State Farm Settles Katrina Suit With MS

BILOXI, Miss. (AP) - Mississippi has settled its dispute with
State Farm over how the insurance company handled damage claims
from Hurricane Katrina.
State Attorney General Jim Hood says State Farm has complied
with a January 2007 agreement under which Mississippi was to end a
criminal investigation of State Farm. Hood had sued the company,
alleging it failed to honor the deal.
But today he said the company has reopened some claims and has
agreed to pay more than 74 million dollars more to Gulf Coast
policyholders whose homes were damaged or destroyed by Katrina's
storm surge.
Hood says State Farm also has agreed to notify policyholders who
haven't sued or settled their claims that they can still have their
cases reevaluated.
A State Farm spokesman says settling the Mississippi lawsuit is
another milestone in the company's efforts to resolve "all pending
matters related to Katrina."