This is the case of HailSolve Inc. v. Auto-Owners Mutual Insurance Co., in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee.

The Parties:

HailSolve, is a hail risk management and restoration firm based in Nashville, Tennessee. Auto-Owners Insurance Group is a mutual insurance company that provides life, home, car, and business insurance.

Case Summary:

In February 2020, an appraisal panel granted an award to HailSolve in excess of $4.46 million due to damage suffered in a storm. According to the complaint, Auto-Owners Mutual paid some of the award but disputed whether it was responsible for the full amount.

HailSolve filed suit against Auto-Owners Mutual Insurance Company in July 2020 after the insurer refused to agree to a deadline for settlement negotiations. HailSolve also accused the insurer of operating in bad faith.

Background:

In April 2017, HailSolve's Gordonsville, Tennessee property was damaged in a hail and wind storm.

Auto-Owners Mutual initially accepted HailSolve's claim for coverage and by June 2020 had paid out over $1.3 million to HailSolve.

According to HailSolve's complaint, the payments were insufficient to repair the damage, causing the firm to invoke the policy's appraisal clause.

In February 2020, an appraisal panel granted an award to HailSolve of over $4.46 million dollars.

Auto-Owners Mutual paid HailSolve approximately $750,000 by March but refused to pay beyond that until it investigated whether it owed the remaining balance.

In July 2020, HailSolve filed its lawsuit against Auto-Owners Mutual after the insurer refused to agree to a deadline for negotiations.

HailSolve accused the insurer of concocting reasons to evade full payment of the appraisal award.

HailSolve also said the insurer was operating in bad faith, claiming Auto-Owners Mutual had no good cause or justifiable reason not to make the remaining payment.

HailSolve was asking the court to order Auto-Owners Mutual to cover the full amount of the appraisal award and punitive damages.

In August, Auto-Owners Mutual responded to the complaint by asking the court to dismiss the complaint for failure to state a claim.

Auto-Owners, who are represented by Parks T. Chastain, E. Jason Ferrell, and Matthew B. Rogers of Brewer Krause Brooks & Chastain PLLC, argued that HailSolve was not able to properly demand appraisal on the basis that it was assigned the claim and was not itself the actual policyholder.

In its response, Auto-Owners Mutual said "There are items or areas included within the appraisal award which were not caused by a covered cause of loss, and/or excluded…."There is no coverage for these items or areas."

Settlement:

Despite these differences, this Thursday the firm and insurer announced that they have settled their hail and wind damage lawsuit, through mediation, ending HailSolve’s suit seeking more than $2.3 million it claimed the insurer continued to owe under the binding appraisal award.

In court documents filed this week, HailSolve Inc. and Auto-Owners have tentatively agreed to file a joint notice, stipulation, or proposed order of dismissal by January 2023.