Property Insurance Coverage Law Blog : Florida Insurance Lawyer & Attorney : Merlin Law Group Law Firm : Tampa, Houston, Coral Gables, Gulfport

Earlier this year, the Washington State legislature passed an insurance bad faith bill that allowed for treble damages when an insurer was found to have acted unreasonably. Washington has never had punitive damages, so this legislation provided a significant remedy for policyholders damaged as a result of insurance company misconduct and a penalty for those insurance companies violating it. The Act also allowed the award of the policyholders' attorneys' fees. Immediately after Governor Christine Gregoire signed the bill, the insurance industry filed a referendum to have Washington citizens decide whether the Act would be struck down or upheld.

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A recent article in a San Diego paper noted a widespread issue for victims of the recent California wildfires--- is there enough insurance coverage to pay for the damage? This is not a new concern and is a major reason for much the litigation following Hurricane Katrina.From an actuarial standpoint, the problem is not significant because the vast majority of all property losses are nowhere close to total losses. The issue of having to have enough coverage to pay for the cost to completely rebuild a structure is not numerically significant compared to the population of losses. However, it seems that when there are devastating losses with a significant number of total structure losses, most policyholders simply do not have enough coverage.

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