Texas Court Limits Payments for Multiple Claims to Policy Limit

HOUSTON - Ruling on an issue of first impression, a Texas appellate court held that policy limits in a standard homeowners policy did not apply, as the homeowners argued, to each claim made during the policy period. Coats v. Farmers Insurance Exchange, No. 14-04-00686 (Texas 14th Ct. App.).

Although it affirmed summary judgment for Farmers Insurance Exchange on that issue, the Fourteenth Court of Appeals reversed the trial court's finding for Farmers on the statutory issue of delayed payment and remanded for further proceedings on that issue.

The dispute over limits arose in July 2002, when John and Shahin Coats …