State Farm Lloyds v. Ginger Hanson

500 S.W.3d 84, 2016 Tex. App. LEXIS 6937, 2016 WL 3575069
Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided June 30, 2016·No. NO. 14-15-00093-CV·Published·Cited by 25 cases

Opinion

OPINION

Marc W. Brown, Justice

State Farm Lloyds appeals from a judgment in favor of insured Ginger Hanson following a jury trial. The jury found that State Farm breached its policy when it refused to cover physical loss to Hanson’s roof caused by a wind event in June 2012. In addition to awarding Hanson damages for the cost to repair or replace her physical loss,- the jury awarded attorney’s fees. State Farm: (1) challenges the legal sufficiency of the evidence supporting the jury’s finding that State Farm failed to comply with the policy, (2) contends that the evidence conclusively established an exclusion to coverage, and (3) argues that Hanson failed to produce evidence showing she was entitled to replacement cost benefits. With regard to attorney’s fees, State Farm argues that: (a) the evidence is legally insufficient to support the award; (b) under rule 167, State Farm is entitled to an offset for litigation costs accruing after Hanson rejected its settlement offer and Hanson is precluded from receiving post-rejection attorney’s fees; (c) Hanson failed to properly segregate; and (d) the award is excessive. We affirm.

I. Factual and Procedural Background

Ginger Hanson closed on the house at issue in July 2011. At the time, the roof was approximately 15 years old with 30-year shingles fastened to the decking with staples. The house underwent a purchase inspection, which did not reveal any concerns with the roof. The seller’s disclosure did not indicate any roof damage.

. Hanson sought coverage for the house from her longtime State Farm agent. Her agent prepared an underwriting report for Hanson’s policy. There was no indication that the roof had “possible hail damage,” “curled shingles,” “loose/missing shingles,” “wear in valleys,” “missing/replaced ridge row,” “patched area[s],” or “stain/rotting under eaves.” There were no “interior leaks.” The report did not identify any possible concerns. According to Shannon Kimmel, one of Hanson’s experts with experience working as a claims adjuster for *88 State Farm and currently working as a public adjuster, 1 the underwriting report indicated there were “no issues with that roof less than a year before this reported storm.” Another of Hanson’s experts with experience working for State Farm as a claims adjuster, Kerry Freeman, stated that the report reflected a “clean bill of health” for Hanson’s roof.

Under “Section I—Coverages,” Hanson’s homeowner’s policy with State Farm provides:

COVERAGE A—DWELLING
1. Dwelling. We cover the dwelling used principally as a private residence on the residence premises shown in the Declarations.
Dwelling includes:
a. structures attached to the dwelling;
b. materials and supplies located on or adjacent to the residence premises for use in the construction, alteration or repair of the dwelling or other structures on the residence premises;
c. foundation, floor slab and footings supporting the dwelling; and
d. wall-to-wall carpeting attached to the dwelling.

Under “Section I—Losses Insured,” the policy provides:

COVERAGE A—DWELLING
We insure for accidental direct physical loss to the property described in Coverage A, except as provided in SECTION I—LOSSES NOT INSURED.

Under “Section I—Losses Not Insured,” the policy provides:

1. We do not insure for any loss to the property described in Coverage A which consists of, or is directly and immediately caused by, one or more of the perils listed in items a. through n. below, regardless of whether the loss occurs suddenly or gradually, involves isolated or widespread damage, arises from natural or external forces, or occurs as a result of any combination of these: ...
g. wear, tear, marring, scratching, deterioration, inherent vice, latent defect or mechanical breakdown....
3. We do not insure under any coverage for any loss consisting of one or more of the items below. Further, we do not insure for loss described in paragraphs 1. and 2. immediately above regardless of whether one or more of the following: (a) directly or indirectly cause, contribute to or aggravate the loss; or (b) occur before, at the same time, or after the loss or any other cause of the loss: ...
b. defect, weakness, inadequacy, fault or unsoundness in: ...
(2) design, specifications, workmanship, construction, grading, compaction....

Hanson was not at home during the June 1, 2012 storm. On the day after the storm, Roy Campbell, who sells roofs for Telge Roofing, tarped roofs and made adjuster appointments for houses in Hanson’s neighborhood. Kimmel discussed the June 1, 2012 storm with Hanson’s neighbors and the greenskeeper for the golf course around the corner from Hanson’s house. After the storm, the golf course had to shut down due to “a tremendous amount” of fallen trees blocking golf cart paths. Several of Hanson’s neighbors received new roofs after the June 1, 2012 stomp

In early October 2012, Campbell inspected Hanson’s roof. Campbell found “pulled through fasteners” and “lots of *89 wind lift”: “Basically, [Hanson] has staples on her roof and where the wind had lifted it up, it made a clean pull through of the shingle. The shingle was actually still in place but it’s basically flapping in the wind.” Campbell found areas of Hanson’s roof where the edges of the top layer of shingles were not sealed to the underlying layers and could be lifted by hand. Campbell suggested that Hanson file an insurance claim.

Hanson and Campbell called in a claim to State Farm for wind damage to Hanson’s roof. 2 State Farm assigned claims representative Jon Flores. Campbell accompanied Flores onto the roof for the inspection. Campbell showed Flores areas of pulled-through shingles and creased shingles. Flores only walked the ridge 3 of the roof and did not go down any of the slopes. According to Campbell, Flores indicated there was not “enough damage” and that despite any “lift” there were “no missing shingles.” Flores concluded that Hanson’s roof had not sustained an accidental direct physical loss.

Flores’s inspection did not satisfy Hanson. Campbell referred Hanson to Kim-mel. Hanson requested another inspection from State Farm. State Farm next assigned claims representative Andrew Traise. Campbell accompanied Traise onto the roof for the inspection. Kimmel also was present. Campbell described Traise’s inspection as uncharacteristically quick. Traise “traversed” about ten percent of the roof and made no effort to ask any of Hanson’s neighbors about, or to observe, their properties. Campbell showed Traise areas of lifted shingles “pretty much all over the roof’—pulled-through fasteners and unsealed shingles.

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State Farm Lloyds v. Ginger Hanson, 500 S.W.3d 84, 2016 Tex. App. LEXIS 6937, 2016 WL 3575069 (Tex. Ct. App. 2016).

500 S.W.3d 84 (State Farm Lloyds v. Ginger Hanson) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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