Policyholder’s Lack of Insurable Interest in Property Defeats Hail Damage Claim, Ga. Federal Judge Rules

ATLANTA — A Georgia federal judge has awarded an insurer summary judgment in a hail damage action, ruling that the policyholder’s lack of insurable interest in the property defeats her claim for damages.

In a March 21 order, Judge Richard Story of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia explained that because the policyholder’s equitable interest in the policy does not extend to the property’s physical structure, any insurable interest she may have in the property cannot either.

On March 8, 2014, Rebecca T. Baumgartner notified her homeowners’ insurer, State Farm Fire and Casualty Co., of …