HOUSTON - Yesterday, the First Court of Appeals affirmed a take-nothing judgment in favor of the Allstate Vehicle and Property Insurance Company.
Court records show Oneida Jones sued Allstate for wrongful denial of coverage under a home insurance policy.
According to the First Court’s opinion, a jury determined Allstate failed to comply with the home insurance policy and found that $6,935 would fairly and reasonably compensate Jones for Allstate’s conduct. The jury also found Jones incurred $27,000 in reasonable and necessary attorney’s fees.
The trial court accepted the jury’s findings on liability and damages, but rendered a take-nothing judgment in Allstate’s favor and awarded Allstate court costs.
“In doing so, the trial court noted that Allstate had already paid $4,670.67 on Jones’s policy claim and Jones’s deductible under the policy was $3,040,” the opinion states. “Because these amounts, when combined, exceeded the damages found by the jury, the trial court ordered, adjudged, and decreed that Jones was not entitled to recover any damages whatsoever. Nor did the trial court’s judgment order any other type of relief in Jones’s favor.”
Jones appealed, arguing that the trial court erred in denying her court costs and attorney’s fees, even though she concedes the trial court correctly decided she was not entitled to any damages once certain offsets were applied, the opinion states.
The First Court concluded that because the trial court rendered a take-nothing judgment, Jones does not qualify as a prevailing party.
“Having considered the record and the parties’ arguments, the trial court is affirmed,” the opinion states.
Appeals case No. 01-21-00162-CV