In Write Your Own (WYO) Bulletin W-18009, FEMA recently clarified Bulletin W-14058. Bulletin W-14058 addresses the Loss Settlement Provision of the Standard Flood Insurance Policy (SFIP). Continue Reading
Texas Insurance Appraisal: Who is Grading Insurance Company Papers and the Policies They Sell?
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
Post-Menchaca: Is the Independent Injury Rule Dead or Alive?
Having undertaken to write about “all things Menchaca,” this month is a review of five cases post-Menchaca which contradict one another in deciding whether the independent injury rule is dead or alive. Looking at the first set of cases post-Menchaca, it appears that the answer to that question is a long way off. Continue Reading
Hawaii’s Volcano and Coverage for Businesses
As Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano continues to erupt, homeowners and businesses face an ongoing threat to their properties. In addition to potential property damage, businesses also have the risk of their business operations being interrupted as the result of loss to their property. Continue Reading
Matching in Ohio
There must be a lot of matching disputes out there because I have received two questions this week alone on matching issues in various jurisdictions. So, for today’s blog I will discuss matching in Ohio—The Buckeye State. 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?
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
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
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
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
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
