“Write Your Own” insurance, but don’t “Choose Your Own” forum.

Ekhlassi sued National Lloyds in Texas state court for a flood-insurance claim, arising out of a “Write Your Own” insurance policy issued in the carrier’s name but underwritten by the federal government. His filing may have satisfied the one-year statute of limitations for such a claim – the parties disputed the trigger event – but his choice of a state forum proved fatal. The panel majority, applying Circuit precedent and authority from other Circuits, found that the grant of “original exclusive jurisdiction” in federal court by 28 U.S.C. § 4072 applied to his suit. A dissent argued that this statute, by its terms, applied only to a suit against FEMA’s Administrator and not a “WYO” carrier. Ekhlassi v. National Lloyds Ins. Co., No. 18-20228 (June 4, 2019).