Judge rules insurance covers New Orleans homeowners

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) – A Louisiana federal judge has ruled many New Orleans homeowners whose houses sustained water damage after Hurricane Katrina are not excluded from coverage under their insurance policies, a judgment that represents a loss for the insurance industry.

In an 85-page judgment, U.S. District Court Judge Stanwood Duval denied motions by some insurers seeking to stop policyholders from receiving claims they said were prevented by exclusion language spelled out in the policies.

The insurance companies argued the industry standard wording for what constitutes a flood covers any inundation of dry land by water.

He also said insurers’ definitions of the word “flood” were ambiguous and did not necessarily include man-made causes, such as levee failures.

“It is the considered opinion of the Court that because the policies are all-risk, and because ‘flood’ has numerous definitions, it reasonably could be limited to natural occurrences,” Duval wrote

Ok I am confused or Reuters has written this wrong.. but it certainly seems that the way this article is written the insurance company won.. but lets HOPE they have to pay out if it says the word floor. I mean whats up with that? The leveees broke due to the water coming down from the hurricane as much as from wind.