Policyholders accept settlement

Agreement comes on 3rd day of trial

By ANITA LEE
calee@sunherald.com

GULFPORT --

State Farm and a couple who sued the company over Hurricane Katrina damage settled their lawsuit on the third day of a trial in Circuit Court just before testimony ended and the case went to a jury.

Florida residents Ray and Marie Van Meerten were seeking $144,000 in coverage, plus loss of rent and punitive damages, for a Bay St. Louis rental home that Katrina rendered uninhabitable. Judge Steve Simpson had not yet ruled on whether punitive damages, designed to punish bad corporate behavior, would have applied in the case.

State Farm and the Van Meertens settled the lawsuit on confidential terms.

A statement released Thursday afternoon by State Farm said: "Although we were confident in the direction this case was proceeding, we're happy to have resolved this case today. It's unfortunate it took three days of testimony before the plaintiffs gave serious consideration to our settlement offer. Nonetheless, we are pleased to have come to an amicable settlement."

One of the Van Meertens' attorneys, George Healy IV, said: "We worked very hard. I think that Judge Simpson was instrumental in helping both sides reach common ground."

Testimony indicated the Van Meertens' Trout Street property was subjected to a storm surge of about 21 feet. The State Farm adjuster who inspected the property concluded water, excluded from coverage, reached the ceiling in one unit and stopped near the top of a cathedral ceiling in the other unit. The home was on pilings.

State Farm found covered wind damage to the roof and areas just beneath it, but the amount was well below the Van Meertens' 2 percent "hurricane deductible" of $2,400.

Van Meerten testified that he had requested complete coverage on the property and thought his policy covered all hurricane damage. However, State Farm contended that Van Meerten, as a longtime real estate investor, knew he needed a flood policy to cover the water damage.

The Van Meerten case was the first one to go to trial in state court. Other cases have been tried in federal court in Gulfport.