| Page 3 of 3 < |
The Legal Storm in Katrina's Wake
George Arieux, a retired sheet-metal-plant supervisor in Slidell, La., lost his house in the hurricane. State Farm denied his claim, and he's disputing.
(Photos By Charlie Varley -- Sipa Press)
TOOLBOX
   Resize
COMMENT
 Discussion Policy
 CLOSE
Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
Who's Blogging  |
A spokesman for State Farm, based in Bloomington, Ill., says its investigators found that water caused most of the damage to the Spears's house and that engineering reports support the company's assertion.
But Gerald Ciacca disagrees. Ciacca, who lives 80 yards inland from the Spearses, stayed through the hurricane because he got a late start and feared being trapped on the clogged roads. In an interview, he said he watched from a garage as the winds abruptly shifted from the north to the southwest as the hurricane passed.
"That's when all hell broke loose," he says. "It was just unbelievable. It was like nothing I've ever seen. That's when everything come apart."
He said he saw a whole row of houses on the Spears's block literally torn apart by wind, one next to the Spears's collapsing like a "deck of cards," leaving little for the storm surge to damage.
Ciacca, who says his insurer, a unit of Liberty Mutual, paid his claim nearly in full, said the damage to his home was largely done by the time he retreated to an attic as waters rose and flooded about a foot of his first floor.
The Spears's next-door neighbor, Leon Dupreire received $75,000 for wind damage from Allstate, but only after the company initially denied the claim altogether.
"The first thing they wanted to tell me was that it was all flood, but I wasn't going to fall for that," he said. He said he told Allstate representatives: "I'm an old Marine. I'm going to follow the chain of command. I can go until we hit God."
As for Linda Spears, she's gearing up for a court fight.
"I think they should pay for my whole policy," she said. "I paid the whole premiums."
