The court agreed with the insurer that the litigation should be abated during the appraisal for damage caused by Hurricane Ike. See United Neurology, P.A. v. Hartford Lloyd's Ins. Co., 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15675 (Feb. 8, 2012).

   Harford invoked the appraisal process, which was required under the policy if the parties failed to agree on the amount of loss. Hartford argued if it satisfied any appraisal award to the insured, the insured's breach of contract and bad faith claims would be subject to dismissal. Therefore, the court was asked to abate the suit until the appraisal process was completed.

   The insured did not oppose the appraisal, but argued the abatement was improper during appraisal. The insured urged the court to allow discovery to proceed so that once the appraisal award was made, the case would be ready to be tried. The insured also argued that because the dispute involved both coverage and valuation disputes, the court should stay the valuation issue and proceed with the coverage issue. Hartford's adjuster found some damage to the insured's building that was not attributable to Hurricane Ike,. Therefore, the insured submitted, abatement of the causation and coverage issue should be denied.

   Hartford argued the court had discretion whether to abate the case during the appraisal process. Further, the appraisal condition, once invoked, was a condition precedent to liability. The policy stated no suit could be brought against the insurer unless the policy provisions had been complied with.

   The court agreed with Hartford. Abatement of the entire suit was appropriate while the appraisal process went forward. Hartford's motion to compel appraisal and abate the remaining proceeding was granted.