Mississippi attorney general sues State Farm     [June 12, 2007]  JACKSON, Miss. (AP) -- Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood filed a lawsuit Monday that accuses State Farm Fire and Casualty Co. of failing to honor its agreement for a mass settlement of claims over Hurricane Katrina damage. In January, Hood agreed to drop State Farm from a civil suit his office filed against several insurance companies for refusing to cover damage to homes from Katrina's storm surge.

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State Farm's deal with Hood and lawyers for south Mississippi homeowners called for the company to pay at least $50 million to roughly 35,000 southern Mississippi policyholders who hadn't sued the company but could have their claims reopened. The pact fell apart after a federal judge refused to endorse it.

Hood is seeking compensatory and punitive damages in the lawsuit, but didn't provide specifics.

"We filed this lawsuit in an effort to help the more than 30,000 Gulf Coast policyholders who have suffered for nearly two years because of State Farm's inaction," Hood said in a news release.

[Associated Press]