Adjusters insist State Farm inflated flood claim; insurer says pictures prove damage
Kerri Rigsby, who adjusted claims for State Farm after Katrina, testified that the company trained adjusters from the beginning that the hurricane was a “water storm” and they should “hit the limits” on flood policies for homes with substantial damage. Rigsby said State Farm “flood guru” Lecky King told adjusters that Katrina’s winds were not very strong.
She was the first witness called in Rigsby vs. State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. The case is limited to damage at the home of Thomas and Pamela McIntosh, which Team Manager Kerri Rigsby inspected with another adjuster. At first, Rigsby said, she thought the damage was from flooding.
Then the adjuster who had asked her to go with him on the inspection handed her an engineering report that blamed wind for the damage, she said. She looked in the McIntosh file and found a second report, completed eight days later, that changed the conclusion to water damage.
Sun Herald
3/26/13
Magnolia Tribune
