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Oh The Places You Will Go---Especially in the Insurance Claim Industry
The insurance claim industry is especially fun if you enjoy travel and meeting interesting people. Losses and catastrophes are usually unique with novel issues. They happen in remote and in urban...
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First Party Claims Conference A Week Away
The First Party Claim Conference is just over one week away. For adjusters, claims managers, and attorneys involved with property insurance claims, this is an excellent forum to learn and exchange...
View ArticleHappy Thanksgiving from Merlin Law Group
From all of us at Merlin Law Group, we wish you a Happy (and safe) Thanksgiving. Many are nostalgic at Thanksgiving. I'm embracing nostalgia today and offering you my Thanksgiving post from 2010: A...
View ArticleSuperstorm Sandy Adjusters Often Inexperienced
Catastrophe adjusters are often inexperienced. Some of the storm troopers adjusting Superstorm Sandy claims are causing frustration for New York and New Jersey policyholders who deserve much better...
View ArticleThe Mythical National Flood Claim Memo and Sandy Flood Claims
National Flood Insurance claims are different. The policies are unique, the law does not follow typical property insurance principals, and the adjustment practices vary greatly, depending on the...
View ArticleHurricane Sandy Personal Property Claims--Include All Acquisition and Setup...
Many policyholders making Hurricane Sandy personal property claims will not get paid what they deserve because their insurance adjusters fail to tell them to include all acquisition and setup costs...
View ArticleCitizens Clearinghouse---A Method to Make Citizens an Insurer of Last Resort
Florida law should reflect public policy that Citizens Property Insurance Corporation is the insurer of last resort. Currently, Citizens is merely the insurance agent's insurer of last resort. I...
View ArticleHurricane Sandy Claim Denials and the Value of FC&S
Hurricane Sandy claim denials are starting to be issued. This is typical; hurricane claim denials usually start four to six weeks after the catastrophe. I cannot overemphasize the value of FC&S...
View ArticleHurricane Sandy Insurance Claim Denials in New Jersey
(Editors Note: Adjusters and public adjusters should be careful not to practice law. Chip Merlin is going to write in general about New Jersey insurance law as it applies to Hurricane Sandy insurance...
View ArticleReasonable Expectations - Why New Jersey Policyholders Should Have a Thankful...
"There's a great deal of suffering in the world, Sir. We ought to do our part toward relieving it."1 New Jersey policyholders who have not been fully paid their insurance benefits following losses from...
View ArticleInsurance Claim Denials Following Hurricane Sandy - Public Policy is...
My two previous posts regarding Hurricane Sandy insurance claim denials are important to study before moving on to today's post regarding public policy. Accordingly, please review the brief posts of:...
View ArticleNew Jersey Insurance Contract Interpretation Following Hurricane Sandy Losses
There will be significant legal activity regarding New Jersey insurance contract interpretation following Hurricane Sandy. Many insurance adjusters and insurance companies will be interpreting unique...
View ArticleConcurrent Causation on the Jersey Shore Following Hurricane Sandy--Insurers...
"If you only knew what the future holds After a hurricane comes a rainbow"1 "Read the law and weep if you are afraid of juries." That is what I will be telling insurance companies and their counsel for...
View ArticleNational Flood Out of Money? FEMA Warns of Delayed Payments
In the Truth is Stranger Than Fiction File--How about today’s Internet post by FEMA that warns of delayed National Flood Insurance payments? Do not believe me? Here it is: Notice on National Flood...
View ArticleHurricane Sandy National Flood Claims Handling and Bad Faith
What good are claims handling standards if there is no accountability or penalties for failing to adhere to them? This was my initial thought after considering a FEMA Claims Bulletin which applies to...
View ArticleThe Current State of Appraisal and How Mutual Terms Can Prevent Appraisal
Appraisal is becoming its own sub-industry within the property insurance claims business. Many claims managers at various insurance companies have privately complained to me that the appraisal process...
View ArticleEthics of Appraisers---Just Wishful Thinking?
Nobody publicly admits that they are acting unethical. Yet, for many endeavors in life, there are neither established ethical standards nor many rules explaining what fair and just behavior should...
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Windstorm Insurance Conference a Success
The 2013 Windstorm Insurance Conference® was a success. Merlin Law Group had a number of attorneys speak at the Conference--including yours truly.My subject matter was the Gulf Coast Case Law Update....
View ArticleInsurance Industry Predicts 49ers to Win Super Bowl
The insurance industry has often been compared to a casino with actuaries acting as odds makers. I was discussing this in our firm's Los Angeles office on Friday, with attorney Ken Kan. So, it should...
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Interpreting California Insurance Contracts
Ken Kan and I were debating how a California judge should interpret an insurance contract covering a fire loss in Modesto, California. Interpreting insurance contracts is not as easy as many think....
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