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"                      <p class=\"imgtitle\"></p>           ELKINS - In a filing earlier this month, an insurer asked that a lawsuit filed against it for denying a West Virginia homeowner's claim be transferred to federal court.<br /><br />Defendant Foremost Insurance Company filed its five-page notice of removal in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia in Elkins July 20.<br /><br />It wants the suit filed against it by plaintiffs Robert and Patricia Long moved from Grant Circuit Court.<br /><br />The Longs, who insured their 1982 Grant County mobile home through Foremost, filed their suit June 18.<br /><br />According to their complaint, the home's tenant -- the couple rented out the mobile home -- allowed a water leak to occur, completely destroying its floor, in June 2011.<br /><br />The Longs notified Foremost of their claim on July 26, 2011. Foremost denied the claim.<br /><br />According to their suit, the insurer told the plaintiffs that the damage was not damage that \"suddenly occurred\" but damage that had occurred over a very long period of time, and that \"wear and tear\" and mechanical breakdown is excluded in their policy.<br /><br />After Foremost refused to provide coverage, the Longs repaired the damage to the home at a cost of $8,000.<br /><br />They are now seeking that much in damages, plus \"an additional amount to be determined by a jury\" and attorney fees.<br /><br />In its filing, Foremost argues that federal court is the more appropriate venue, given the diversity in citizenship and the amount in controversy.<br /><br />First off, the company is based in Caledonia, Mich.<br /><br />In addition, as Foremost explains in its request,  when applying a 9 to 1 ratio of punitive damages to compensatory damages -- in this case, the $8,000 -- the resulting punitive damages award would be $72,000.<br /><br />\"When adding the compensatory damages of $8,000 to the potential punitive damages of $72,000 that may be recoverable should plaintiffs prevail on their 'bad faith' claim, the amount in controversy exceeds the jurisdictional limit of $75,000,\" lawyers for the insurer wrote.<br /><br />James A. Varner Sr. and Michael D. Crim of Clarksburg firm McNeer, Highland, McMunn and Varner LC are representing Foremost.<br /><br />Petersburg attorney John G. Ours is representing the Longs in the matter."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://wvrecord.com/stories/510603204-insurer-wants-suit-over-alleged-unfair-claims-practices-moved>