Texas Insurance Appraisal: Who is Grading Insurance Company Papers and the Policies They Sell?

By Emily Marlowe on Posted in Insurance, Texas Insurers

It is no secret that there are problems with the appraisal process. The ever-growing issues with appraisal include, but certainly are not limited to, exorbitant expenses pushed onto policyholders and insurance companies, gamesmanship, and the never-ending questions of:

  • When is appraisal appropriate
  • What can be addressed and assessed within appraisal, and
  • Whether a policyholder’s claims for bad faith, fraud, and violations of the Texas Insurance Code stand once appraisal is completed. Continue Reading

Can Post-Loss Benefits be Assigned to a Mitigation/Restoration Vendor if the Policy Contains an Anti-Assignment Provision? Can the Vendor then Sue the Insurance Company?

By Kesha Hodge on Posted in Insurance

The Arizona Court of Appeals in a recent opinion said, Yes to both. In Farmers Insurance Exchange v. Udall,1 four homeowners insured by Farmers Insurance Exchange (“Farmers”) sustained separate losses, which required water damage mitigation and restoration services. The homeowners hired a vendor to perform the mitigation and restoration services. In each case, the insureds assigned to the vendor their “rights, benefits, proceeds and causes of action” under their respective insurance policies. Continue Reading

Court Says Claims for Unreasonable Delay or Denial of Insurance Benefits Can Be Filed Beyond One Year

By Jonathan Bukowski on Posted in Insurance

As discussed in a previous post, Colorado allows policyholders—even repair vendors such as contractors or roofers where there has been an assignment of insurance benefits—to bring a cause of action for bad faith where an insurance company unreasonably delays or denies the payment of covered insurance benefits.1 Continue Reading

Florida First Party Case Law Update at FAPIA Conference, June 2018

By Erin Dunnavant on Posted in Insurance

This past week, I had the pleasure of attending the Florida Association of Public Adjusters (“FAPIA”) conference in Ft. Myers, Florida. FAPIA President, Jimmy Farach did a wonderful job spearheading the event, along with the help of Nancy Dominguez and many others. They also did a great job selecting the venue; the Sanibel Harbour Marriott Resort and Spa was lovely and I had a great experience with their management and staff. Continue Reading

New Jersey Senate Passes Bad Faith Bill

By Jason Cieri on Posted in Bad Faith, State Legislation

Recently, the New Jersey Senate passed S-2144, entitled the New Jersey Insurance Fair Conduct Act. While the bill still must go through the Assembly and be signed by the Governor, this is much welcomed news by insureds and their representatives. Since 1993, insureds have had basically no right to bad faith claims against their insurers under the blanket of the Picket v. Lloyd “fairly debatable” standard.1 Continue Reading

FEMA Implements Enhancements to NFIP Claims Process

By Shane Smith on Posted in Insurance

In a June 7, 2018, FEMA bulletin, W-18013, FEMA discusses several claims process enhancements and claims handling reminders that apply to all claims with a date of loss of June 7, 2018 through December 31, 2018. The enhancements to the NFIP’s claim process are in response to the widespread flooding that occurred in 2017. Continue Reading

California Department of Insurance Has Approved the State’s First Cannabis Business Owners Policy

By Jennifer Van Voorhis on Posted in Business Property, Insurance

More states across the country are implementing legislation allowing for the legal use of cannabis. Currently 23 States and the District of Columbia allow for medical use with four of the states and D.C. also allowing recreational use. The conflicts between state and federal law have left businesses uninsured and often without access to bank accounts. Continue Reading

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