Tina Nicholson is based in our Houston office. She wrote a very basic article "Steps For Handling an Insurance Claim" for the Hotel World Network. With Hurricane Earl winds beating the mid-Atlantic coast, her tips may be helpful for many policyholders:
Continue Reading...Since 2004, the majority of our law firm's large insurance battles have focused on hurricane loss insurance disputes. It is not surprising that we are getting phone calls from people asking whether our firm will open offices somewhere between North Carolina and Boston as Hurricane Earl is projected to hit that area. I was surprised by a recent newspaper article that indicated our firm "specializes" in sinkhole losses.
Continue Reading...Oftentimes after a windstorm, flood, or plumbing leak, mold develops in a home. There are several standard insurance policies issued in Texas, and they all have some language that deals with mold. For example, a standard Texas Dwelling Policy—Form 3 specifically excludes mold damage, but covers an “ensuing loss” caused by water damage. These clauses seemingly contradict one another: how can there be no coverage for mold damage if it is an “ensuing loss” caused by water damage? In 2004, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas discussed this issue in Malley v. Allstate Texas Lloyds.
Continue Reading...Chip brought up the five year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina in his post last week titled, “The Hurricane Katrina Five Year Anniversary is Noted as New Hurricanes Lurk in the Atlantic Ocean.” The anniversary of Katrina will have special meaning to all who were affected by it, but this five year anniversary also has a practical importance to anyone in Florida that is still attempting to put the pieces back together after Katrina, thanks to Florida’s five year statute of limitations on contract lawsuits. Fla. Stat. § 95.11(2)(b) requires that “[a] legal or equitable action on a contract, obligation, or liability founded on a written instrument…” must be commenced within five years.
Continue Reading...For those keeping score of the hottest debate in business interruption claims, a patient reading of Consolidated Companies, Inc. v. Lexington Insurance Company, No. 09-30178, ___ F. 3d ___ (5th Cir. August 17, 2010) is of rigor. For those who need to catch up to speed, I suggest reading my blog posts titled, To Consider the Economy or Not to? ‘That is the Question’ as well as Post Loss Market Earnings Ignored in Mississippi.
Continue Reading...This month, a letter to the editor by Guy Marvin was published in the Florida Times Union.
Marvin is the President of the Florida Insurance Council (“FIC”). The FIC is based out of Tallahassee, but Marvin has ties to Jacksonville from his former work as general counsel at Independent Life Insurance Company.
Continue Reading...Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Company has settled a state class action case, Press v. Louisiana Citizens Fair Plan Property Insurance Corp., for failing to fully pay overhead and profit to insureds. The proposed settlement, for $23 million, covers claims from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Continue Reading...Last week's post, The Big Picture in Discovery of Insurer Claims Practices, discussed a case from the Supreme Court of Kentucky that provided an overview of how Courts tie together various principles of discovery that are generally raised in the discovery of bad faith cases. General rules of bad faith discovery vary between states and the types controversies at issue. An Indiana federal court decision, Harper v. Auto-Owners Ins. Co., 138 F.R.D. 655 (S.D. Ind. 1991), is a classic example.
Continue Reading...The Insurance Commissioner has apparently decided to start calling some of my clients. According to the St. Petersburg Times, his office is trying to find statistical information regarding sinkholes reported between 2006 and 2009. We'll call and try to find out more information so we can help them get accurate answers, but, in "Florida Regulators Investigate Rash of Sinkhole Claims" reporter Jeff Harrington found the following:
Continue Reading...Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty said Wednesday that he has issued a "data call" to commercial and residential property insurers to collect sinkhole claims information.
Specifically, regulators are seeking details about claims opened anywhere in the state from 2006 to 2010. Included in the report will be the types of claims, testing procedures to determine legitimacy, costs of inspections, locations of claims, legal fees and public adjuster fees, and amount of structural loss.
Slabbed has been dogged regarding its reporting on the Mississippi qui tam litigation involving State Farm. A recent post, Rigsbys file “Motion to Reconsider Scope of Proceedings in Light of Evidence Adduced in Discovery” – ask Court for additional time to conduct Discovery into “the Scheme,” provides some insight regarding the flood adjustment techniques required by National Flood versus how flood adjusters in the field actually do their job.
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