A district court of the Southern District of Texas granted a homeowner insureds’ motion for declaratory judgment, holding that appraisal includes some evaluation of causation, specifically the allocation between damages that are covered versus noncovered pre-existing wear and tear on the property, but holding that the appraisal award alone did not support the insured’s claims for breach of contract and related bad faith and statutory claims and denying the insured’s motion for summary judgment on those claims.
homeowner’s policy, appraisal, scope of appraisal, appraised allocation of damages, appraisal award binding, declaratory judgment, elements for breach of contract, bad faith standard, independent injury rule, DTPA, FRCP 56
