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A Louisiana Circuit Court has reversed
a trial court’s holding that an insurance company’s auto policy covered “diminished value claims,” making it the third such case that has been rejected in the Louisiana courts. The National Association of Independent Insurers (NAII) had filed an amicus brief on behalf of the insurer in the original lawsuit. The original case, Floyd v. Republic Lloyd Insurance Co., involved a first-party claim against the plaintiff’s insurer, filed after the company had paid for auto damage and for a rental vehicle. The court granted summary judgment in favor of the plaintiff and Republic appealed, arguing that policy language does not encompass diminished value as part of the claim. Floyd v. Republic is the third diminished value class action case to come before the Louisiana trial courts. The first two, naming Allstate and Markel American Insurance as plaintiffs, were dismissed and won on appeal, respectively. In addition to reversing the trial court’s holding that plaintiff Republic Lloyd Insurance Co.’s auto policy covered diminished value, the First Circuit Court also granted Republic’s motion for summary judgment, dismissed the plaintiff’s claim with prejudice, and assessed appeal costs to the plaintiff.

Topics Louisiana