USAA Punished for it Claims Handling Punitive Damages Should be Awarded With Caution and Within Narrow Limits Read the full article at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/usaa-punished-claims-handling-barry-zalma-esq-cfe-nbp2c, see the full video at and at and at https://zalma.com/blog plus more than 4950 posts. Posted on December 19, 2024 by Barry Zalma DISPUTE OVER HURRICANE DAMAGES RESULTS IN MAJOR PUNITIVE DAMAGES FOR BAD FAITH Although he Mississippi Supreme Court recognized the need to only award punitive damages with caution and within narrow limits, it did not limit its award in accordance with that maxim. After almost 19 years of litigation the last appeal resolved the various disputes. FACTS Hurricane Katrina destroyed Paul and Sylvia Minor’s home on August 29, 2005. The Minors had a homeowner’s insurance policy with United Services Automobile Association (USAA). The USAA policy covered damage caused by wind but excluded damage caused by storm surge or flood. The Minors reported their loss with USAA, which resulted in a years-long coverage dispute. USAA ultimately issued payments for damage it concluded was caused by wind but not for damage it concluded was caused by storm surge or flood. The Minors maintained that they suffered a total loss caused by wind and demanded that USAA pay the policy limits. The case proceeded to trial in 2013, and the jury awarded the Minors $1,547,293.37 in compensatory damages. In United Services Automobile Association v. Estate Of Sylvia F. Minor, Kathryn Minor and Stephen Minor, No. 2023-CA-00049-SCT, Supreme Court of Mississippi, En Banc (December 5, 2024) resolved the bad faith claims. The issue was ultimately presented to a jury. The jury awarded the Minors $10,000,000 in punitive damages and $457,858.89 in extra-contractual damages (solely attorneys’ fees). USAA appealed, raising several assignments of error. Trial To establish its bad faith claim, the Minor Estate introduced various USAA documents, including (1) portions of the USAA underwriting file; (2) the confidential email regarding (a) the engineer’s March 2006 findings and (b) Bergstrom’s conclusion that USAA would be responsible for paying for all the windows and the contents in rooms with windows; and (3) USAA’s letter to the Minors in June 2006 indicating the majority of damage was due to flooding. Punitive Damages Punitive damages are considered an ‘extraordinary remedy’ and should be awarded ‘with caution and within narrow limits.'” The Supreme Court found that the evidence presented at trial demonstrates a type of conduct for which punitive damages were designed. The Minor Estate provided sufficient proof that USAA acted in bad faith, with complete disregard for the Estate’s rights. Whether The $10 Million Punitive Damages Award Should Be Reversed Or, Alternatively, Reduced. USAA alternatively argues that the $10 million verdict should be reduced because it claims that the damages award is a 22:1 ratio and therefore unconstitutionally disproportionate to the extra-contractual damages awarded ($457,858.89). USAA relies on State Farm Mutual Auto Insurance Co. v. Campbell, 538 U.S. 408, 425, 123 S.Ct. 1513, 1524, 155 L.Ed.2d 585 (2003), which states that “[s]ingle-digit multipliers are more likely to comport with due process.” USAA argued that a 1:1 ratio should apply to the damages award here. The Supreme Court found that punitive damages is less than seven times the amount of compensatory damages, which it concluded clearly falls within the guideline provided in Campbell. A punitive damages award not only serves as a deterrent, it also compensates the plaintiff for its public service in bringing the action. The Supreme Court found the trial court’s decision to force the Minor Estate to use nearly half of its award to pay attorneys’ fees does not adequately compensate the Estate for bringing this action against USAA for its bad faith conduct in handling the Minors’ insurance claim from 2005. Therefore, the Supreme Court concluded that the trial court erred by denying the Estate’s post-trial motion for attorneys’ fees. CONCLUSION In sum, the trial judge did not err as a matter of law by submitting the issue of punitive damages to jury, and the $10 million award of punitive damages is not unconstitutionally disproportionate. The Supreme Court affirmed the jury verdict awarding the Minor Estate $10 million in punitive damages and $457,858.89 in extra-contractual damages as to attorneys’ fees and reverse the judgment of the trial court and render attorneys’ fees on behalf of the Estate in the amount of $4,500,000, plus post-judgment interest at an annual rate of 4 percent from October 3, 2022, the date of judgment, until paid. ZALMA OPINION This case that dragged on through the courts of Mississippi for 19 years and resulted in compensatory damages based upon an interpretation finding coverage for the estate and that the insurer’s conduct was so egregious that the estate was entitled to tort damages plus punitive damages many times more than the compensatory damages. The Supreme Court astonishingly concluded that punitive damages were not limited to punishing the insurer but were payment to the estate for its action on behalf of everyone in the state of Mississippi and that they should not be required to pay their lawyers but that payment should come from the insurer as part of its punishment. The Supreme Court ignored the fact that as a result the estate must pay income taxes on the punishment damages since they are not designed to make the insured whole and punished each member and insured of USAA. In my opinion it’s time the courts of the USA do away with the tort of bad faith to avoid excessive judgments and allow contract disputes to be enlarged into a major amount of punishment for an insurer who rejected a claim based on interpretation of contract terms and the facts of a loss, like this case. In that regard see my book, It’s Time to Abolish The Tort of Bad Faith Available as a paperback here. Available as a Kindle book here. (c) 2024 Barry Zalma & ClaimSchool, Inc. Please tell your friends and colleagues about this blog and the videos and let them subscribe to the blog and the videos. Subscribe to my substack at https://barryzalma.substack.com/subscribe Go to X @bzalma; Go to Newsbreak.com https://www.newsbreak.com/@c/1653419?s=01; Go to Barry Zalma videos at Rumble.com at https://rumble.com/account/content?type=all; Go to Barry Zalma on YouTube- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCysiZklEtxZsSF9DfC0Expg Go to the Insurance Claims Library – https://lnkd.in/gwEYk

https://forex-strategy.com/2024/11/05/years-of-preparation-for-the-destruction-of-the-farms-in-valencia/ Years of preparation for the destruction of the farms in Valencia Spain destroys hundreds of dams every year. In the photo, the sky over Valencia, the day before the rain. #spain #flooding #crisis #billgates #food #haarp

Just In: Sources in Europe have sent me this footage: a HAARP Ship has been spotted off the coast of Spain near Valencia where catastrophic flooding has wrecked a once beautiful city. (16 seconds) https://t.me/davidavocadowolfe/144809

https://forex-strategy.com/2024/11/03/mysterious-ship-in-valencia-and-moroccos-new-cloud-seeding-plans/ Mysterious ship in Valencia and Morocco’s new cloud seeding plans #spain #valencia #flooding #haarp #climatechange #climate

"Now the undecided voters have a reason steeped in benevolence for their fellow Americans; their neighbors, to get to the polls and cast a ballot: To help represent someone who can’t cast a vote because of a disaster and an inadequate response from the federal government..." ORIGINAL PODCAST CONTENT: https://www.undergroundusa.com/p/this-november-consider-voting-to READ, SUBSCRIBE, SHARE & EDUCATE: PROTECT FREE SPEECH #Hurricane #HurricaneHelene #HurricaneMilton #FEMA #Disaster #NC #NorthCarolina #Voting #Flooding #Government #Biden #Harris #Marxism #Election2024 #Election #Disinformation #Media #MAGA #GOP #Podcast #Constitution #USA #Woke #Democrats #Politics #News #Truth

The More We Know, The Worse It Gets…And It’s Horrific "With Hurricane Milton captivating the headlines - and it is a horrific storm that will cause incredible devastation, we simply cannot forget about the people who are being ignored by the federal government & FEMA in NC & TN in the aftermath of Helene..." ORIGINAL PODCAST CONTENT: https://www.undergroundusa.com/p/the-more-we-know-the-worse-it-getsand READ, SUBSCRIBE, SHARE & EDUCATE: PROTECT FREE SPEECH #Hurricane #HurricaneHelene #HurricaneMilton #FEMA #Disaster #NC #NorthCarolina #OperationBlueRidge #Flooding #Government #Biden #Harris #Marxism #Election2024 #Election #Propaganda #Media #MAGA #GOP #Podcast #Constitution #USA #Woke #Democrats #Politics #News #Truth

Johnstown Flood - Full Movie (Feature Documentary) Up until Hurricane Helene, the Johnstown Flood was the worst flood disaster in American history. There were 2,200 deaths. All indications are that Helene's death toll will eclipse this number. Undoubtably, the flooding from Hurricane Helene is now probably the worst flooding disaster in US history. An estimated 750,000 people are without food, water and electricity.

This is a truth post from Monkeywerks FOR ACCURACY AND CLARIFICATION OF INFORMATION GIVEN] (All my information is either from firsthand experience or from trusted sources working as boots on the ground.) We need people with a national audience to put the word out. East Tennessee to Morganton NC is completely compromised. Towns like Old Fort, Spruce Pine, Asheville as well as Hendersonville and Boone are destroyed and will need months if not years to restore. Towns like Lake Lure, chimney rock and bat cave are gone and will probably never be rebuilt. I work for the railroad and the tracks between Morganton and old fort will take weeks to get back in service. Between Old Fort and the Tennessee State line is completely destroyed. The national news media is either lying or ignorant about the actual body count. While I was delivering aid to Asheville a week ago 100 bodies was found in one area. The death toll no doubt will be in the thousands. Unfortunately desperate people are doing what desperate people do in the larger cities, reports of looting, mobs, killings and car jackings simply for the gas that is in their tanks. And they feel as though they have no hope because they have no power, No water, no sewage no roads no internet, no phone service and no timeline of when these utilities are to be restored. Many parts of WNC and ET and other parts of the southeast are now effectively a 3rd world country. People are still stranded in the remote mountains communities with no power, water and cannot leave because the roads have became river beds. As far as infrastructure, multiple dam failures lead to the tsunami like tidal waves and flooding of many cities towns and communities. Where towns were, are now lakes littered with bodies and debris, where were roads and highways, are now dried riverbeds because when the water came it completely diverted gentle streams that ran parallel to the roads into roaring rivers that cut 30’ 40’ 50’ and 100’ gaps in road beds and completely washed away bridges. All major roads in and out of Asheville was completely cut off for a 48 hour time period, many are still impassable. I40 in particular took a tremendous hit, Old fort mountain took multiple mudslides, and through the gorge going into Tennessee the eastbound lanes fell into the the Pigeon River. The both class 1 Railroads in the area have suffered a significant amount of damage and hundreds of miles will have to be repaired, undoubtedly some of it will be abandoned, leaving a gap in our local economy for the years to come. There are stories about people being stranded, starving in the thousands, story’s of body’s hanging from trees and lining the ditches of roads are everywhere. Every morgue in Asheville is full beyond capacity, they are stacking them in the basements awaiting the delivery of refer trucks. There is civilian helicopters flying aid in daily. I can’t speak for everywhere but assistance from national guard units and. FEMA in my area has been minimal, again that is my personal experience. I cannot speak for everywhere. Please speak up for us because no one else is.

This is a truth post from Monkeywerks FOR ACCURACY AND CLARIFICATION OF INFORMATION GIVEN] (All my information is either from firsthand experience or from trusted sources working as boots on the ground.) We need people with a national audience to put the word out. East Tennessee to Morganton NC is completely compromised. Towns like Old Fort, Spruce Pine, Asheville as well as Hendersonville and Boone are destroyed and will need months if not years to restore. Towns like Lake Lure, chimney rock and bat cave are gone and will probably never be rebuilt. I work for the railroad and the tracks between Morganton and old fort will take weeks to get back in service. Between Old Fort and the Tennessee State line is completely destroyed. The national news media is either lying or ignorant about the actual body count. While I was delivering aid to Asheville a week ago 100 bodies was found in one area. The death toll no doubt will be in the thousands. Unfortunately desperate people are doing what desperate people do in the larger cities, reports of looting, mobs, killings and car jackings simply for the gas that is in their tanks. And they feel as though they have no hope because they have no power, No water, no sewage no roads no internet, no phone service and no timeline of when these utilities are to be restored. Many parts of WNC and ET and other parts of the southeast are now effectively a 3rd world country. People are still stranded in the remote mountains communities with no power, water and cannot leave because the roads have became river beds. As far as infrastructure, multiple dam failures lead to the tsunami like tidal waves and flooding of many cities towns and communities. Where towns were, are now lakes littered with bodies and debris, where were roads and highways, are now dried riverbeds because when the water came it completely diverted gentle streams that ran parallel to the roads into roaring rivers that cut 30’ 40’ 50’ and 100’ gaps in road beds and completely washed away bridges. All major roads in and out of Asheville was completely cut off for a 48 hour time period, many are still impassable. I40 in particular took a tremendous hit, Old fort mountain took multiple mudslides, and through the gorge going into Tennessee the eastbound lanes fell into the the Pigeon River. The both class 1 Railroads in the area have suffered a significant amount of damage and hundreds of miles will have to be repaired, undoubtedly some of it will be abandoned, leaving a gap in our local economy for the years to come. There are stories about people being stranded, starving in the thousands, story’s of body’s hanging from trees and lining the ditches of roads are everywhere. Every morgue in Asheville is full beyond capacity, they are stacking them in the basements awaiting the delivery of refer trucks. There is civilian helicopters flying aid in daily. I can’t speak for everywhere but assistance from national guard units and. FEMA in my area has been minimal, again that is my personal experience. I cannot speak for everywhere. Please speak up for us because no one else is.

Biden-Harris & FEMA: Are They There To Help Or Hinder? "FEMA is not merely failing to adequately help people in trouble, but is actively blocking citizens who try to help!...The big issue is FEMA is actively blocking shipments and seizing goods and services locally and locking them away to state they are their own..." ORIGINAL PODCAST CONTENT: https://www.undergroundusa.com/p/biden-harris-and-fema-are-they-there READ, SUBSCRIBE, SHARE & EDUCATE: PROTECT FREE SPEECH #Hurricane #HurricaneHelene #FEMA #Disaster #NC #NorthCarolina #OperationBlueRidge #Flooding #Government #Biden #Harris #Marxism #Election2024 #Election #Propaganda #Media #MAGA #GOP #Podcast #Constitution #USA #Woke #Democrats #Politics #News #Truth