If you want to win a bad faith case, you better hire attorneys that are contenders and not pretenders. Bad faith cases are not easy, and the term is overused by those ignorant on the topic. Larry Bache told me a story about a relatively new attorney from another firm on the speaking circuit who has never tried a bad faith, much less a complete insurance breach of contract case, who was pontificating about bad faith in an effort to make cases rain to his firm. Those are pretenders. Continue Reading How Not To Win A Bad Faith Hail Damage Case

The proper and ethical role of an insurance appraiser and umpire has been on my mind as I prepare my presentation for next week’s P.L.A.N. Appraiser & Umpire Certification Conference in Denver, Colorado. I am certain everybody reading this post who has participated in an appraisal thinks they have the correct opinion of these roles. I supported certification for these roles at a time when certification was in its infancy. In the 1990s – before appraisal became such a huge industry and a more common method of property insurance dispute resolution – I chaired a project to study possible ways to make appraisal fairer. So, the topic has been in my head a lot longer than most people have been in this industry. Continue Reading What is The Role of The Appraiser In An Insurance Appraisal? What is The Role of The Umpire?

How often do insurance companies shop for a new opinion looking for a way to deny coverage of a large loss? This was the situation in a recent trial which resulted in the insurer being liable for $44 million. The facts summarizing the “shopping” for a new expert opinion regarding a boiler and machinery loss were outlined by the court: Continue Reading A $44 Million Verdict After Wrongful Denial of a Boiler and Machinery Claim—Yet No Bad Faith?

The Windstorm Insurance Network is a unique insurance claims organization because it insists on providing competing insurer and policyholder positions regarding claims issues. Long ago, in 2008, I discussed the history and philosophy of the Windstorm Insurance Network in The 2009 Windstorm Insurance Conference: Continue Reading Larry Bache To Speak at Windstorm Insurance Network Western States Case Law Review

If you have not been to the Jersey Shore in the summer, you have missed out. My mother grew up in Philadelphia and always talked about going to the New Jersey beaches in the summertime. Following Superstorm Sandy in 2012, I lived and worked in New Jersey and greater New York City. Continue Reading Catching Up On Summer 2022 Along The Jersey Shore, Ohio Limitations on Punitive Damages In Bad Faith Cases and Colorado Appraisals

August 27th marks the two-year anniversary of Hurricane Laura’s landfall in Southwest Louisiana, and besides bringing back a lot of painful memories, that means it will be the last day to bring a lawsuit against insurers for damages caused by that storm. Continue Reading Alarm Bells Should Be Ringing For Anyone In Louisiana With An Unresolved Insurance Claim Stemming From Hurricane Laura

Forum selection clauses that designate where lawsuits must be brought are becoming much more common in surplus lines carriers. These are often inserted by surplus underwriters and can cause a great deal of extra expense to a policyholder having to litigate in a faraway place. Continue Reading Forum Selection Clauses in Excess Policies

Stemming from the McCarran-Ferguson Act of 1945, insurance is regulated by the states. Knowing variations of the law and regulations is a necessity for insurance professionals crossing state lines. These state-by-state variations in law include the basics, such as determining replacement cost and actual cash value. Continue Reading Calculating Actual Cash Value and Depreciation in California

California has a code requirement that insurance companies must pay the actual cash value of a loss under a replacement cost policy if the replacement cost benefit payment is dependent on the policyholder first repairing, rebuilding, or replacing the damaged structure. Here is the Code provision: Continue Reading California Requires Actual Cash Value Payment By Code