; and 2) the district court erred by calculating the actual cash value of the property based on the pre-storm market value of the house.

Appellate Information

• Decided 05/10/2010
• Published 05/10/2010

Judges

• CARL E. STEWART, Circuit Judge:, Before HIGGINBOTHAM and STEWART, Circuit Judges, and ENGELHARDT, District Judge.

Court

• United States Fifth Circuit

Counsel