NFI Apartment Management, L.L.C. v. Third Coast Insurance Company (Fifth Circuit Affirms Time-Barred Hail Coverage Claim)

Premises Liability Ruling Issued
Date
October 20, 2026
Added to tracker
November 2, 2026
Court or forum
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (W.D. Tex.)
State
Texas
Property type
Multifamily
Amount / scale
$359,856.60 policy deductible; insurer's damage estimates of roughly $37,058 and later $61,840 both fell below it
Parties
Plaintiff-Appellant: NFI Apartment Management, L.L.C.Defendant-Appellee: Third Coast Insurance Company

The Fifth Circuit affirmed summary judgment against a San Antonio apartment owner's insurer over a $359,856.60-deductible hail claim, holding its 2024 suit came years after the limitations clock started running.

The Fifth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for Third Coast Insurance Company against NFI Apartment Management, L.L.C. over a May 2020 hailstorm claim on a San Antonio apartment complex, holding NFI's 2024 breach-of-contract and Texas Insurance Code suit was barred by the policy's contractual limitations period and Texas's statutory limitations periods. Third Coast had found covered damage of about $37,058.29 in a July 21, 2020 letter, below the policy's $359,856.60 deductible, and a later joint reinspection raised that estimate only to about $61,839.72 before Third Coast closed the file in July 2021 -- with the court holding the claim accrued no later than the 2020 denial letter, years before NFI sued.

Why it matters

The case is a clean illustration of a recurring trap in first-party commercial property claims: when an insurer's determination is a below-deductible estimate rather than an outright denial, there is no formal 'claim denied' letter to anchor a policyholder's calendar, but courts will still treat that determination as the limitations trigger. Multifamily and other commercial property owners who let a below-deductible estimate or a closed claim file sit for years while continuing informal discussions with an adjuster risk losing their coverage claim entirely before a court ever reaches the merits of whether the damage estimate itself was fair.

Original source ↗
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The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has affirmed summary judgment against a San Antonio multifamily owner on one of the most common defenses in first-party property litigation: the statute of limitations. In an unpublished, per curiam opinion issued October 20, 2026 in NFI Apartment Management, L.L.C. v. Third Coast Insurance Company, the court held that NFI's breach-of-contract and Texas Insurance Code claims against its property insurer over hailstorm damage were filed years after the limitations period had already run, affirming the district court's grant of summary judgment to the insurer.

Case timeline · 5 entries Latest: October 20, 2026 — Fifth Circuit affirms summary judgment for Third Coast, holding NFI's claims were time-barred

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