California has statutory and case law that defines replacement cost and actual cash value, and these laws are read into every insurance policy notwithstanding what the policy language says. This blog has several posts on the subject,1 and this post aims to give you one cohesive post to consult for all your questions on calculating ACV and RCV. Continue Reading
Can you imagine Allstate Insurance Company running an advertisement explaining that it tries to deduct labor costs as depreciable items when you make a homeowners claim? Allstate runs television ads trying to warn against “cheap” insurance but fails to disclose that it instructs its claims adjusters to cheapen its insurance product when it comes to paying its customers’ insurance claims. Continue Reading
Iris Kuhn
The purpose of Section 627.7015, Florida Statutes titled “Alternative procedure for resolution of disputed property insurance claims” is to encourage insurance companies and policyholders to resolve their disagreements regarding disputed property insurance claims without the necessity of litigation or appraisal. The statute requires, in part:
(2) At the time a first-party claim within the scope of this section is filed by the policyholder, the insurer shall notify the policyholder of its right to participate in the mediation program under this section.1 Continue Reading
A Florida based insurance agent educator asked me for my thoughts about how arbitration clauses harm policyholders and provide less coverage. He was referencing my earlier post this week, Arbitration Clause Requiring New York Law and New York Arbitration Cited as Avoidance of Florida Lawsuit—Another Instance of Surplus Lines Insurer Abuse in Florida. Continue Reading
Xactimate construction price expert Steve Shannon told me that Merlin Law Group should make a seminar called, The Price is Right! I was listening to him and OSHA expert witness, Kevin Dandridge, discuss various issues of construction worker and site safety and where those costs should show up in insurance claim estimates. Continue Reading
Insurance Law360 is part of my daily reading and it tipped me off to a case which raises the same problem about arbitration, I noted in Should Insurance Agents Get Sued for Selling Insurance Which Requires Arbitration in a Far Away Location and Deprives Their Customers of Consumer Protection Laws? and Arbitration Is an Increasing Trend Found Within Property Insurance Policies, and Arbitration is Not Appraisal. Continue Reading
Reporter Steve Andrews ran a televised story highlighting that some Florida legislators are listening to insurance company lawyers and lobbyists rather than taking care of their constituents in Consumers Would Take Hit If Insurance Lobby Gets Its Way, and Change in Insurance Law Would Take Away Consumers’ Day in Court. The story references Florida House Bill 751 filed by Representative Alex Andrade. Senate Bill 1464 filed by Senator Jeff Brandes from St. Petersburg is just as bad. It is obviously written by insurance company lawyers and lobbyists wanting to make it more difficult for policyholders to bring actions holding delaying, denying, and underpaying insurance companies accountable. Continue Reading
Market conduct examinations of insurance company claims practices are important. Do you think that examiners are listening to the same repetitive complaints I hear from policyholders, contractors, roofers, public adjusters and other lawyers at the various seminars and trade shows I attend? Continue Reading
Mike Duffy & Chip Merlin
An insurance agent has many responsibilities which to do correctly, requires a great amount of specific education and a lot of attention to detail. Insurance agents are important because they sell one of the most important financial products any of us can purchase. The entire purpose of the insurance product they sell protects us from financial calamity. Every now and then, a lack of attention to detail comes back to harm a customer. Continue Reading
Chip Merlin and Stephanie Lee
Public adjuster Stephanie Lee approached me at the Win The Storm conference with an intriguing question—could she be appointed by a contractor holding an Assignment of Claim as the contractor’s appraiser in an appraisal? My first thought, and I bet it is the same thought most reading this blog, was “why not?” Continue Reading
