Judge Denies State Farm Bid To Halt Discovery In Hail Damage Lawsuit

An Oklahoma judge on Friday granted multiple motions sought by plaintiffs and denied State Farm’s attempt to block a discovery order in a closely watched homeowners’ insurance lawsuit.

After a roughly 2.5-hour hearing, District Judge Thad Balkman denied State Farm’s motion to reconsider, clarify and stay the court’s November discovery order.

Discovery materials could provide insight into State Farm’s internal claims practices and training programs — with the Oklahoma case part of broader litigation accusing the insurer of systematically underpaying wind and hail claims.

Friday’s ruling centers on a lawsuit filed by Cleveland County, Okla., residents Don and Brenda Foster — alleging State Farm improperly handled a homeowners’ insurance claim following a 2021 hailstorm.

“State Farm’s nationwide scheme made simple: State Farm does not define what is and isn’t considered damage in its policies, raises premiums as much as possible, and if a state’s insurance commissioner objects, threatens to leave the state,” said lead attorney Jeff Marr.

“It then manipulates its internal and secret definition of damage — a higher threshold means fewer indemnity payments to policyholders — and weaponizes its claims department with a new ‘playbook’ of tactics to attack payouts, branded as the ‘Claim Quality Enhancement Plan’ and hidden from regulators and policyholders,” he added. “An engineer State Farm has conspired with before, HAAG Engineering, is used to retrain and calibrate claims staff. The result: State Farm enjoys its highest net worth yet of $145.2 billion, while its CEO receives $24.4 million.”

State Farm sought reconsideration of the discovery order — arguing the requests were “irrelevant and unduly burdensome,” multiple local outlets reported.

Background of hailstorm claim

The Fosters filed a homeowners’ insurance claim with State Farm after a hailstorm damaged their property in 2021.

According to court filings, State Farm assigned an in-house adjuster who confirmed the home sustained covered damage from the storm but found no damage to roof shingles or the interior of the home, local outlet The Journal Record reported.

State Farm subsequently made what the plaintiffs characterize as a low settlement offer. They also accused the company of failing to provide a formal denial of liability within a timeframe that would have allowed the family to initiate litigation within the policy’s limitation period, The Journal Record added.

Allegations of systemic underpayment

The lawsuit — filed by Marr Law Firm along with Mansell & Engel and Glass & Tabor — accuses State Farm of breach of contract, improper claims handling, bad faith, fraud, negligent procurement and seeks punitive damages.

The complaint alleges State Farm followed a company-wide practice of underpaying wind and hail claims by redefining covered damage to avoid full roof replacements and other payouts.

State Farm has not publicly commented on the ruling as the case continues in Cleveland County District Court.