A San Bernardino County jury awarded two women $18 million after determining their insurance carrier acted in bad faith after it failed to pay out more than $100,000 to cover damages. Jurors awarded Pinon Hills residents Jennifer Garnier and Angela Toft $6 million for pain and suffering and $12 million in punitive damages on April 18, following a six-week trial in San Bernardino Superior Court, said their attorney, Michael Hernandez of San Diego.
According to the lawsuit filed in San Bernardino Superior Court in September 2020, rain water from a large storm on Feb. 15, 2019, flooded the home of Garnier and Toft, who are sisters. The damage rendered their property uninhabitable, according to the lawsuit. According to the suit the plaintiffs gave their insurance company timely notice of the damage, and an inspection of the property was conducted by insurance adjustors. After the inspection the claims adjuster underpaid the claim according to the lawsuit.
Water and mud in the home’s crawlspace destroyed the heating and air conditioning system and damaged the electrical system, leaving much of the house without electricity. Cracks began appearing on walls throughout the home, Hernandez said in a news release. Garnier and Toft subsequently sued American Reliable Insurance Co. and its parent company, Global Indemnity, for breach of contract and breach of good faith and fair dealing.
Global Indemnity paid out only $5,000 on the sisters’ claim, even though the sisters provided contractor estimates showing repairs would exceed $100,000. The plaintiff’s attorney said the siblings were forced to live in their home without heat for about five years while battling their insurance company in court. In October 2023, Global Indemnity paid the sisters $140,000, the full amount of their policy, claiming the insurance carrier was previously unaware the siblings had been living without heat. The company maintained it was an oversight their insurance adjuster missed.
Insurance company defense attorneys argued the siblings were difficult to communicate with because they insisted all communication had to be in writing and they refused to talk on the phone. The sibling’s attorney said both insurance companies were repeatedly provided information about their living conditions, and they ignored the information. “We argued that when you knowingly put a family in an uninhabitable home, you can’t come back later and say you are not responsible for the consequences,” Hernandez said.
We represent people who are injured because of the careless and reckless acts of others. At the end of the day your case can only be settled one time and you need to know all of the facts beforehand. The reason that insurance companies have paid our clients in excess of $130,000,000.00 is that we get the facts and are not intimidated at the prospect of going to trial when insurance companies fail to offer full compensation. We help with serious injuries that require serious representation. We are the Law Offices of Guenard & Bozarth, LLP. Our attorneys have more than 60 years of experience specializing in only representing injured people. Call GB Legal 24/7/365 at 888-809-1075 or visit www.gblegal.com We would be honored to represent you!
