INSURANCE COMPANY FILES FIRST EVER CLASS ACTION FOR CLIMATE CHANGE

Farmers Insurance recently filed nine class action lawsuits against approximately 200 Chicago communities.  The gist of the lawsuits states that the local governments should be held liable for the costs of climate change because they should have known that global warming  temperatures would cause heavier rains and storms—yet, they didn’t prepare their sewers and storm-drains enough to handle the natural disasters.  It is the first suit of its kind.

The lawsuit stems from the April 2013 flooding that occurred in Illinois which caused hundreds of millions in damage.   A Farmers spokesman would not specify how much the company paid in insurance claims, and none of the suits specified a damage amount.

This interesting court challenge will be a bit of an uphill battle  for the  Farmers litigation team which has to prove  that natural disasters are predictable and not just random “acts of God.”  Therefore, validating  the risk of flooding  (and  its damage)  was foreseen by the localities, consequently;  they  should bear the  cost liability.  Chicago officials contend  it is already spending heavily on infrastructure to adapt to changing weather and has a comprehensive Climate Action Plan.  Furthermore, lawyers for the localities will argue government immunity protects them from prosecution.

“It’s a long shot for the insurance companies, but it’s not completely implausible, and if you have enough cases like this going forward it might build some helpful precedent,” said Robert Verchick, who served on the Obama administration’s Climate Change Adaptation Task Force.**

“We will see more and more cases,” said Michael Gerrard, director of the Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia Law School in New York. “No one is expected to plan for the 500-year storm, but if horrible events are happening with increasing frequency, that may shift the duties.”**

Daniel Jasica of the State ‘s Attorney’s Office  asks  the question that everyone is thinking,  “If these types of suits are successful – where is the money going to come from to pay the lawsuits? The taxpayers?” ** Insurance companies will have also have to distribute the costs.  So, no matter which side wins or loses, the  precedent is already set…  higher taxes and higher insurance premiums—the individuals always end up paying.

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**Rueters, (Reporting by Mica Rosenberg; Editing by Howard Goller and Douglas Royalty)