[JURIST] Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood [official website] announced Thursday that his office had filed a civil suit [PDF complaint] against five national insurance companies - Mutual Insurance Co., State Farm Fire and Casualty Co., Allstate Property and Casualty Co., the United Services Automobile Association and Mississippi Farm Bureau Insurance - seeking a declaration that provisions in their insurance contracts avoiding liability for property damage of the type inflicted by Hurricane Katrina are null and void. In a press statement [PDF] Hood said:

The Complaint asks the Court to declare that certain insurance contract provisions are void and unenforceable as the same are contrary to public policy, are unconscionable, and are ambiguous. The provisions at issue attempt to exclude from coverage loss or damage caused directly or indirectly by water, whether or not driven by wind. The Complaint states that these provisions should be strictly construed against the insurance companies who drafted the insurance policies and their exclusions. The Complaint also states that the issuance of such insurance policies violates the Mississippi Consumer Protection Act.