Jurisdiction: United States

As discussed here, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals recently heard oral argument on the appeal in the Katrina case of Leonard v. Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company.  Last week, the Fifth Circuit affirmed the August 2006 holding of the district court, and held that most of the damage to the Leonards’ property was not the result of covered wind damage, but the Fifth Circuit disagreed with much of the district court’s rationale. 

A Louisiana state appellate court was recently faced with the question of the applicability of Louisiana’s Valued Policy Law in a Katrina-related case, in the case of Landry v. Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Company, and the Louisiana state court followed the holding of the Fifth Circuit’s decision in Chauvin v. State Farm Fire & Casualty Co.  In so holding, the state appellate court ruled that insureds who suffered a total loss from a hurricane are not entitled to recover the full amount of their loss if the loss was due to both covered and non-covered perils. 

Earlier this month, a federal district court in California granted an insured’s motion for partial summary judgment in a Katrina-related coverage case, holding that flood damage arising out of storm surge is not excluded under the policy’s flood exclusion.