If a mechanic or a contractor handed you an invoice for several hundred or several thousand dollars, with no breakdown of the specific work done on your car or home and the time it took, you'd hand it back and ask for an itemized bill.
Of course, reputable mechanics and contractors make a point of giving estimates of the costs likely to be incurred on the jobs they're undertaking, listing parts and labor on a bill, and sometimes showing customers the damaged or worn-out pieces being replaced.
You'd think hail storm attorneys and their clients would be equally meticulous in preparing their claims against insurance companies, documenting the extent of damages they allegedly have not been compensated for.
In reality, however, some are often pretty skimpy on the details.
Mostyn Law client Antonio Perez filed suit against Allstate Vehicle and Property Insurance earlier this year, alleging breach of contract for not fully compensating him for hail damage, subsequently adding a claim for breach of good faith.
Allstate moved to dismiss the breach of faith complaint and the trial court obliged, affirming that Perez had “alleged no facts that would make plausible a claim against Allstate of breach of a duty of good faith and fair dealing,” but only “a basic recitation of the elements of such a claim.”
The court also questioned his breach of contract claim, noting that Perez “has pleaded no facts identifying any specific contractual provision breached by Allstate, he failed to attach a copy of the insurance policy to his complaint, and failed to identify what provision or provisions of the insurance policy Allstate allegedly breached.”
Missing the deadline to amend his second complaint and correct its deficiencies, Perez was ordered to show cause why his action should not be dismissed for failure to comply.