Allstate Corp. said the Department of Homeland Security has notified the insurer it will subpoena the company in connection with its investigation of Hurricane Katrina claims handling.

In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing yesterday, the Northbrook, Ill.-based insurer said Allstate Insurance Company was told by the department that it will receive a subpoena for documents related to National Flood Insurance Program homeowners' claims.

The department was ordered by Congress in 2006 to investigate Katrina-related claims. The investigation is to determine if claims that were attributed to flood damage should have been treated as wind damage claims.

Homeland Security said it would be 30 to 60 days before a report is issued.

Language calling for the investigation by the department, which contains the Federal Emergency Management Agency, was tacked onto its appropriations bill by Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss.

Sen. Lott at the time was pursuing a lawsuit against State Farm in a dispute with the company over a claim he filed following Hurricane Katrina's destruction of a home he owned in Pascagoula, Miss. He has since settled the case.

Allstate said it has cooperated in the investigation.

A company spokesman said the department told Allstate that it would be one of a number of participants to receive subpoenas.

It was reported that a spokesman for Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co., another participant in the program, has been contacted by the department.

Special Reports /

Feds To Subpoena Allstate On Katrina Claims

Related Stories

Recommended For You