This first-party property damage case arises from a dispute to insurance benefits related to a July 15, 2019 hailstorm. AMCO issued a policy of insurance (the “Policy”) to PTT Properties, Inc. for property located at 411 Sable Boulevard, 525 Sable Boulevard, 501 Sable Boulevard, and 14410 E. 6th Avenue, Aurora, Colorado 80111 (collectively, “the Property”). Plaintiff inspected the Property and advised it sustained hail damage. On January 17, 2020, AMCO advised PTT that the estimate for each location was below the wind/hail deductible, so no payment was owed.
PTT assigned its claim with AMCO to Plaintiff. Following additional review, AMCO amended its repair estimate and issued payment of $421,980.86 for the Actual Cash Value associated with 411 Sable and $154,992.60 for the ACV associated with 501 Sable after applying the respective deductibles. On May 27, 2020, Plaintiff’s counsel provided PTT’s invocation of appraisal. The parties proceeded to appraisal which became binding on September 14, 2021. The award was for $40,113.83 in Replacement Cost Value and ACV without consideration of any deductible or prior payments. Plaintiff asserted claims for breach of contract, and declaratory judgment vacating the appraisal.
Plaintiff disclosed David Herring a building consultant, estimator, umpire, appraiser, and self-described expert in the field of first-party property damage claims.
Defendant filed a motion to strike Herring as an expert because he is generally unqualified to opine on the matters addressed in his report, because he is “not a lawyer and has never adjusted insurance claims before.”
Insurance Expert Witness
David Herring has decades of experience working on insurance claims, including cost estimation, appraisal, umpiring, and testifying as an expert witness.
Discussion by the Court
A. Legal Conclusions
AMCO argued that several of the opinions expressed in Herring’s report involve improper legal conclusions as well as opinions that improperly invade the province of the jury.
While Herring may offer testimony articulating what he believes to be the relevant industry standards, and explaining—factually—how Defendant’s conduct did or did not comport with those standards, the Court excluded Herring’s opinions that Defendant’s conduct was unreasonable or insufficient as a matter of law, or was in violation of any statute. In other words, he is unqualified to offer such opinions as a matter of legal expertise and such ultimate conclusions would not be helpful to the jury and would improperly intrude on its fact-finding function.
B. Reliability
Next, Defendant sought to exclude the “entirety of Herrings’ opinions” “because they are not based on sufficient facts and are not the product of reliable principles and methods” and are “the type of ipse dixit that courts refuse to accept.”
However, the record reflects Herring has experience as a claims adjuster, providing estimating services for property damage, and investigating insurance claims. Herring is qualified to opine on hail damage to roof systems and the cost to repair such damage. He also appeared qualified to provide opinions regarding the cause of damage and the diagnostic methods used in the industry to detect water damage.
Defendant also argued that Herring’s report is not reliable because he opined that the engineering report from January 20, 2020, did not address the ongoing leaks and water intrusion issues when the Defendant argues it did. The Defendant is free to point out inconsistencies in Herring’s report or that his opinions should be afforded less weight than the expert opinions proffered by its expert. It will be up to the jury to determine which expert to believe.
Held
The Court granted in part and denied in part Defendant’s motion to exclude the testimony of Plaintiff’s expert, David Herring.
Key Takeaway
An insurance industry expert’s methodology has been deemed reliable when the expert “explains what he knew of insurance industry standards and practices based on his experience, explains the facts and evidence he reviewed in the case,” and opines on how the insurer’s handling of the Plaintiff’s claim “fell short of the relevant industry standards or differed from handling of similar claims in his experience.”
Case Details:
| Case Caption: | Hettick Contractors LLC V. Amco Insurance Company |
| Docket Number: | 1:20cv412 |
| Court Name: | United States District Court, Colorado |
| Order Date: | March 30, 2026 |
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