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

Leviticus Chapter 10 1 And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the LORD, which he commanded them not. 2 And there went out fire from the LORD, and devoured them, and they died before the LORD. 3 Then Moses said unto Aaron, This is it that the LORD spake, saying, I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me, and before all the people I will be glorified. And Aaron held his peace. 4 And Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel the uncle of Aaron, and said unto them, Come near, carry your brethren from before the sanctuary out of the camp. 5 So they went near, and carried them in their coats out of the camp; as Moses had said. 6 And Moses said unto Aaron, and unto Eleazar and unto Ithamar, his sons, Uncover not your heads, neither rend your clothes; lest ye die, and lest wrath come upon all the people: but let your brethren, the whole house of Israel, bewail the burning which the LORD hath kindled. 7 And ye shall not go out from the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die: for the anointing oil of the LORD is upon you. And they did according to the word of Moses. 8 And the LORD spake unto Aaron, saying, 9 Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations: 10 And that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean; 11 And that ye may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the LORD hath spoken unto them by the hand of Moses. 12 And Moses spake unto Aaron, and unto Eleazar and unto Ithamar, his sons that were left, Take the meat offering that remaineth of the offerings of the LORD made by fire, and eat it without leaven beside the altar: for it is most holy: 13 And ye shall eat it in the holy place, because it is thy due, and thy sons' due, of the sacrifices of the LORD made by fire: for so I am commanded. 14 And the wave breast and heave shoulder shall ye eat in a clean place; thou, and thy sons, and thy daughters with thee: for they be thy due, and thy sons' due, which are given out of the sacrifices of peace offerings of the children of Israel. 15 The heave shoulder and the wave breast shall they bring with the offerings made by fire of the fat, to wave it for a wave offering before the LORD; and it shall be thine, and thy sons' with thee, by a statute for ever; as the LORD hath commanded. 16 And Moses diligently sought the goat of the sin offering, and, behold, it was burnt: and he was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, the sons of Aaron which were left alive, saying, 17 Wherefore have ye not eaten the sin offering in the holy place, seeing it is most holy, and God hath given it you to bear the iniquity of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the LORD? 18 Behold, the blood of it was not brought in within the holy place: ye should indeed have eaten it in the holy place, as I commanded. 19 And Aaron said unto Moses, Behold, this day have they offered their sin offering and their burnt offering before the LORD; and such things have befallen me: and if I had eaten the sin offering to day, should it have been accepted in the sight of the LORD? 20 And when Moses heard that, he was content.

I'm certainly GLAD that the Most High opened my eyes! To EVERYTHING! Especially to the wicked nature of the #Witchcraft pushing #Hollywood scum, the LIES of #NASA created to hide the #Truth of YHWH, and our #Evil and corrupt, Satan serving "Government" and it's minions! Because I've got to tell you.... I was as brainwashed by these things as anyone is today! It's so nice to escape that reprobate mind! And to actually SEE with you eyes... and to HEAR with your ears! Instead of blindly walking into a wood chipper of delusion! I thank the Most High TODAY and EVERY DAY for opening my eyes, and for all of my blessings, including His protection! (Which is much better than the US Military) Today is a fine time to reach out to Him if you haven't already! I sleep like a baby knowing that He has me covered! The ONLY thing that I fear is His Judgement and His wrath... which is being kindled as we speak....

Brock Steele Sphere is available from Amazon, Kindle, and all good bookshops worldwide! "Brock Steele knows his name – and very little else. After a vicious attack in mysterious circumstances, Brock’s memory has abandoned him. He has no idea why he’s being hounded by a mysterious man with a gun or why bad things keep happening to the people he loves. And why are strange voices talking to him from the walls of his flat? When he’s forced to go on the run to save his life, he has to decide who to trust – and making a mistake could be fatal. Can Brock find out who he is, why he’s being hunted, and stay alive into the bargain?" #BrockSteeleSphere #Goodreads #ReadingIsFun #BookLovers #ReadMoreBooks

Käsebrötchen: pão de queijo (Käsebällchen) Kindle Edition https://www.amazon.de/dp/B01MUWNH4S/?_encoding=UTF8&camp=1638&creative=6742&linkCode=ur2&site-redirect=de&tag=boweyobo-21 https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=9BUSDgAAQBAJ https://books.apple.com/de/book/k%C3%A4sebr%C3%B6tchen/id1445271016

https://read.amazon.com/kp/embed?asin=B00413QFLK&preview=newtab&linkCode=kpe&ref_=cm_sw_r_kb_dp_ANFXNF4M6AVFWXW18CXQ Gold Warriors by Sterling and Peggy Seagrave Shared via Kindle. Description: How America secretly recovered Yamashita's Gold immediately after World War 2. Great masses of treasure in gold, platinum, diamonds, other precious gems, solid gold Buddhas, art works, ancient artifacts, priceless manuscripts... read.amazon.com ..." Once citizens of a country relinquish control of their money to private bankers, they are at the banker's mercy- which is the whole idea. When citizens are then deprived of the right to keep precious metals like gold, (silver, platinum, etc.), - which has true value because of it's rarity- they have no alternative but to make do with the paper money printed and manipulated by private bankers - literally "monopoly money".....

Autorentipps: Blogartikel, Berichte, Bücher, E-Books schreiben. Kindle Edition https://www.amazon.de/dp/B00SMIDMJ8/?_encoding=UTF8&camp=1638&creative=6742&linkCode=ur2&site-redirect=de&tag=boweyobo-21 https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=1KZbBgAAQBAJ&PAffiliateID=1101logT https://books.apple.com/de/book/autorentipps/id1445258536

Autorentipps: Blogartikel, Berichte, Bücher, E-Books schreiben. Kindle Edition https://www.amazon.de/dp/B00SMIDMJ8/?_encoding=UTF8&camp=1638&creative=6742&linkCode=ur2&site-redirect=de&tag=boweyobo-21 https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=1KZbBgAAQBAJ&PAffiliateID=1101logT https://books.apple.com/de/book/autorentipps/id1445258536

Useful Idiots: How Liberals Got It Wrong in the Cold War and Still Blame America First (Also available in Kindle) Who’s on the wrong side of history? Liberals, argues Mona Charen in this New York Times bestseller. And they've been on the wrong side for far too long. A former speechwriter for the Reagan White House, Charen describes how the left has continually attempted to rewrite history, all the while refusing to learn from it. She fearlessly calls out the prominent liberal media figures, professors, and opinion makers who flocked to Castro’s Cuba and called it paradise, visited the Soviet Union and proclaimed its glorious future, and who, only a generation ago, proclaimed communism to be a "force of good" in the world. She won't let them get away with their snide disdain for America when the lessons of the past should have humbled them long ago. From D.C. elites Madeleine Albright, Bill Clinton, John Kerry, and Ted Kennedy, to Hollywood celebs like Woody Allen and Jane Fonda, to academic snobs like Noam Chomsky and Susan Sontag, Charen’s devastating critique of the left's philosophical incompetence is a must-read for Americans on both sides of the aisle. https://a.co/d/1lyw8Eb

Projekt XL 2012: Mit 83 Jahren auf einem Motorrad vom Atlantik bis zum Pazifik. Wagen Sie sich! Kindle Edition https://www.amazon.de/dp/B00K2OSKAQ/?_encoding=UTF8&camp=1638&creative=6742&linkCode=ur2&site-redirect=de&tag=boweyobo-21 https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=YgF-AwAAQBAJ https://books.apple.com/de/book/projekt-xl-2012/id1445278604