Court rules against Katrina victims in levee case
NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (AP) — Hurricane Katrina victims whose homes and businesses were destroyed when floodwaters breached levees in the 2005 storm cannot recover money from their insurance companies for the damages, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday.
The case could affect thousands of rebuilding residents and business owners in Louisiana.
Robert Hartwig, chief economist at the industry-funded Insurance Information Institute in New York, said in June that a ruling against the industry could have cost insurers $1 billion.
“This event was excluded from coverage under the plaintiffs’ insurance policies, and under Louisiana law, we are bound to enforce the unambiguous terms of their insurance contracts as written,” Judge Carolyn King wrote for a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
As a result, the panel found those who filed the suit “are not entitled to recover under their policies,” she said.
More than a dozen insurance companies, including Allstate and Travelers, were defendants.
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