Houston Jury Finds for Insurer in $22M Hail Damage Lawsuit

June 15, 2011

A jury in Houston, Texas, has found in favor of a property insurer in a lawsuit brought by a townhouse homeowners association over roof hail damage to 22 buildings.

Summer Hill Village Community Association sued Colony Insurance for $22 million for breach of contract in the insurer’s denial of coverage for roofs the association said were damaged by hail.

Colony maintained that the damage in question pre-dated the 2007 storm for which Summer Hill filed the hail damage claims. The jury agreed. The association’s claim was dismissed and it was ordered to pay Colony’s defense costs, according to court documents.

Houston trial lawyers William Eggleston and John Michael Raborn of the litigation and appellate firm Eggleston & Briscoe, who represented the insurer, reported that during the 10-day trial, jurors heard from several witnesses who had inspected the roofs that covered 250 homes. The jury found that although homeowners claimed their hail damage came from a 2007 storm, the actual damage pre-dated that storm.

Trial evidence showed that Richmond, Va.-based Colony Insurance Colony Insurance inspected the 13-year-old roofs more than once at the request of the homeowners association.

The case is Summer Hill Village Community Association Inc. v. Colony Insurance Company, No. 2008-50184.

Topics Lawsuits Carriers

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Latest Comments

  • June 20, 2011 at 5:00 pm
    Hillsborough agent says:
    How would you like to be a homeowner in that association and get that assessment?? Crazy stupidity on the part of the Association.
  • June 20, 2011 at 11:10 am
    Insurance Gal says:
    Sure. "All my neighbors got a new roof I'm want one too". That's the society we live in now days. I bet you they are all moaning & groaning now about the increased assoc... read more
  • June 18, 2011 at 10:07 pm
    bob lee swagger says:
    why didn't they go after the previous insurer? You think maybe they got the money from one company and used it for something else and then when hail hit again they thought th... read more

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