< BACK TO MEDIA NEWS LIST

Hurricane Ike lawsuits flooding in for attorneys

By Gabe Gutierriz /11 News
March 16,2010
Posted: March 16, 2010, 10:39 PM CDT
Original Printed at http://www.khou.com/news/Hurricane-Ike-Lawsuits-Flooding-In-87920797.html

LA PORTE, Texas  - Dave Davis is doing something he’d never thought he’d do. “Not in a million years,” he said as he walked into a lawyer’s office to file a lawsuit. Hurricane Ike tore through his home in the 8800 block of Hedgestone Ct. in La Porte more than a year and half ago.

“When we first opened the door, the smell was terrible from the mold,” Davis said. “We went up to the second floor and that’s when we really saw the damage.” Since then, he said he’s gone through five insurance adjusters. They’ve paid him enough to fix his roof, but the inside of the home is still gutted. “We were pretty devastated,” Davis said. “We paid our premiums on time and now I don’t have any trust in them.”

He’s not alone. The Mostyn Law Firm in Houston is handling about 3,500 Ike-related cases right now.

They have quickly multiplied over the past few weeks as homeowners’ patience runs out. “You have homeowners trying to work with their insurance companies,” said Rene Sigman, an attorney with the firm. “Then it’ll rain like today and they start to see more damages and they’re getting fed up trying to work with their insurance companies. They’re starting to come in and say, ‘I’ve had it.’”

Insurers estimated Ike’s price tag would reach $8.5 billion in Harris County alone. But the toll might seem even larger for Dave Davis. He and his pregnant wife are still living with relatives.

They have no permanent home 549 days after the storm.  “(The insurance company) basically cut us in half,” he said. Davis filed the lawsuit paperwork Tuesday. He may never get to court, though. Attorneys around Houston tell 11 News well over half their clients are settling before trial.