Fifth Circuit Rejects Katrina Insurance Claims
In In re Katrina Canal Breaches Litigation, the Fifth Circuit has rejected several insurance policyholders' attempts to obtain coverage for water damage caused by Hurricane Katrina, despite exclusions for damages caused by "flood," based on allegations that the inundation of water into the City of New Orleans resulted from the negligent design, construction, and maintenance of the levees along three canals. The plaintiffs argued that the policies were ambiguous because the flood exclusions did not clearly exclude coverage for water inundation caused by negligence. The circuit court held that, aside from any negligence, the policy exclusions unambiguously precluded recovery.
Update: Here is a list of all counsel involved in the Fifth Circuit appeal. See the WSJ Law Blog for some interesting coverage and comments, as well as a YouTube video set to Led Zeppelin's When the Levee Breaks.
[...] Fifth Circuit Rejects Katrina Insurance Claims [...]