Resurrecting a settlement that was reached back in January 2007 and a subsequent breach of contract suit, Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood has officially ended the state's battle with State Farm and Nationwide over claims stemming from Hurricane Katrina.

The agreement that was originally reached called for State Farm to reevaluate coastal claims related to Hurricane Katrina in exchange for a release from a civil lawsuit Hood filed shortly after Katrina. It also would have ended a criminal investigation of State Farm's claim-handling practices. But U.S. District Judge L.T. Senter, Jr. rejected the class-action settlement on grounds that it failed to protect policyholders' rights.

This resulted in Mississippi Insurance Commissioner George Dale establishing another compromise with State Farm to reevaluate coastal claims, one that required the company to pay at least 50 percent of Coverage A limits to slab or pier-only claims, with a total minimum payout of at least $50 million. Nationwide, though not named in the suit, opted to reevaluate claims on its own.