State Farm To Pay Over $130 Million To Policyholders Affected By Hurricane Katrina

After initially denying thousands of claims filed against it in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. decided yesterday to settle hundreds of lawsuits filed against it by its policyholders after the company initially denied their claims for one reason or another. The settlement agreed in principle by State Farm is said to exceed $80 million to more than 600 policyholders who filed lawsuits against State Farm in order to recover damages related to the August 25, 2005 event.  According to the Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood, the State Farm settlement is also expected to pay at least another $50 million to the thousands of other Mississippi policyholders whose claims were wrongfully denied but choose not to pursue a lawsuit over the matter.