The insurer investigated the owner for arson — then refused to pay. A jury said he didn’t burn his own building, and that the refusal came without a reasonable investigation based on all available information.
Auto-Owners investigated warehouse owner Austin Powell for arson after a fire in the basement of his Granite Falls, North Carolina warehouse in 2023 — then refused to pay. After a one-day federal trial, the jury found Powell did not burn his own building, and that Auto-Owners refused to pay “without conducting a reasonable investigation based on all available information.”
The award was $1.94 million, plus $6,000. Powell’s complaint put the building limit at $2.5 million and personal property at $3.2 million — and accused the insurer of waiting months for key information while still demanding documents more than a year after the fire, including cellphone records in March 2024.
Auto-Owners’ side, in full: its expert, R. Bryan Tilden of Pittsboro, North Carolina, said the company’s handling was “good, acceptable, and customary,” and that investigating Powell was reasonable on the circumstantial evidence. The fire department had concluded arson, and police had put Powell in the vicinity.
Law360 reported the same verdict, amount, and theory on October 20. Whether the award stands on appeal is not yet known.
