This matter involves an insurance claim for damages associated with hurricane Laura. On or about September 16, 2020, Plaintiff, The Pentecostal Church Of Dequincy (“TPCD”) retained a public adjuster, Chris Tremaine. Tremaine worked with Church Mutual’s field adjuster, Trey Johnson, to schedule a joint inspection of TPCD’s campus on September 30 and October 1, 2020. Tremaine worked with Kelly Spence, a specialist for the estimating program, Xactimate. However, due to the volume of cases Tremaine and Spence were undertaking, they retained Joe Taylor to perform the preliminary task of taking measurements and developing rough Xactimate estimates for TPCD’s campus buildings.
Taylor produced rough estimates for five (5) structures dated November 25, 2020. Kelly Spence then reviewed these rough estimates and made necessary corrections to measurements and building finishes for the three larger structures, the Sanctuary, Sunday School, and Activity Center. These three (3) corrected Xactimate estimates were completed on or about December 9 and December 10, 2020.
Joe Taylor’s November 25, 2020 rough estimates for the Sanctuary, Sunday School and Activity Center were never produced to Church Mutual Insurance (“CMI”) as part of the claim adjustment process. They were produced by TPCD’s counsel to CMI’s counsel only two (2) years after the loss.
Motion to Exclude
CMI’s Neil Wright, a construction consultant, produced an expert report evaluating the differences between Taylor’s November 25, 2020 Xactimate rough estimates for the Sanctuary, Sunday School and Activity Center and Kelly Spence’s corrected estimates for the December 8, 2020 Activity Center estimate and the December 10, 2020 corrected estimates for the Sanctuary and Sunday School.
To simplify, Wright compared three (3) rough estimates that were never produced to CMI for claim purposes with three (3) corrected versions that were presented to CMI.
TPCD filed a motion to exclude Wright’s expert testimony because this simple task does not involve any specialized knowledge (only a calculator) and clearly will not provide any assistance to the trier of fact.
Construction Expert Witness
Fred Cornelius (Neil) Wright III is a senior forensic building consultant whose experience includes conducting thousands of building inspections and more than 2,000 post-catastrophe inspections following major hurricanes. He regularly prepares and analyzes repair estimates.
Discussion by the Court
Church Mutual remarked that Wright inspected the TPCD properties on March 27, 2024, and reviewed an exhaustive list of estimates, photographs, and documents associates with this litigation. He then authored a detailed expert report which included an analysis of the November 25, 2020, and December 8-10, 2020, Exact Estimates produced by Plaintiff.
Wright testified that his role included the following: “analyze the data that’s provided, do a comparative analysis of photographs, create an estimate using Xactimate and RSMeans to further the process, and put a price on the recommended scope of repairs. . .”
Church Mutual contended that the two estimates reflect a change in scope, quantities or materials because they both utilized the same October 2020 price list. Thus, Church Mutual posits that Wright’s testimony is necessary and helpful to understand where the increases originated and what they represent.
TPCD moved to exclude the first Exact Estimate because it was not the estimate that it submitted to Church Mutual for its claim of damages. Church Mutual argues that its expert should have the opportunity to explain to the jury, line-item-by-line-item, each change which resulted in an increase of $274,707.83 in estimated damages from its initial estimate. Church Mutual also contended that its experts should be allowed to analyze materials produced in discovery to show the existence of materially different estimates prepared by Plaintiff’s representative, which goes to TPCD’s credibility, consistency, and intent. The Court agreed with Church Mutual that this evidence is relevant and admissible.
Held
The Court denied The Pentecostal Church of DeQuincy’s motion to exclude the testimony of Neil Wright.
Key Takeaway
Wright’s testimony will assist the trier of fact because he conducted a line-by-line comparative analysis of complex estimates to identify changes in quantities, materials, scope, and pricing which requires specialized knowledge of estimating methodology and construction practices.
Case Details:
| Case Caption: | Pentecostal Church Of Dequincy V. Church Mutual Insurance Co S I |
| Docket Number: | 2:22cv2782 |
| Court Name: | United States District Court, Louisiana Western |
| Order Date: | February 04, 2026 |
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