The Reasonable Expectations Doctrine Provides Judges With a Tool for...
United Policyholders filed an Amicus Curiae brief with the South Carolina Supreme Court regarding the Reasonable Expectations Doctrine. One of the significant points I made in the brief was that the...
View ArticleRegulating the Appraisal Industry---Is it Time?
Two recent posts, The Current State of Appraisal and How Mutual Terms Can Prevent Appraisal and Ethics of Appraisers---Just Wishful Thinking? raise the question whether the appraisal process and...
View ArticleSandy Flood Insurance Claim Appraisals with Overhead & Profit Claims
Flood insurance claims under the National Flood Program are unique. As implied in yesterday's post, Appraisal in Flood Claims, those closely involved with controversies regarding appraisals under the...
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Good Bye Charlie Hounchell
At the end of the day when many of us are tired and spent from our efforts, most lawyers' lawyers just want to feel we somehow contributed. While many understandably poke lawyers as only interested in...
View ArticleUmpire Selection--Can a Neutral Umpire Really Be Selected?
I was in Dallas last Thursday on a hearing to select a "neutral umpire." My opposing counsel is Kristin Cummings. In my preparation for the hearing, I noted that she co-authored a paper, "The...
View ArticleShould Insurance Companies Fight Their Customers During Appraisal
Insurance companies always have obligations of good faith and fair dealing when adjusting losses for their customers. Shaun Marker's post yesterday, Insurance Carriers Have Duties Too Once They Receive...
View ArticleState Farm Found Guilty of Fraudulent Claims Conduct in Rigsby Qui Tam Case
One of the last remaining Hurricane Katrina cases is the Qui Tam litigation involving the Rigsby sisters’ allegations that State Farm fraudulently overcharged the government when handling NFIP flood...
View ArticleSuperstorm Sandy Wind Speed Rises
The estimated wind speeds from Superstorm Sandy are rising. Perhaps Sandy really was Hurricane Sandy and not Superstorm Sandy.The Bureau of Seaside Park Office of Emergency Management made the...
View ArticleState Farm Guilty of Defamation
The Indiana Court of Appeals affirmed a $14.5 million dollar defamation verdict against State Farm in State Farm Fire & Casualty Company v. Radcliff.1 State Farm was found guilty of defaming a...
View ArticleThe Insured Customer is Still the Customer After the Loss
An insurance customer who has a loss is often treated as a threat by the insurance company. Claims managers and managers of claims managers are often to blame for creating a claims culture in which...
View ArticleChipped Tile Claims Get Marred
Restoration contractors, public adjusters and some attorneys feasting on "chipped tile claims" in South Florida got hammered yesterday in a very problematic decision Ergas v. Universal Property and...
View ArticleInsurance Industry Knows Chipped Tile Case Wrongly Decided
Insurance defense attorneys often argue coverage does not exist for losses the insurance industry routinely pays and recognizes as covered. I believe Ergas v. Universal Property and Casualty Insurance...
View ArticleFraming the Chipped Tile Claim
Framing issues with proper perspective and language is crucial to every legal argument. As an advocate, I choose words carefully. I was thinking language and framing issues when researching "chipped...
View ArticleInsurance Binders Can Form Insurance Coverage
Insurance binders issued before a policy is sent to the policyholder can be major sources of disagreement regarding coverage. Most of these coverage controversies involve situations where the binder is...
View ArticleSean Shaw and Policyholders of Florida a Thorn in Side of Insurance Lobby
The SaintPetersburg Blog had a flattering article about Sean Shaw, 2013 Legislative Winners and Losers: Policyholders of FL remains thorn in side to insurance industry. It's great when Sean's advocacy...
View ArticleAre State Insurance Commissioners and Attorney Generals Failing to Protect...
Insurance is a highly regulated industry because insurance companies have a long history of failing to honor promises, going bankrupt or finding unethical novel methods to gain a competitive edge....
View ArticleUSAA Loses Hurricane Bad Faith Trial in Texas
Is USAA a bad faith insurer? Active duty and retired military people often ask me if USAA treats their policyholders fairly and whether it is a "good insurance company." My father, a former Admiral in...
View ArticleVexatious Refusal to Pay Insurance Claims in Kansas City Missouri
I am in Kansas City litigating an alleged vexatious refusal to pay case against American Family Insurance Company. Did you know Kansas City is known as the City of Fountains? I thought that title was...
View ArticleInsurance Agent Experts and Insurance Agent Errors and Omission Cases
Insurance agents usually promise a bunch of service and sell their trust to policyholders at the point of sale. Most of the time, there is no loss or the loss is less than the deductible so even if the...
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Insurance and Life in Insurance Claims Business
I was thinking about my post, Oh The Places You Will Go---Especially in the Insurance Claim Industry, while in Manhattan this past weekend. As I arrived from Kansas City, I knew Corey Harris was...
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