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The award, given Friday by a New Orleans jury to a small grocery chain, came at the expense of United Fire & Casualty Co. of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and is believed to be the biggest Katrina judgment so far against an insurer, The Des Moines (Iowa) Register reported Sunday.

Attorneys for Roberts, the grocery chain, said the jury awarded payments not only for damage caused by the 2005 hurricane, but also tacked on amounts to cover both property damage and lost income because the insurer stalled in paying.

Attorney Philip Franco told the newspaper the decision was important in the context of the hundreds of lawsuits stemming from Hurricane Katrina. Standard insurance policies do not cover damage from flooding. However, many policyholders claim their damages came from rainwater allowed in after Katrina tore off their roofs, not from floodwaters, which in many cases came later, the Register reported.

United Fire Chief Executive Officer Randy Ram lo said the insurer will ask the trial judge to review the verdict.

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