Insurers Declining to Pay Texas Brine for Sinkhole Claims

Texas Brine Co., the company blamed for the Bayou Corne-area sinkhole, has filed a formal complaint with the Louisiana Department of Insurance. The company alleges one of its insurers is not paying up as its policy requires.

Company officials charge Arch Specialty Insurance Co. has not reimbursed the costs of Assumption Parish government entities since Nov. 1 and never reimbursed Texas Brine for any of its $55 million in costs from the state-mandated response to the growing 26-acre sinkhole in northern Assumption.

The Advocate reports Arch is the second Texas Brine insurer to balk at paying for sinkhole costs.

Liberty Insurance Underwriters Inc. sued Oct. 22 in U.S. District Court in Houston, asking a judge to declare the insurer does not have to pay on its $50 million policy.