The Corona Law Firm, PLLC

Hurricane Beryl - Your Insurance Has to Act within Certain Timelines

Wed, 07 Aug 2024 21:31:29 GMT

Hurricane Beryl hit the Texas coast as a Category 1 storm, early on the morning of July 8, 2024. It made a direct hit on Houston, knocking out power to millions and causing catastrophic damages to property. More than a month after the hurricane struck, the chopped up trees that fell on homes and in yards have still not all been picked up. Just like the debris, it will take time for people's homes and businesses to be properly repaired. However, insurance companies are required by law to act and pay insurance claims according to strict timelines, as I discuss here in this video.

Three Easy Tips for Dealing with Insurance Property Damage Claims - recent Houston Storms

Wed, 29 May 2024 22:33:58 GMT

The May 2024 Storms that tore through the Houston, Texas and surrounding area, cost 7-Billion Dollars of Property Damages. Here's three quick and easy tips from the Storm Counselor to keep in mind when dealing with property damage claims and insurance companies.

Policyholder Litigation Attorney Jesse Corona Discusses Insurance Policy Preparation for Storm Season

Mon, 24 Aug 2020 20:18:00 GMT

The Houston Bar Association’s Disaster Preparedness Committee interviews policyholder litigation attorney Jesse Corona of The Corona Law Firm on how everyone can make sure their insurance policies are prepared for the upcoming Hurricane / storm season.

The post Policyholder Litigation Attorney Jesse Corona Discusses Insurance Policy Preparation for Storm Season appeared first on The Corona Law Firm, PLLC .

Dallas Tornado Claims – How Recent Texas Legislation Helps Insurance Companies Deny, Delay, and Underpay Claims

Thu, 27 Feb 2020 19:24:00 GMT

According to a quick Google search, the origin of the phrase, “death by a thousand cuts,” is from a now-illegal form of execution in China called lingchi . Lingchi got its start in the tenth century and was in practice in China until it was banned in 1905. During this particularly gruesome form of torture and execution, a convicted criminal was cut many times times until he eventually died a slow death. Each of the cuts, by themselves, were not lethal. It was only the sum total of the non-lethal cuts that served to kill the person. The process was slow and painful, but the end resulting death was certain.

The process of lingchi is a good analogy for the loss of rights, under law, in America. People don’t usually intend to knowingly relinquish all of their rights all at once. However, when those rights are stripped away, one at a time, the sum total of that process, as it is under lingchi, is certain.

Take the well-funded insurance lobbyists attack on homeowner and business-owner rights in Texas. The 2015 Texas legislative session saw an un-precedented sweeping attempt by insurance companies and their lobbyists to make it near impossible for homeowners and business-owners to sue their insurance companies for wrongfully denying, delaying, and under-paying storm damage claims. It was brought under the guise of “protecting insurance companies from frivolous lawsuits that,” beating that old fear-mongering tactic, “will raise your insurance rates if not stopped.” That attack was so broad and sweeping that people wised up and various groups were able to defeat that bill before it passed. This was the full frontal attack on rights and the good folks of Texas recognized it and rose up.

However, the next legislative session in 2017 saw a much more subtle attack on homeowner and business-owner rights. Funded by Texas policyholders’ own insurance premiums, insurance companies and their lobbyists took a non-mortal cut at policyholder rights. They again framed their bill, HB 1774, as an insurance policyholder protection bill. This was not a full frontal attack and many people did not recognize it as such. The bill passed the Texas legislature and went into effect September 1, 2018; right after Hurricane Harvey (to see how each Texas legislator voted on the bill, click here ).

So what was the result of this destruction, in light of the cut into policyholder rights approved and passed under HB1774? Denied, delayed, and underpaid insurance claims by the thousands … along with blue tarps all over Dallas.

The end result does not have to be the death of policyholder rights in Texas. However, policyholders need to recognize these attacks and stop this death by a thousand cuts in its tracks. As always, we are available here at the firm to discuss the effects these laws continue to have on policyholder rights in Texas.

For an in depth look at the effect of these laws in relation the Dallas tornado, watch the very informative video just posted by the Texas consumer advocacy group, Texas Watch, posted below.

The post Dallas Tornado Claims – How Recent Texas Legislation Helps Insurance Companies Deny, Delay, and Underpay Claims appeared first on The Corona Law Firm, PLLC .

Court Dismisses All Downstream Addicks and Barker Reservoir Claims – Read the Federal Opinion Just Released Today

Tue, 18 Feb 2020 23:28:00 GMT

U.S. Court of Federal Claims Senior Judge Loren A. Smith dismissed all downstream Addicks and Barker Reservoir claims in an opinion just released this afternoon. Judge Smith writes, “[b]ased on the above analysis of both state and federal law, it seems clear to this Court that neither Texas law nor federal law provides plaintiffs with a cognizable property interest in perfect flood control in the wake of an Act of God. As the government cannot take a property interest that does not exist, and as the Corps cannot be held liable when an Act of God inundates a plaintiff’s real property with flood waters that the government could not conceivably have controlled, plaintiffs have failed to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.” Dkt. 203, Pg 18.

The post Court Dismisses All Downstream Addicks and Barker Reservoir Claims – Read the Federal Opinion Just Released Today appeared first on The Corona Law Firm, PLLC .

Read the Court’s Opinion – Army Corps found liable for flooding damage upstream of Addicks, Barker reservoirs

Fri, 17 Jan 2020 23:32:00 GMT

In his December 17, 2019 opinion, U.S. Court of Federal Claims Senior Judge Charles F. Lettow writes, “the evidence demonstrates the Corps was aware or should have been aware since the initial construction of the dams and at every point onward, that the flood pools in the Addicks and Barker Reservoirs would at some point (and thereafter) exceed the government-owned land, inundating private properties.” Dkt. 260, Pg 36.

Judge Lettow goes on to say, “the taking at issue here does not begin and end with the construction of Addicks andBarker. The Corps’ modification, operation, and maintenance of the dams was and is ongoing, continuing well into the years following the 1940s, and at each successive instance, the likelihood of occurrence of flood pools exceeding government-owned land grew. By the 1960s and 1970s, the Corps had a definite understanding that larger pool sizes were highly probable.” Id. He adds, “[l]ater events only magnified the risk of flooding beyond government-owned land, rendering it virtually inevitable.” Id.

The opinion holds that the government’s actions at the Addicks and Barker Dams and the subsequent flooding of Plaintiffs’ properties constituted a “taking” under the Fifth Amendment, and the Federal government is liable. Id. at 46.

What does that mean to Houstonians affected by the upstream flooding at Addicks and Barker Dams? The Court instructed Plaintiffs and Defendants to each propose three properties of the original 13 Bellwether test cases, from which the Court will select five test cases to decide damages. The Court instructed both sides to file their test cases by January 21, 2020.

Statistically, it appears that up to 75 percent of the people affected by this flooding have not yet acted. If your home or business flooded upstream from the Addicks and Barker Reservoirs, we would be happy to discuss your options with you.

Read the entire opinion from the Court below:

Court Opinion on Liability Regarding Upstream Addicks and Barker Flood Control Cases

The post Read the Court’s Opinion – Army Corps found liable for flooding damage upstream of Addicks, Barker reservoirs appeared first on The Corona Law Firm, PLLC .

Bellwether Court Victory for Harvey Victims – Army Corps found liable for flooding damage upstream of Addicks, Barker reservoirs

Wed, 18 Dec 2019 17:34:00 GMT

In a historic victory against the federal government on December 17, 2019, a U.S. Court of Federal Claims judge ruled the flood damage to homes and businesses above the Addicks and Barker reservoirs dams that span Harris and Fort Bend counties was a foreseeable result of government’s actions.

The Houston Chronicle has the story.

The post Bellwether Court Victory for Harvey Victims – Army Corps found liable for flooding damage upstream of Addicks, Barker reservoirs appeared first on The Corona Law Firm, PLLC .

2019 Texas Legislative Update: Four Responsible Auto Liability Bills to Help Texans

Mon, 18 Mar 2019 16:36:00 GMT

Texas Watch takes a look at four bills before the legislature at the Texas Capitol right now that will crack down on insurance carriers that take advantage of Texas families through gotcha policies, pressure tactics, and deny, delay, underpay schemes.

The post 2019 Texas Legislative Update: Four Responsible Auto Liability Bills to Help Texans appeared first on The Corona Law Firm, PLLC .

Insurance Lobbyists Destroy Your Property Rights

Thu, 24 May 2018 23:01:00 GMT

Texas Watch takes an honest upfront look on the outright attack by insurance companies and their special interest lobbyists on the rights of property owners in Texas. Update on claims eight months after Hurricane Harvey.

The post Insurance Lobbyists Destroy Your Property Rights appeared first on The Corona Law Firm, PLLC .

Addicks and Barker Reservoir Flood Claims

Thu, 07 Sep 2017 23:29:00 GMT

Addicks and Barker Reservoirs

In addition to the traditional residential and commercial wind and flood claim stemming from Hurricane Harvey’s path of destruction in Houston, there is a new type of claim out there right now: folks hurt as a result of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ release of reservoir water from the Addicks and Barker Reservoir.

On August 29, 2017, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers were faced with a dilemma at the two federally owned and controlled Addicks and Barker Reservoirs in West Houston. The sheer amount of rain had filled the reservoirs and resulted in out-of-banks flooding … and the rain was not stopping. The 1940s reservoirs stood a chance of failing completely, which would have resulted in flooding on all sides of the reservoir, as well as massive, unchecked flooding downstream. So, for the greater public good, intentionally, and with full knowledge that their actions would result in residential and commercial properties to flood downstream, the federal government, through the Corps of Engineers, opened both reservoirs in “controlled releases.”

The water was released at a combined rate of 13,000 cubic feet per second (cfs). As expected and intended, the water immediately hurled downstream to the Buffalo Bayou. Properties that had previously not flooded downstream, in turn flooded as a direct result of these actions.

Buffalo Bayou Inundation Map; courtesy the Harris County Flood Control District

It is not important at this stage to question whether this was the right action for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to do. In fact, if you know anything about a certain other Federal Act, that is not an exercise you want to engage in. It is best to not criticize the Corps of Engineers at this juncture and take them at their word that it was the best decision to make at the time for the public good.

Many people are familiar with the term “eminent domain,” which largely refers a government’s ability to take private property for public use, following the payment of “just compensation.” Usually comes into play when a government wants to seize property to build a public road. There are all sorts of variations of eminent domain with different names. There are federal and state laws that cover the federal government, state or municipal governments engaging in that sort of behavior, but the power to check this type of action stems from and is firmly rooted in the 5th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution; commonly referred to as the “Takings Clause.” The “Takings Clause” of the 5th Amendment says, “…nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.”

There are no shortages of cases analyzing what in fact constitutes a taking under the 5th Amendment, but more importantly, there are cases that hold the intentional, temporary flooding by the U.S. government of private property for the public good can be a “taking” under the U.S. Constitution. Title to the property does not have to pass, meaning the government does not have to buy you out, but they do have to pay “just compensation” to the property owners who had their property damaged. These types of lawsuits have to be brought in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in Washington, D.C.

What this means for Houston property owners downstream of the reservoir release is this; the Federal government may owe compensation to you if your home or business was damaged as result of the Addicks or Barker Reservoir releases. This is particularly relevant and important for those home owners and business owners who did not have flood insurance.

Now some people may ask, what about liability for the City of Houston and the Harris County Flood Control District? I know there was a rush to file lawsuits in state court, but I believe that is ultimately an unworkable course of action for liability. The reservoirs were federally owned and operated — have been since the 1940s. The federal government, through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, was ultimately calling the shots on what action to take, including the decision to conduct controlled releases of the reservoirs. The city and county could advise, but ultimately the federal government was in charge of what happened at the Addicks and Barker Reservoirs.

Federal government actors + federally owned land + federal right to possibly recover under the U.S. Constitution = possible path to recover compensation.

*As always, these are my own thoughts and opinions, and do not constitute legal advice to those reading. If you wish to discuss these issues, feel free to contact my office. If you would like to see the types of claims we are currently taking on related to Harvey, click here .**

– Jesse Corona

The post Addicks and Barker Reservoir Flood Claims appeared first on The Corona Law Firm, PLLC .

Hailstorm Bills Leave Texas Businesses in the Lurch

Tue, 02 May 2017 23:11:00 GMT

You got to hand it to the good folks at the Texas Watch consumer advocacy group. Check out this video interview with Amarillo business owner Larry Rhea of Marsh Electric.

The post Hailstorm Bills Leave Texas Businesses in the Lurch appeared first on The Corona Law Firm, PLLC .

Why HB 1774 is a bad bill – breakdown of the bill in plain English

Tue, 02 May 2017 19:04:00 GMT

Doubts as to whether or not HB 1774 is actually a bad bill? Don’t listen to the hype from insurance companies about the intention and about what it is “supposed” to accomplish. See what it actually does.

CSHB 1774 Summary

The post Why HB 1774 is a bad bill – breakdown of the bill in plain English appeared first on The Corona Law Firm, PLLC .

Urgent! Sign this Petition Against Insurance Industry Proposed Legislation- Goes to House Floor for Debate on May 4th

Fri, 28 Apr 2017 21:33:00 GMT

HB 1774 is out of committee and going to debate on the House floor on Thursday May 4, 2017. This bill, along with its companion bill out of the Texas Senate, SB 10, seeks to reduce a policyholder’s rights and abilities to hold insurance companies accountable for denied, delayed or underpaid insurance claims. If you are a Texas homeowner or business owner, this bill affects you! The insurance industry has been spending millions of dollars of your policy premiums to lobby hard this session to get attention in the legislature. Now is the time to stand up and tell your state representatives and state senators what you think about this billion dollar industry making it even harder for you to get what you owe on claims. Please sign this petition ASAP! This will send a direct message to the members of the House that they need to fight for you, not big insurance. The time to act is now. It only takes a minute to sign the petition, but the effect can be life changing.

http://www.texaswatch.org/ngpform/no-blue-tarp-bills

After you sign the petition, call, email, and write your state representatives and state senators. You can find out who your representative is by going to this link: Who Represents Me?

Let your voice be heard! Say no to big insurance trying to take away your policyholder rights! Please feel free to share this post anywhere on social media or other blogs. The more exposure we get, the harder it will be for the legislature to ignore our message.

The post Urgent! Sign this Petition Against Insurance Industry Proposed Legislation- Goes to House Floor for Debate on May 4th appeared first on The Corona Law Firm, PLLC .

Visual Demonstration of How Arbitration Clauses would work in Texas Homeowner’s Insurance Policies

Wed, 29 Jun 2016 19:47:00 GMT

Cartoon demonstration of how arbitration clauses would work in Texas homeowner’s insurance policies. Put together by TexasWatch.org.

The post Visual Demonstration of How Arbitration Clauses would work in Texas Homeowner’s Insurance Policies appeared first on The Corona Law Firm, PLLC .

Insurance Company asks Texas Insurance Commissioner to buy your legal rights for a few dollars a month.

Thu, 02 Jun 2016 18:36:00 GMT

Texas Insurance Commissioner David Mattax is considering an industry proposal by Texas Farm Bureau to allow insurance companies in Texas to insert a one-sided “pre-dispute binding arbitration” provision into Texas homeowners and business owners’ insurance policies. This provision would force policyholders to go a binding arbitration where the insurance company selects the arbitration company, the results of which are kept secret. If this goes through, in exchange for a 10-15% of your insurance premium, homeowners would be forced into a secret, unappealable process in which the insurance company has hand-picked and paid the for-hire, private judge who decides what information you have access to and whether you get paid in full. This a dangerous slippery slope where Texas policyholders would sacrifice their constitutionally protected and guaranteed rights to a trial by jury, without understanding the full ramifications of their actions until it is too late.

Click the link and sign the petition to tell Commissioner Mattax to reject this proposal!

http://www.texaswatch.org/ngpform/dont-mess-texas-policyholders

More Information:

http://www.texaswatch.org/blog/dont-sell-our-rights-commissioner

The post Insurance Company asks Texas Insurance Commissioner to buy your legal rights for a few dollars a month. appeared first on The Corona Law Firm, PLLC .