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The Louisiana New Home Warranty Act provides the exclusive remedies, warranties, and prescriptive periods (statute of limitations) as between builder and owner related to home construction. The Act’s minimum required warranties are mandatory, and cannot be waived by the owner or reduced by the builder. Homeowners cannot avoid the exclusivity by crafting recovery claims through other theories. Consequently, the New Home Warranty Act provides the exclusive remedy, but permits the builder to contractually assume greater obligations or warranties than those set forth in the Act.
Continue Reading Louisiana New Home Warranty Act Protects Insurance Carriers

Louisiana courts preclude summary judgments on insurance coverage matters until the underlying litigation is resolved and the factual basis for the insured’s liability is determined. For example, in Vidrine v. Constructors, Inc., 953 So.2d 193 (La. App. 3rd Cir. 2007), welders, pipe fitters and their helpers brought action against the employer and plant owner to recover for asbestos exposure allegedly arising during a plant renovation. One of the insurers filed a motion for summary judgment, asserting there was no coverage based on an exclusionary provision for bodily injury caused or aggravated “by the conditions of your employment.” Under that provision, the employee’s last day of last exposure had to occur during the policy period. The insurer based its summary judgment on the plaintiffs’ petition and discovery responses that alleged asbestos exposure beyond the last day of the policy period.
Continue Reading Lack of Final Determination Precludes Insurance Coverage Summary Judgment

According to the Louisiana Supreme Court, a commercial general liability policy unambiguously excluded coverage for a contractor’s faulty workmanship. Supreme Services & Specialty Co. Inc. v. Sonny Greer, 958 So.2d 634 (La. 2007). The homeowner instituted legal action claiming that cracks in the slab were the result of faulty and defective design and construction, alleging causes of action based on breach of contract and breach of warranty. Relying on the “work product” exclusion in the policy, the court recognized that it reflected the insurance company’s intent to “avoid the possibility that coverage under a CGL policy will be used to repair and replace the insured’s defective products and faulty workmanship.”
Continue Reading Contractors’ Faulty Workmanship Not Covered by Insurance Policy

In State of Louisiana v. All Property and Casualty Insurance Carriers Authorized and Licensed to Do Business in the State of Louisiana, 2006-2030 (La. 8/25/06), the Louisiana Supreme Court upheld Acts 739 and 802 of the 2006 legislative session.

Act 739 extends to September 1, 2007, the filing period for Katrina-related claims under homeowner, personal property, tenant, condominium and commercial insurance policies, with a similar extension to October 1, 2007 for Rita-related claims. Continue Reading Louisiana Supreme Court Upholds Acts Extending Prescription for Filing Hurricane-Related Insurance Claims

Owners of property in Louisiana continue to face problems and delays in collecting payments for property damage related to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The vast majority of homeowner policies issued to insureds in the State of Louisiana, and possibly some commercial policies, limit an insureds right to file suit on insurance claims to a period of twelve months. See LSA-R.S. 22:691.   The one-year prescriptive date for damages related to Hurricane Katrina is August 29, 2007. The one-year prescriptive date for damage claims related to Hurricane Rita is September 24, 2007.
Continue Reading DO YOU KNOW YOUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS?

From an article in today’s Insurance Journal, the Louisiana Commissioner of Insurance has issued an advisory letter to the companies with homeowners insurance policies in Louisiana, requesting their cooperation in extending from one to two years the prescriptive period for policyholders with Hurricane Katrina and/or Rita claims, the Louisiana Department of Insurance reported.

The…