Recently, Joey LaHatte with LaHatte Law Firm, L.L.C. and Galen Hair for Scott, Vicknair, Hair, Checki, L.L.C. obtained a $115,000.00 settlement payment from Lighthouse Property Insurance Corporation on a case which was pending against Lighthouse since the year 2014. That case, entitled, Doris Kelly v. Lighthouse Property Insurance Corporation had been pending with the Civil District Court for the Parish of Orleans since the filing of the petition for damages on November 4, 2014.
The case involved a large fire loss that occurred to a residential home in Algiers, Louisiana. The client was an elderly woman who practically lost everything in the fire through either fire damage, smoke contamination, or mold damage sustained from the responding fire department agency. It was alleged in the lawsuit that Lighthouse underpaid this claim, drastically, on both structure and contents losses (furniture, electronics, clothing mementos, heirlooms, keepsakes, pictures, stationery, and otherwise), and ultimately committed bad faith in its handling of the matter.
In the course of the litigation, Lighthouse filed numerous exceptions and motions which resulted in over ten (10) hearings in Court involving the defense counsel for Lighthouse, and counsel for Doris Kelly which included both Joey LaHatte with LaHatte Law Firm, L.L.C. and Galen Hair for Scott, Vicknair, Hair, Checki, L.L.C. Lighthouse also subjected Doris Kelly, and her daughters and family, to both examinations under oath (EUOs), and depositions requiring them to spend hours answering questions. With a bad faith trial date looming in the fall of 2019, Lighthouse ultimately made the decision to pay $115,000.00 to Doris Kelly while not acknowledging any liability in the matter. To us, this illustrates that no matter how many times an insurance carrier files what we believe are baseless and time-wasting exceptions and motions in Court, our bad faith property law firm will not back down in pursuing a case for our clients. To us, we also believe that Lighthouse could have easily settled this matter from after the initial filing five years ago, instead of wasting countless hours, attorney’s fees, and costs in the hopes that it could cause our firm to back down.
If you yourself have a claim against Lighthouse Property Insurance Corporation (which has operated through Pharos Claims Services), please feel free to click our chatbox or call us for a free consultation. Remember, in the State of Louisiana, you have ten (10) years to pursue a bad faith insurance claim from the loss. So, if you have a loss within the last ten years, let us evaluate your potential for your own bad faith insurance payment.
If you would like to know more about our services here at LaHatte Law, we encourage you to contact our New Orleans insurance bad faith lawyer today.