Doyle Raizner LLP | Hurricane Ike Lawyer

Hurricane Ike: TWIA vs. Texas Business and Homeowners

Hurricane Lawyer — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 06:52:30 +0000

The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) is an insurer of last resort for Texas coastal residents. It was set up in 1971 after Hurricane Celia caused many private insurers to stop insuring houses on the coast.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Ike, TWIA has turned into “a political disaster zone,” according to the Texas Tribune. The insurer has been accused of fraud and mishandling claims. In fact, TWIA employees’ internal e-mails that were discussed on the floor of the Texas Senate unearthed various examples of fraud following Hurricane Ike. Not surprisingly, TWIA has spent two to three times as much defending itself from unhappy policyholders after Hurricane Ike as it did after the previous two hurricanes.

New Director Promises Improvements

TWIA’s interim director, John Polak, stated, “We continue to be defined by an event and by actions of individuals from three years ago.” He further said, “We are trying to do a better job of managing expectations.”

Polak said TWIA had “learned from things that didn’t go so well” and was instituting a new process for selecting and managing adjuster firms, reinforcing ethics, setting up more controls to prevent fraud and starting a call center to “maintain that connection” with policyholders in the event of a natural disaster. However, TWIA has a long way to go given the number of disputes it has been involved in stemming from Hurricane Ike.

New Law

To add insult to injury for some policyholders, a new law will now make it more difficult to bring a claim against TWIA. While supporters of the new law believe reform was needed, Democrats and plaintiff lawyers believe the new law – which exempts TWIA from state insurance laws to lower the amount of damages that policyholders can receive from filing suit – further diminishes the accountability of an agency that has already been shown to have acted in bad faith.

If you have a damage dispute with TWIA, you should closely review your claim, and consult an experienced attorney if you have any questions or concerns.

Hurricane Ike Archives | Houston, Metro/Personal Injury Blog

Hurricane Ike Deadline is Near. Call an experienced Hurricane Ike Lawyer ,
Doyle Raizner at 713-571-1146 to get your claims paid. Hurricane Lawyer

Andrew Slania Addresses Hurricane-Related Property Law Issues at Seminar in South Texas

Dene — Fri, 27 May 2011 16:04:35 +0000

Andrew Slania will take part in a seminar focused on Hurricane Preparedness on May 25, 2011. The seminar will be hosted by the Rockport Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Slania will focus on legal issues arising from property claims, building on his experience handling hurricane disputes, such as those arising from Hurricane Ike.

Hurricane Ike Deadline is Near. Call an experienced Hurricane Ike Lawyer ,
Doyle Raizner at 713-571-1146 to get your claims paid. Hurricane Lawyer

Andrew Slania Addresses Hurricane-Related Property Law Issues at Seminar in South Texas

Hurricane Lawyer — Thu, 26 May 2011 15:14:25 +0000

Hurricane Ike Archives | Houston, Metro/Personal Injury Blog

Hurricane Ike Deadline is Near. Call an experienced Hurricane Ike Lawyer ,
Doyle Raizner at 713-571-1146 to get your claims paid. Hurricane Lawyer

Jeff Raizner Speaks In Front of TAPIA

Hurricane Lawyer — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 15:49:36 +0000

Jeff Raizner will address the Texas Association of Public Insurance Adjusters (TAPIA) at its meeting on April 20,2011. Jeff, who is an attorney member of TAPIA, will join a panel discussion to provide an update on Texas legislation affecting Public Adjusters and discuss practical and ethical practices for Public Adjusters.

Click here for more information on our work with public adjusters, including TAPIA members.

Hurricane Ike Archives | Houston, Metro/Personal Injury Blog

Hurricane Ike Deadline is Near. Call an experienced Hurricane Ike Lawyer ,
Doyle Raizner at 713-571-1146 to get your claims paid. Hurricane Lawyer

Doyle Raizner Property Damage App Now Available on iTunes

Hurricane Lawyer — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 05:52:00 +0000

Doyle Raizner has lauched its second iPhone app, a Property Damage Law Center that provides tools and information in the that will be useful in the event of a property claim due to accidents, fires, natural disasters, and other losses that create a need for homes and businesses to file property insurance claims.

The app is available now for free at the Apple iTunes Store.

The Property Damage Law Center App features include:

- Property loss report form to capture details of your claim

- Tips and information to help you in dealing with your insurance company before and after a claim

- Photo and audio capture to submit with the form

- Access to Doyle Raizner video and social media resources

- Ability to easily contact our attorneys from your iPhone

Hurricane Ike Archives | Houston, Metro/Personal Injury Blog

Hurricane Ike Deadline is Near. Call an experienced Hurricane Ike Lawyer ,
Doyle Raizner at 713-571-1146 to get your claims paid. Hurricane Lawyer

Doyle Raizner represents the historic Galveston Balinese Room in suit against Texas Windstorm Insurance Association

Hurricane Lawyer — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 13:42:04 +0000

Like many other homes and businesses, the Balinese Room was destroyed during Hurricane Ike. Build on a 600 foot pier at 21st Street and Seawall in Galveston, the Balinese Room over its lifetime hosted such greats as Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope, Jack Benny – and generations of Galvestonians. It survived Hurricanes Carla and Alicia, and was vacant for nearly 20 years before being restored by Scott Arnold and his Arnold Properties, Inc. in 2001. All that remains today are the pilings shown on the photograph below – and the memories of those who participated in its history. Unfortunately, TWIA has not honored its contract to fairly and reasonably protect the financial, historic and cultural value of this important part of Galveston history. A copy of the lawsuit petition is attached. FS – Original Petition.pdf

Hurricane Ike Archives | Houston, TX Metro/Personal Injury Blog

Hurricane Ike Deadline is Near. Call an experienced Hurricane Ike Lawyer ,
Doyle Raizner at 713-571-1146 to get your claims paid. Hurricane Lawyer

Hearing on Texas Windstorm Depositions in Harris County

Hurricane Lawyer — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 06:43:10 +0000

Today Judge Mike Miller conducted a hearing on depositions in Texas Windstorm cases pending in Harris County. Currently, the depositions of certain Texas Windstorm executives are scheduled to take place beginning in late March and continuing into early April, and the depositions have been noticed in Galveston County under a deposition order. We have been concerned that Texas Windstorm is not moving promptly to complete production of written discovery, including documents about their claims handling practices, and that Texas Windstorm would use its own delay in producing documents as an excuse to further delay depositions in these cases. Doyle Raizner does not believe the deposition process should be delayed further, and accordingly we filed a cross notice of these depositions in our Goddard v Texas Windstorm case. Judge Miller determined that the depositions should proceed under an order that obligates Texas Windstorm to produce its witnesses for deposition promptly. The Court’s order will be posted within the next several days at the Court’s website: Harris County Ike Docket

Hurricane Ike Archives | Houston, TX Metro/Personal Injury Blog

Hurricane Ike Deadline is Near. Call an experienced Hurricane Ike Lawyer ,
Doyle Raizner at 713-571-1146 to get your claims paid. Hurricane Lawyer

Protective Order Entered in Harris County Hurricane Ike Litigation

Hurricane Lawyer — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 23:33:40 +0000

Today, Judge Mike Miller entered a Protective Order applicable to all lawsuits pending in the Harris County consolidated Hurricane Ike docket. The Protective Order was entered to hopefully facilitate the production of documents from the insurer and insurance adjuster defendants, who had to date generally refused to provide their documents and files in response to homeowners’ and business owners’ requests. The order was necessary to bring to light in the course of the litigation the documents and information showing the misconduct of property and casualty insurers, such as Allstate, State Farm, Farmers, Hartford and others, in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike.

The order is available for download at the Court’s website: http://www.justex.net/Courts/Civil/CourtSection.aspx?crt=1&sid=344

Jeff Raizner is liaison counsel for the Plaintiffs in the Harris County Hurricane Ike consolidated litigation. For more information, contact Jeff Raizner.

Hurricane Ike Archives | Houston, TX Metro/Personal Injury Blog

Hurricane Ike Deadline is Near. Call an experienced Hurricane Ike Lawyer ,
Doyle Raizner at 713-571-1146 to get your claims paid. Hurricane Lawyer

Harris County Considers Pre-Trial Consolidation of Hurricane Ike Commercial Cases

Hurricane Lawyer — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 16:32:36 +0000

On Friday, June 18, 2010, Administrative Judge Al Bennett conducted a hearing concerning a possible consolidation of commercial Hurricane Ike cases into a special docket. All residential Ike cases have been consolidated into a special docket before Judge Mike Miller, and a similar proposal is under consideration for commercial cases.

The hearing was well attended, with lead Plaintiffs’ lawyers in attendance along with counsel for dozens of insurance companies. The Plaintiffs group was united in the desire to put in place an organized, sensible pre-trial docket for commercial Ike cases. Both I and my co-liaison counsel advised Judge Bennett and Judge Kyle Carter, who heads the Special Docket Committee, about the benefits we have seen from consolidated dockets in Houston and Galveston.

The insurance industry position was expressed by Chris Martin, who represents a number of the major insurance carriers. The insurance industry opposed the creation of a special docket for commercial cases.

The opposition to a special docket for commercial Ike cases is unfortunate. Consolidation of the residential cases in Houston, and of all cases in Galveston, has lead to an organized, well-run docket that has resolved hundreds if not thousands of Hurricane Ike cases. Our clients have all benefited from the good work the courts and lawyers have done throughout the Texas Gulf Coast to promptly resolve these cases. The opposition by the insurance industry is disappointing and an unfortunate example of the ongoing effort to create obstacles and roadblocks to impede Texas insureds from protecting the values of their homes and businesses. We are hopeful the Harris County Courts will grant the request to create a pre-trial consolidation of all commercial Hurricane Ike cases into a special docket, for the benefit of Texas policy holders

Hurricane Ike Archives | Houston, TX Metro/Personal Injury Blog

Hurricane Ike Deadline is Near. Call an experienced Hurricane Ike Lawyer ,
Doyle Raizner at 713-571-1146 to get your claims paid. Hurricane Lawyer

Settlements for Ike “Slab” Homeowners Announced

Hurricane Lawyer — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 09:17:47 +0000

Doyle Raizner LLP is pleased to announce that a settlement framework has been reached for all residential “slab” claims arising out of Hurricane Ike. The total settlement is $ 189 million for approximately 2400 homeowners, including those represented by Doyle Raizner LLP. The settlement amounts will be allocated to homeowners based on their individual damages, and the settlement was reached after days and weeks of negotiations with Texas Windstorm. The negotiations for this settlement were led by a group of plaintiff’s lawyers, including Jeff Raizner.

The settlement covers residential “slab” claims, meaning homes that were destroyed with nothing remaining except foundation structures. We anticipate there will be a similar effort to resolve commercial “slab” claims in the near future.

All Doyle Raizner “slab” clients are part of the settlement. Homeowners with “slab” claims who are not represented by a lawyer may qualify for a class action settlement negotiated at the same time as the individual claims, and the calculations will be the same regardless of whether the homeowners is currently represented by an attorney or paid through the class settlement. All “slab” homeowners, whether represented by a lawyer or not, will soon receive notice from the Court about the settlement. If you are not currently represented by a lawyer, call us and we can make sure you are protected in the class settlement or bring an individual claim if appropriate.

Hurricane Ike related claims that are not “slab” claims are not part of this settlement, but Doyle Raizner continues to negotiate and resolve these “non-slab” claims at regular settlement conferences with Texas Windstorm.

We are pleased with the slab settlement, and believe it is a long overdue step on the road to recovery for thousands of homeowners affected by Hurricane Ike and the misconduct by the insurance industry following that disaster. The presiding judge, Honorable Susan Criss of the 212th District Court of Galveston County has stated, “I appreciate all of the hard work by the plaintiffs’ lawyers, the TWIA lawyers and the mediator, Todd Hunter, put into mediating these cases over a period of six full days. The Bolivar/Galveston community deserves closure and the opportunity to rebuild their homes and lives.”

Hurricane Ike Archives | Houston, TX Metro/Personal Injury Blog

Hurricane Ike Deadline is Near. Call an experienced Hurricane Ike Lawyer ,
Doyle Raizner at 713-571-1146 to get your claims paid. Hurricane Lawyer