Mississippi metropolis awarded $10.3 million in authorized dispute with Zurich

A metropolis in Mississippi is ready to obtain $10.3 million from an insurance coverage firm it had sued over 4 years in the past.

Town of Jackson filed a lawsuit towards Zurich American Insurance coverage Firm in 2019, looking for damages to cowl the restoration of metropolis buildings destroyed by a 2013 hailstorm.

Zurich was the town’s insurance coverage supplier on the time of the storm. In keeping with court docket paperwork, the insurer made funds to Jackson for the property it was insuring, together with a $2 million advance supposed for emergency repairs.

Jackson argued that these funds didn’t cowl the complete quantity insured by its coverage with Zurich. The insurer refused to make extra funds, citing a three-year limitations interval indicated throughout the coverage.

The 2 events had been locked in a authorized battle till 2023, when Jackson agreed to settle with Zurich.  An order signed by a district court docket choose stated the 2 have “introduced to the court docket the decision of this matter and that it may be administratively closed.”

Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba spoke of the sum that Jackson is ready to obtain throughout a press convention this week.

“We’ve been in a battle with Zurich for fairly a while, making an attempt to guarantee that we received a correct settlement for the cash that we have to restore our amenities,” he stated.

Metropolis Legal professional Catoria Martin additionally commented on how their years-long dispute with Zurich got here to an finish.

“We determined that our greatest path ahead was to do a binding arbitration,” stated Martin. “We knew going into that arbitration what the numbers had been. We knew what number of amenities had been affected. We knew the best way that we had been handled by Zurich. That is positively a case the place we had been the underdog.”

When requested about how the cash from Zurich shall be spent, Lumumba stated it is going to be allotted in the direction of repairing broken buildings, in addition to addressing different wants throughout the town.

“I received’t go forward of that course of and declare the place this cash will go,” he stated. “Nevertheless it definitely is effectively wanted and we’re grateful for the work to get it.”

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