Ala. Federal Judge Dismisses Policyholder’s Claim for Extra-Contractual Damages in SFIP Action

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — An Alabama federal judge has dismissed a policyholder’s claim for extra-contractual damages in an action involving a standard flood insurance policy, holding that no such federal common law right exists.

However, in a Nov. 4 order, Judge L. Scott Coogler of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama allowed the insured’s claim for breach of contract to proceed, ruling that he has sufficiently pled that he met the SFIP’s proof-of-loss requirement.

In 2014, Crawford Nixon purchased a federally backed NFIP from Nationwide. The policy was part of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s “Write Your …