Property owner with Hurricane Irene damage sues insurer for failure to pay out claim

A man who claims his insurance company committed a breach of contract when it refused
to pay out a claim relating to damages the plaintiff’s property sustained as a result of Hurricane Irene last summer has filed a civil action against the insurer in state court.

Wesly Asulfat claims in his lawsuit that The Philadelphia Contributionship acted in bad faith when it denied the claim, which related to damages the property at 6343 Vine St. in Philadelphia sustained back on Aug. 28, 2011, following the natural disaster.

Asulfat, who owns the city property but resides in Broomall, Pa., claims in his suit that the defendant acted in bad faith when it failed to investigate the coverage reasonably, and when it failed to assert that the insurance company is responsible for wind and hail damages sustained by the plaintiff’s property as per the terms of his policy.

The lawsuit, which was filed at Philadelphia’s Common Pleas Court Aug. 7 by Broomall attorney Peter George Mylonas, does not specify the dollar amount of the damages sustained by the plaintiff as a result of the insurer’s denial of the claim.

But it does claim that the plaintiff had to use his own resources, and ended up incurring credit card debts due to the failure of the defendant to properly reimburse the plaintiff for the repair costs, which was apparently a condition of the contract with the insurance company.

The complaint contains counts of breach of contract, unjust enrichment, detrimental reliance, and covenant of good faith and fair dealing.

The plaintiff seeks $50,000 in compensatory damages, in addition to unspecified punitive damages, interest, costs and attorney’s fees.

An arbitration hearing has been scheduled for mid April 2013.

 

The case ID number is 120800285.