Scott Johnson
Insurance lobbyist Scott Johnson is a bulldog advocate for the insurance industry. He usually is trying to make policyholders, their attorneys or anybody other than the insurance claims executives and adjusters look bad to support the insurance industry’s legislative efforts. I fell out of my chair when he described his own personal claim and why the insurance industry needs strong oversight and civil penalties to keep it in line. Continue Reading
When a National Flood Insurance Program (“NFIP”) insured is not satisfied with the payment for flood-related losses, the NFIP insured is directed to three options:1
The North Carolina Insurance Commissioner, Mike Causey, gets an A+ grade for his recent bulletin requiring greater investigation of otherwise hidden areas behind walls to ensure losses are being adjusted properly. This bulletin will certainly help victims of Hurricane Florence. Continue Reading
Why would any insurance agent sell a customer an insurance policy that allows the insurance company to low-ball, delay payment, and otherwise not pay, and then force the insurance customer to obtain justice through an arbitration in a far-away jurisdiction applying foreign law? That is exactly what many commercial policyholders are being sold in Texas and Florida. Insurance agents are supposed to sell insurance that protects policyholders, and these types of policies sold by the surplus lines insurance industry should be banned and not sold. The above image of Timbuktu is appropriate because that is where policyholders could be forced to arbitrate. Continue Reading
Drones and new technology can help show damage easier, far less costly, and much safer. But are drone investigations accurate? Will they miss damages otherwise owed with a full investigation to determine roof damage? Continue Reading
Insurance agents, divorce attorneys, elder law attorneys, wills, trusts and estate attorneys, and real estate attorneys need to read this post. They also need to read “Where You Reside” – The “Where’s Waldo®?” Catastrophic Homeowners Policy ‘Exclusion’ That Could Bankrupt Your Insureds, by insurance coverage expert Bill Wilson. Wilson’s article shows how often coverage can be lost just by common changes of where people are living. Continue Reading
The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation recently released updated data from Hurricane Michael.1 A review of the available data shows the damage for the Florida panhandle. While we all know that Michael did substantial damage in the Florida panhandle the numbers have continued to grow. Over one hundred and twenty-five thousand claims have been filed (125,356) totaling estimated insured losses at over three billion dollars ($3,430,014,424). Continue Reading
Recently, Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal found that a trial court abused its discretion by allowing the trial testimony of an insured homeowner’s expert when he expanded on his opinions during trial. The case is Citizens Property Insurance Corporation v. Vazquez.1 Continue Reading
Whether labor can be depreciated in arriving at an actual cash value property loss settlement has been a hot topic of debate over these past five years. A federal district court in Ohio recently weighed in on the issue in ruling on motions to dismiss two putative class action lawsuits, one against State Farm Fire & Casualty Company1 and one against Allstate Indemnity Company.2 Continue Reading
As policyholder attorneys, we frequently hear concerns from public adjusters that at the conclusion of a difficult adjusting process with an insurance carrier, a release was demanded in exchange for some agreed payment for the loss.1 Public adjusters cannot advise their clients whether the release is appropriate since that advice would constitute the practice of law, and the policyholder is then presented with a dilemma: sign the release to receive the insurance check – and give up the right to seek supplemental benefits under the policy – or refuse and challenge the insurance company’s release requirement. Continue Reading
