In yet another display of legal excellence, Daly & Black survived a post-appraisal summary judgment against State Farm following its payment of the appraisal award and an amount it claimed was interest. Judge Ellison in the Southern District of Texas outright denied State Farm’s arguments, finding that the recent TX Supreme Court’s opinion in Rodriquez v. Safeco was distinguishable.
“Moreover, even if State Farm had the power to unilaterally settle Jordan’s TPPCA claim by paying what it owes under the statute, which it does not, there is a question of fact as to what is owed under the statute. Generally, the interest rate is calculated by adding five percent to “the prime rate as published by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System on the date of computation.” Tex. Fin. Code § 304.003; Tex. Ins. Code § 542.060(c). The TPPCA requires that this rate be assessed “on the date of judgment.” Tex. Ins. Code § 542.060(c). There has been no judgment yet in this case. Although State Farm urges the Court to find that interest can be calculated on the date that State Farm issued the appraisal payment, the Court cannot substitute State Farm’s preferred language for that voted on and passed by the legislature. See Combs v. Roark Amusement & Vending, L.P., 422 S. W.3d 632, 635 (Tex. 2013) (“This voted-on language is what constitutes the law, and when a statute’s words are unambiguous and yield but one interpretation, ‘the judge’s inquiry is at an end.” (citation omitted)). Thus, a question of fact remains as to what the interest rate will be at the time of judgment. See Barbara Techs., 589 S. W.3d at 818 (denying summary judgment on TPPCA claim in part because “there is no judgment determining that State Farm wrongfully rejected the claim”). Accordingly, State Farm is not entitled to summary judgment on Jordan’s TPPCA interest claim.”
***********
“Because Jordan may still recover interest under the TPPCA, Jordan may also be entitled to attorney’s fees. State Farm is therefore not entitled to summary judgment on this issue.”