Randel v. Travelers Lloyds of Texas Insurance Co., No. 20-20567 (5th Cir. 2021)
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Plaintiffs filed a claim on their homeowners' insurance policy with Travelers after a fire at their home. Travelers made some early payments; plaintiffs asserted that much more was owed; the parties agreed to an appraisal; the appraisal award came in closer to plaintiffs' view of the damages; and Travelers paid the additional amount.
The Fifth Circuit held that the payment of the appraisal award prevents a plaintiff from continuing to pursue a breach of contract claim against an insurer. The court also held that an insurer can be liable under the Texas Prompt Payment of Claims Act for failing to timely pay the full damages it owed even though it timely made sizeable payments in response to the claim. The court explained that payment and acceptance of an appraisal award means there is nothing left for a breach of contract claim seeking those same damages. But a plaintiff may still have a claim under the prompt payment law after it accepts an appraisal award. Furthermore, the Supreme Court of Texas recently held that even a preappraisal payment that seemed reasonable at the time does not bar a prompt-payment claim if it does not "roughly correspond" to the amount ultimately owed. See Hinojos v. State Farm Lloyds, 619 S.W.3d 651, 658 (Tex. 2021).
In this case, the court affirmed the dismissal of the contract claims where there is no evidence that Travelers failed to pay any amounts due and plaintiffs failed to explain why the amount paid was insufficient. However, in light of Hinojos, the court concluded that Travelers' preappraisal payment is not a defense to liability under the Texas Prompt Payment of Claims Act. Therefore, plaintiffs' claim seeking interest for late payment of dwelling coverage must be remanded.
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