FRW Obtains Verdict for California Fire Loss Victim in Ivers v. Allstate Insurance Co.

On August 26, 2005 a South Lake Tahoe jury awarded Ivers $676,000.  This amount represented the benefits under the Allstate policy that Ivers should have been paid following the fire.  The jury rejected each of Allstate’s defenses, finding that the insurer did not prove the fire was caused by Ivers, that Ivers did not materially overstate the value of his contents, and that Ivers did not refuse to cooperate with Allstate’s investigation of the claim.

The three week trial included testimony that an investigator for Allstate’s lawyer attempted to hire a burglar to break into Ivers’ home to search for information to incriminate him. Unfortunately for the investigator, he was speaking to an undercover Sacramento Police officer who was wearing a wire.  In the recorded transcript, Allstate's investigator is heard saying: “We all want this case to go away, and it ain’t going to go away until, uh, you know, we catch Ivers doing something he shouldn’t be doing, but we don’t want him to catch us doing something we shouldn’t be doing.”

Having finally obtained an award of his policy benefits, Ivers is entitled to an award of interest to compensate him for the long delay.  With interest, Ivers will recover approximately $1.2 Million.  Another trial against Allstate, for its bad faith claims handling and for punitive damages, will follow. 

Ken Friedman of Friedman, Rubin & White and Glenn Guenard of Guenard & Bozarth, LLP, represented Mr. Ivers. 

UPDATE
FRW Obtains Bad Faith Verdict - Ivers v. Allstate Insurance Co.

March 15, 2006, Cameron Park, CA.

A jury found in favor of Thomas Ivers in his 9-year struggle with Allstate Insurance Company over the loss of his home. Mr. Ivers lost his dream home on 10 acres in El Dorado County in January 1997 due to a fire of undetermined origin. Allstate, his homeowner insurer, claimed that the fire was Arson and that Ivers was responsible. Allstate also claimed that Mr. Ivers fraudulently inflated the value of his personal property lost in the fire, and failed to cooperate with Allstate’s investigation of the claim. 

Last summer a South Lake Tahoe jury rejected all of Allstate’s defenses and found that the claim was indeed covered under the policy. The jury specifically rejected Allstate’s defenses of arson, non-cooperation, and fraud. That jury awarded Ivers $676,532 for the cost of rebuilding his home and replacing the contents.

This recent trial addressed the question of whether Allstate’s actions amounted to more than a simple mistake—or “honest dispute” in the words of their attorney. The jury found that the denial for the reasons claimed was improper and breached the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing. Although no damages were awarded by the jury in this trial, the court will now be allowed to award attorney fees to Mr. Ivers for his nine year struggle for justice.

Ken Friedman, of Friedman, Rubin & White, along with Glenn Guenard, Guenard & Bozarth, LLP, represented Mr. Ivers. “Allstate never thought this day would come,” said Ken Friedman, “they believed the mud they threw at their customer would stick. But at the end, we proved it wasn’t arson, it was a covered claim, and it wasn’t an honest mistake.”

 

http://www.friedmanrubinwhite.com/news.htm

We can make the worm turn!!!