Henderson v. Allstate Fire & Casualty Insurance, 154 F. Supp. 3d 428

On Oct. 31, 2014 plaintiff Henderson was in a car accident with Pierre Taylor; Taylor had a $15,000 Allstate liability policy.
Henderson had an Allstate uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM) policy with $50,000 limits; Allstate paid $7,500 under the UM policy.
Henderson sued Taylor and Allstate in state court; later settled with Taylor for his $15,000 policy and state-court claims against Taylor (and Taylor’s insurer) were dismissed, leaving only Henderson’s UM claims against Allstate.
Henderson seeks UM benefits, statutory penalties, and attorney’s fees under La. R.S. §§ 22:1973 and 22:1892.
Allstate removed to federal court based on diversity; Henderson moved to remand arguing the amount-in-controversy requirement ($75,000) is not met.
The district court held the maximum recoverable from Allstate on the UM claim was $42,500 (policy limit $50,000 less $7,500 already paid); adding the maximum statutory penalty ($21,250) and plaintiff’s counsel fee estimate ($1,200) yields $64,950, below $75,000, and so remanded the case.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the amount in controversy exceeds $75,000 for diversity jurisdiction	Henderson argues damages are indeterminate but do not meet $75,000; remand is proper	Allstate contends UM context requires looking at underlying recovery plus remaining UM limits (totaling $57,500) and that penalties/fees could push amount over $75,000	Court held the insurer’s maximum legal liability is $42,500 under the UM policy; adding penalties/fees still falls short of $75,000, so remand required
Whether statutory penalties and attorney’s fees can make up the jurisdictional deficit	Henderson seeks penalties and fees but did not plead specific breach damages; estimated fees $1,200	Allstate adopted plaintiff’s fee/penalty figures in part but suggested higher fee figures without evidentiary support	Court considered statutory caps: max penalty under §22:1892 = $21,250; §22:1973 limited absent proof to $5,000; using highest plausible figures plus fees yields <$75,000, so insufficient to establish jurisdiction

Allen v. R & H Oil & Gas Co., 63 F.3d 1326 (5th Cir. 1995) (removing party bears burden to show federal jurisdiction; plaintiff normally master of complaint)
De Aguilar v. Boeing Co., 47 F.3d 1404 (5th Cir. 1995) (when damages are indeterminate under state pleading, defendant must prove amount-in-controversy by preponderance)
Simon v. Wal-Mart Stores, 193 F.3d 848 (5th Cir. 1999) (same standard for indeterminate-damage complaints; defendant may rely on summary-judgment-type evidence)
Hartford Ins. Grp. v. Lou-Con Inc., 293 F.3d 908 (5th Cir. 2002) (where claim seeks recovery under an insurance policy, policy limits — not a larger asserted claim amount — generally control amount in controversy)
Payne v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 266 F.2d 63 (5th Cir. 1959) (if insurer’s policy limits make it legally impossible to recover jurisdictional amount, federal jurisdiction lacking)
St. Paul Reinsurance Co. v. Greenberg, 134 F.3d 1250 (5th Cir. 1998) (penalties, statutory damages, and attorney’s fees are proper considerations in assessing amount in controversy when insurer could be liable for them under state law)