Merlin The Moose is a client favorite at the Chicago Merlin Law Group office. We won him at a charity auction last year. He also led me to some creative research uncovering a problem with market conduct studies and the transparency of property insurance claims procedures many insurers keep hidden from their customers and insurance … Continue Reading
Illinois’ solution to an insurance company’s delay, deny and defend tactics is section 155 of the Illinois Insurance Code, which provides an extra-contractual remedy to policyholders whose insurer’s refusal to recognize liability and pay a claim under a policy is vexatious and unreasonable.1 Section 155 of the Code is intended to aid the insured and … Continue Reading
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 … Continue Reading
Suspicion runs rampant with some insurance companies when it comes to alleged arson. Even if they cannot prove the policyholder had anything to do with a fire, some adjusters cannot help to look for other ways to deny an insurance claim. In Hayes vs. Metropolitan Property and Casualty Insurance Company,1 an insurer was held liable … Continue Reading
A Nebraska court recently ruled that an insured was entitled to bad faith damages after the court found that an insurance application was ambiguous in its language.… Continue Reading
A recent Colorado Supreme Court opinion in Schultz v. GEICO Casualty Company, clarifies the standard for bad faith in Colorado. In the opinion, the court discusses both claims for common law bad faith and statutory unreasonable delay or denial of benefits.… Continue Reading
In a previous post, Insurance Company Acting in Bad Faith? Pennsylvania Protects Policyholders if Facts Are Plead, I discussed the importance of Pennsylvania’s insurance bad faith statute1 and how insurers routinely attempt to avoid litigating the substance of those bad faith claims by filing motions to dismiss alleging pleading deficiencies. Recently, the District Court for … Continue Reading
In the case Biasatti v. GuideOne National Ins. Co., No. 07-17-00044-CV (Tex. Ct.App. Aug. 16, 2018), Steven Biasatti and Paul Gross, d/b/a TopDog Properties, brought suit against its insurance company, GuideOne National Insurance Company for breach of contract.… Continue Reading
The Florida Advisory Commission on Arson Prevention was one of the first organizations I prepared a public presentation for while I worked with Paul Butler in the early 1980’s. Paul gave a speech about wrongful steps insurance adjusters should not make during a fire loss investigation and those where arson was suspected. One of those … Continue Reading
During the recent Summer 2018 RMAPIA Conference, Larry Bache and I had an opportunity to discuss regulations and remedies available to first party policyholders within the RMAPIA states. Continuing that discussion, this post will review the legal remedies available to Idaho policyholders enduring the frustration of a delayed or denied insurance claim. Fortunately, Idaho provides … Continue Reading
In a recent op-ed article published in the Star Ledger, Rutgers Law Professor Jay Feinman debunked the myth that insurance companies have been using for decades to prevent good faith claims handling bills from passing through the legislature. As Feinman noted, insurance companies argue that the Insurance Fair Conduct Act (IFCA) is unnecessary and would … Continue Reading
Insurance companies routinely argue for immunity from their wrongful actions because acts of their customers are not perfect following a loss. Policyholders are not claims specialists. Policyholders generally are not in the insurance claims business much less the civil litigation business which the insurance industry is the number one participant by far.… Continue Reading
Tiffany Tower Condominium LLC sustained damages during Superstorm Sandy. In November 2012, the insured filed a claim with their insurer, Insurance Company of Greater New York, for damages sustained during the storm. Greater New York paid the claim out in December 2012. In September 2014, Tiffany Tower submitted a supplemental claim to Greater New York … Continue Reading
Policyholders need insurance laws which protect them if their insurance company delays, denies or wrongfully adjusts their claim. Attorneys have long recognized that insurance law is a specialized niche area of the law with strange nuances. Attorneys not dedicated to this field of law may fail to appreciate or may even miss small but important … Continue Reading
In Keodalah v. Allstate Insurance Company,1 a Washington appellate court held insurance adjusters may be liable for bad faith and violating Washington’s Consumer Protection Act.… Continue Reading
Property insurance is purchased to help protect an insured with the consequences of a natural disaster or serious storm. Far too often we hear from confused policyholders when their insurance carrier attempts to delay payment of a valid covered claim or unreasonably delays the payment of covered benefits. Fortunately, Wyoming provides several legal avenues to … Continue Reading
Merlin Law Group is closely monitoring a case pending before the South Carolina Supreme Court to see how it answers the question: “Does South Carolina law support application of the ‘at issue’ exception to the attorney-client privilege such that a party may waive the privilege by denying liability in its answer?”… Continue Reading
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
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 … Continue Reading
In April 2008, Minnesota’s Legislature passed a bill enacting Minnesota Statues Section 604.18, often referred to as Minnesota’s “Good Faith Law,” which creates a cause of action for first-party bad faith. Under section 604.18, an insured can seek damages from his or her own insurer if the insurer does not act in good faith when … Continue Reading
The Colorado Supreme Court issued two opinions favorable to Colorado policyholders earlier this week: American Family Mutual Insurance Company v. Barriga; and Rooftop Restoration, Inc. v. American Family Mutual Insurance Company. Both cases address the unreasonable delay or denial of insurance benefits statute in Colorado. This post addresses the Barriga opinion, and the Rooftop Restoration, … Continue Reading
Last month, a New York Supreme Court affirmed that insurance companies are subject to that state’s consumer protection law, General Business Law § 349. In 37 West 24th Street, LLC v. Seneca Insurance Company, Inc., the trial court denied Seneca Insurance Company’s motion to dismiss the plaintiff’s claim under that statute.1… Continue Reading
On Friday, April 13, 2018, by avoiding black cats, ladders, and breaking mirrors, seven members of the Texas Supreme Court1 managed to issue a new, sixty-six page opinion in USAA Texas Lloyds Company v. Menchaca (“Menchaca II”).2 Withdrawing its April 7, 2017, opinion3 —”Menchaca I”—the court unanimously reaffirmed the five legal principles and rules announced … Continue Reading
Last month, a Washington State Court of Appeals ruled that individual insurance adjusters may be personally liable for violations of Washington’s bad faith statute, RCW 48.01.030. The court also ruled that adjusters may be personally liable for violations of Washington’s Consumer Protection Act, RCW 19.86.020.1… Continue Reading
