A Mississippi lawyers group representing homeowners with Hurricane Katrina claims announced yesterday that it had reached an agreement with Nationwide Insurance to settle 227 policyholder claims.
The Scruggs Katrina Group said this means that "all of SKG's lawsuits against Nationwide on behalf of policyholders will be dismissed."
Terms of the settlement are confidential, the group said. The lawyers added that they will meet tomorrow to explain the settlement to clients, which they are recommending.
Joe Case, a Nationwide spokesman, said in an e-mail that the group and all their clients "have settled all of the clients' claims against Nationwide relating to Hurricane Katrina. The terms of the settlement are confidential. The lawsuits will be or have been dismissed. The parties are pleased to have settled the cases."
Scruggs Katrina Group is led by Richard "Dickie" Scruggs, a high profile class-action plaintiff attorney who gained prominence bringing suits against cigarette companies. Previously, the group arranged for a Katrina settlement with 639 State Farm policyholders it was representing.
Mississippi has been one of the major battlegrounds for disputes over Hurricane Katrina homeowners' claims involving wind versus water damage.
The conflicts have generally arisen over insurers' denial of claims citing flood exclusion language in policies. Homeowners have sought to recover damages that they argue occurred from wind damage prior to any flooding.
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