The Oklahoma Insurance Department has released its 2022 Annual Report. Every year, the OID compiles a report summarizing the required financial disclosures of insurers in the state, highlighting new legislation, and breaking down certain regulatory activity taken by the department (although information about market conduct exams is noticeably missing). Here’s a quick breakdown of some of the more interesting information and statistics from last year:

Continue Reading Oklahoma Insurance Department’s 2022 Year in Review

Statute of limitations and time periods to perform post-loss actions by policyholders are important. Some states hold these periods set out in policies as “can’t miss” deadlines. In some states, if you are late, you are out of luck collecting more money even if owed. 

Continue Reading Statute of Limitations Warning—Do Not Get Lulled Into Failing To File Suit When Claims Are Delayed

If you search “Statute of Limitations” or “Suit Against Us” on the Merlin Property Insurance Coverage Law Blog (which I encourage you to do), you will have no shortage of reading material. While not a novel topic, the number of blogs should stress the subject’s importance.

Continue Reading Not All Limitations Periods Are Created Equal

A number of attorneys, public adjusters, and roofers have been asking me questions about State Farm claims practice related to hail damage claims. Many insurers are not willing to fully explain to their customers how they instruct adjusters to handle claims—unlike the federal government, which published a manual regarding national flood insurance adjustments and invites the public to its claims certification training. As a result, it is often difficult to figure out what criteria an insurer uses to determine what is covered and what is owed. This is one problem regarding State Farm hail damage claims. 

Continue Reading Learning How State Farm Evaluates Hail Damage Claims

As a law firm whose sole focus is representing policyholders in insurance disputes, we spend a lot of time alleging insurance companies are engaging in bad faith practices and fighting tooth and nail for evidence that demonstrates this. We get what information we can through the discovery process, the rules and logistics of which can vary drastically depending on the state, the court, and even the judge. Discovery must be tailored to each individual case, and insurance companies invariably object to requests for information about wider business practices or schemes as too vague, too broad, too burdensome, or irrelevant. This can make obtaining any evidence of bad faith practices we already know are occurring a long and costly battle.

Continue Reading The Case of the Missing Market Conduct Exams

Can you imagine the glee on the face of the investigator for Florida’s Department of Financial Services as he walked in with the big news that Chip Merlin has no Florida Bar License? It probably went down something like this:

“Hey boss, you know that attorney who criticizes us and whom the insurance companies hate because he exposes them as well, Chip Merlin? Well, he has no Florida Bar license! Yep, I looked it up, and this guy is an imposter!”    

Continue Reading Chip Merlin Busted By Florida Insurance Investigators!

The 2023 Windstorm Insurance Conference has been great. The two gentlemen in the above photo taken on Monday night are whistleblower independent adjusters who testified during Florida’s Special insurance Session in December. Florida’s Department of Financial Services (DFS) investigators claim they could not track them down and speak with them following their testimony. It does not appear that these whistleblowers are “hiding out.” 

Continue Reading Are Florida’s Department of Financial Service Investigators Competent or Simply Refusing to Investigate Alleged Insurance Company Corruption?

Public adjusters need to double-check their licensing paperwork. That was my thought while reading an Order temporarily suspending many public adjusters from any public adjusting activities because the Georgia Department of Insurance claims that its paperwork does not reflect an approved contract. There are a lot of public adjusters named in the Order, including past Presidents of the Georgia Association of Public Insurance Adjusters (GAPIA) and one Past President of the National Association of Public Insurance Adjusters.

Continue Reading Georgia Insurance Commissioner Effectively Suspends Most Georgia Public Adjusting Activity—And Then Admits A Mistake Doing So! 

The 2023 Windstorm Conference is underway. At the Past Presidents dinner last night, the topic of civil discussion and respect for opposing views was raised. It is an excellent topic. It is often on my mind while writing posts critical of others. 

Continue Reading Two Sides To A View And Professional Discourse Regarding Claims Issues 

Justin Skipton sent me the following warning from the Georgia Insurance Commissioner: 

Continue Reading The Real Consumer Alert—Is the Georgia Insurance Commissioner In the Pocket of the Insurance Companies?