Insurer’s Timely Payment of Appraisal Award Bars Insureds’ Claims, Texas Judge Rules

MCCALLEN, Texas — A Texas federal judge has dismissed breach of contract, bad faith and fraud claims asserted against an insurer in a hailstorm damage case, ruling that the insurer’s timely payment of a binding and enforceable appraisal award estops plaintiffs from asserting their claims.

On June 20, Judge Micaela Alvarez of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas noted that the appraisal award resolved the issue of both the amount of loss and covered damage.

Daniel and Aurora Gutierrez’s Hidalgo County, Texas, property was damaged during hailstorms in March and April 2012. Their homeowners’ insurer, …