A $2.8 million verdict against Allstate by a federal jury in New Orleans in a Hurricane Katrina damage case will create major woes for the insurance industry in Louisiana, experts said today.

Robert Hartwig, president and chief economist of the Insurance Information Institute, predicted that the verdict--which included $1.5 million in punitive damages--means "trial lawyers will read this as open season on insurers."

Randy Maniloff, a Philadelphia attorney who tracks and has written commentary on hurricane damage cases, forecast that "settlement demands will now go up because people will see this and say they can get a punitive award."

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