CONGRESSMAN GENE TAYLOR
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FOURTH DISTRICT OF MISSISSIPPI
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2269 Rayburn HOB
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-5772
Fax (202) 225-7074
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: ANA MARIA ROSATO (202) 253-1308
July 1, 2009
Rep. Gene Taylor (D-Miss.): In Court, Insurance Companies Provided Evidence of Fraud
Companies Admit They Shifted Hurricane Katrina Wind Claims to National Flood Insurance Program
Today, Rep. Gene Taylor (D-MS) wrote Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to bring to her attention recent statements by insurance company attorneys that show beyond any doubt that companies shifted Hurricane Katrina claims to the National Flood Insurance Program that should have been covered by their own homeowners policies.
On June 9, 2009, the Mississippi Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the interpretation of “anti-concurrent causation” (ACC) clauses in homeowners insurance policies. The attorney for Nationwide, Christopher Landau, told the Supreme Court that Nationwide applies the ACC clause to exclude coverage of all damage caused by hurricane winds if subsequent flooding was sufficient to cause the damage.
In response to questioning, Landau answered that even if a house were 95 percent destroyed by winds before any flooding, Nationwide would owe nothing to the policyholder if the flooding was severe enough to have destroyed the house. USAA Attorney Greg Copeland even claimed that it was the intent of Congress when enacting the National Flood Insurance Program that the federal government should pay for all damage caused the combination of wind and flooding.
Taylor letter to Napolitano 7-01-09
Transcript of court proceeding
Video featuring the Nationwide attorney: Homeowner Insurance Companies Tell Court: “We Wouldn’t Pay a Dime” . . . Unless Sued!
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I want the fed’s to get their money back from the insurance companies. The fed’s can then use it to bail them out for their investment failtures…
Nationwide’s tacit admission of claims dumping in this case marks a turning point IMHO. USAA saying one thing in their written briefs and another in oral arguments means they know they have no basis in the law for their actions.
Others have noticed too.
sop