PER CURIAM.
James and Victoria Miller (the Millers) appeal the district court's dismissal of their claims against American Strategic Insurance (American Strategic) and Liggio Insurance Agency (Liggio). We affirm.
The Millers obtained an insurance policy from Liggio that American Strategic had issued pursuant to the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). The Millers' house was partially built on piers, leaving a "crawlspace" underneath the floor of the home. While the insurance policy was still in effect, a heavy rain caused flood water to enter a crawlspace beneath the Millers' house, but the water stopped rising before reaching the house's threshold. The Millers contacted Liggio, which advised the Millers that they had not experienced a flood event. A few months later, Victoria Miller fell through the floor of her house. The Millers again contacted Liggio, which advised the Millers that foundation issues were not covered under the policy. After repairs to the floor were made, the Millers, believing that the damage to the house was "consistent with flood damage," filed a flood-damage claim with American Strategic. American Strategic sent an adjuster, who, after inspecting the property, prepared a proof of loss for the Millers for post-flood cleaning only.
The Millers did not sign nor submit this proof of loss, and, as a result, American Strategic closed their claim on September 13, 2012. The Millers submitted a proof of loss a month and a half later in support of their flood-damage claim. American Strategic acknowledged receipt of this proof of loss but reiterated that the Millers' only covered loss was for cleaning expenses. American Strategic did not reopen the Millers' claim. The Millers appealed this determination to the Director of Claims for the NFIP, who upheld American Strategic's determination that the Millers' loss was limited to cleaning expenses.
On September 13, 2013, the Millers filed suit against American Strategic in the Western District of Louisiana. American Strategic asserted, among other defenses, that the Millers had failed to comply with the policy's proof of loss requirement and moved for summary judgment. While this motion was pending, the district court, on January 29, 2015, allowed the Millers to amend their complaint to join Liggio as a defendant. Liggio promptly moved to dismiss for failure to state a claim. The district court first granted American Strategic's summary judgment motion on the basis that the Millers submitted an inadequate proof of loss and then granted Liggio's motion to dismiss, holding that the applicable peremptive period under Louisiana law barred the Millers' claim. The Millers moved for a rehearing or new trial regarding American Strategic on the basis that the district court did not address the Millers' equitable estoppel claim that they had raised in their summary judgment briefing. After the district court denied this motion, the Millers appealed all three decisions.
"We review a grant of summary judgment de novo, applying the same standard that the district court applied."
The Millers have limited their appeal as it pertains to American Strategic to two issues: (1) whether American Strategic violated a purported right conferred by 42 U.S.C. § 4072, and (2) whether equitable estoppel precludes summary judgment. The Millers, however, did not argue before the district court that America Strategic violated a right conferred by § 4072, and they may not assert it for the first time on appeal.
American Strategic issued this insurance policy pursuant to the NFIP, which Congress established "to provide insurance coverage at or below actuarial rates."
The Millers do not challenge the district court's holding that they provided an inadequate proof of loss. Instead, they argue that American Strategic is estopped from asserting that their proof of loss is inadequate because American Strategic considered the merits of the Millers' proof of loss. Even if we assume that the Millers have presented facts that would estop a private litigant, we are "powerless to uphold a claim of estoppel" against a Write Your Own company "because such a holding would encroach upon the appropriation power granted exclusively to Congress by the Constitution."
Because the Millers do not contest that they have not complied with all the requirements of the Standard Flood Insurance Policy, and because we cannot estop American Strategic from asserting the Millers non-compliance with the Standard Flood Insurance Policy as a defense, there is no genuine dispute of material fact, and American Strategic is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.
"We review a district court's grant of a motion to dismiss de novo."
The Millers have asserted only a state-law negligence claim against Liggio, a claim which is constrained by a one-year peremptive statute of limitation.
The Millers maintain that their claim is timely because they filed the claim against Liggio within one year of discovering that Liggio's actions—its statements that the Millers had not experienced a flood event and that the Standard Flood Insurance Policy did not cover foundation damage or failures— would likely harm them. This discovery, the Millers assert, occurred on September 3, 2014, when American Strategic allegedly "first indicated its position that the Millers' flood claim [was] untimely and that untimeliness is dispositive to the claim."
Nevertheless, the Millers should have known of Liggio's alleged negligence earlier. The Millers admit in their complaint that American Strategic closed their claim on September 13, 2012 "for failure to provide a proof of loss."
For the foregoing reasons, we AFFIRM the district court's judgment.