Posted on October 24, 2019
ICHQ | Site Author
Recently, Insurance Claim HQ partner Galen Hair was brought on as trial counsel, obtaining a $115,000.00 settlement payment from Lighthouse Property Insurance Corporation on a case which was pending against Lighthouse. The client, Doris Kelly, had already received payment for damages to the home. The additional $115,000 was awarded only for the client’s bad faith claims.
The case, entitled, Doris Kelly v. Lighthouse Property Insurance Corporation had been pending with the Civil District Court for the Parish of Orleans since the filing of the petition for damages in 2014.
The case involved fire loss to a residential home in Algiers, Louisiana. The client, an elderly woman, nearly lost everything in the tragedy through fire damage, smoke contamination, & mold damage sustained from the responding fire department agency. It was alleged in the lawsuit that Lighthouse drastically underpaid this claim, on both structure and contents losses (many irreplaceable & of great sentimental value), and ultimately committed bad faith in its handling of the matter.
In the course of the five-year litigation, Lighthouse filed numerous exceptions and motions which resulted in over ten (10) hearings in Court involving the defense counsel for Lighthouse, and counsel for Doris Kelly. To add insult to injury, Lighthouse insisted Doris Kelly and her family undergo both examinations under oath (EUOs) and depositions, requiring them to sacrifice hours of their time answering questions regarding the claim.
With a bad faith trial date looming in the fall of 2019, Lighthouse ultimately made the decision to pay $115,000.00 to Doris Kelly while not acknowledging any liability in the matter. Before Insurance Claim HQ attorney Galen Hair joined as trial counsel, settlement offers were very low. Once onboard, they skyrocketed to six figures.
No matter how many times an insurance carrier files what we consider baseless and time-wasting exceptions and motions in Court, our bad faith property attorneys refuse to fold under pressure. We feel that Lighthouse could have settled this matter after the initial filing five years ago. Instead, they wasted countless hours, attorney’s fees, and costs in hopes we would back down. That being said, backing down just isn’t our style.
We have gone against Lighthouse Property Insurance Corporation (and Pharos Claims Services) before.
If you are having a problem with either of them, please call us for a free consultation. Keep in mind, in Louisiana you have 10 years to pursue a bad faith insurance claim from the date of loss. The sooner you get in touch with us, the more helpful we can be to you, so be sure to contact us quickly in order to recover the compensation you are entitled to through your insurance plan.
