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Minnesota regulates its insurance industry through the state’s Commerce Department (MCD). One of the purposes of the MCD is to investigate consumer complaints to ensure that insurance companies, agents, and adjusters are complying with all state laws and regulations. If you think that your insurance claim or policy has been delayed, wrongfully denied, or deliberately underpaid, you can file a complaint with the MCD.…
Continue Reading How to File an Insurance Complaint with the Minnesota Commerce Department

Many of us appreciate misdirection, deception, and technical play on words in brainteasers and riddles. The same is not usually the case when an insurer is explaining your legal rights following a devastating loss. While this blog showcases California claims, laws, and regulations, the principle for policyholders and policyholder advocates applies across the country – it pays to know your insurance claim rights.…
Continue Reading Don’t Believe Everything You Read on the Internet – or Even in Your Claim Letter

Hurricane Ida claims in Louisiana are underway. Following Hurricane Laura, a number of Louisiana public adjusters complained about many insurance companies not speaking with them and simply ignoring their own policyholder customers. All adjuster and claims managers should read and follow a February 26, 2021, Bulletin1 from Louisiana’s insurance commissioner about what is expected of them regarding good faith claims handling and working cooperatively to help Louisiana policyholders.…
Continue Reading Louisiana Policyholders Deserve Good Faith Treatment – Insurance Companies Cannot Ignore Public Adjusters and Should Communicate with Policyholders

The goal of the Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services (DIFS) is to ensure that “[a]ll Michigan consumers. . . have access to insurance . . . provided by companies that treat them fairly.”1 DIFS’s Office of Consumer Services helps achieve this goal by investigating consumer complaints of wrongdoing by insurance companies, agencies, and agents. If you think your claim has been delayed, unfairly denied, or otherwise poorly handled, you can file a complaint with DIFS requesting an investigation…
Continue Reading How to File a Complaint with the Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services

The Louisiana Department of Insurance receives, on average, more than 3,600 complaints every year from consumers who are dissatisfied with how they have been treated by their insurance provider.1 If you live in Louisiana and think that your insurance claim or policy has been delayed, wrongly denied, or deliberately underpaid, you can file a complaint with LDI and request an investigation into the matter.…
Continue Reading How to File a Complaint with the Louisiana Department of Insurance

Mississippi unfair claims practice law and bad faith actions are unique. Following Hurricane Katrina, I took the Mississippi Bar and represented hundreds of Mississippi businesses and residents with insurance disputes arising from Hurricane Katina. I was honored to represent the grandparents of my co-author in this blog post. As a kid, I lived for three years in Waveland, Mississippi. Merlin Law Group is still being retained on property insurance disputes in Mississippi. Since her interest in property insurance law started with our firm’s work in Mississippi, I look forward to working with Kathryn on those cases after she gets the results from her bar examination.…
Continue Reading Understanding Mississippi Unfair Claims Practice and Bad Faith Cases Based on Delay

The Iowa Insurance Division (IID) “supervises all insurance business transacted in the state of Iowa.”1 It does this by investigating consumer complaints against insurance companies, agents, and adjusters to ensure compliance with Indiana state law been delayed, wrongly denied, deliberately underpaid, or otherwise improperly managed, you can file a complaint with IID requesting an investigation into the matter.…
Continue Reading How to File a Complaint with the Iowa Insurance Division

Recently, the Houston Merlin team has encountered several cases that turn on notice to policyholders, or rather, the lack thereof, when an insurer makes “material changes” to a policy renewal. A hypothetical example of this situation might be if a policyholder has a homeowners’ policy that did not exclude cosmetic damage to the policyholder’s roof and the next year, the renewal policy, unbeknownst to the policyholder, contains a cosmetic damage exclusion. Thinking the “renewal” policy was the same as the prior policy, except for coverage dates, the policyholder accepts it and pays his premium. Along comes the typical Texas hail/windstorm, and the policyholder’s metal roof suffers hundreds of unsightly dings. Policyholder files a claim with his insurance company only to find out that his current renewal policy has a new endorsement excluding what the insurance industry labels as “cosmetic” damage to his roof. His insurer denies the claim based on the “new” cosmetic damage exclusion in his renewal policy. Policyholder contacts Merlin Law Group for help. Given these facts, the information below regarding Texas law and renewal policies may be helpful to this hypothetical policyholder, and now Merlin client, and his case.…
Continue Reading Upon Renewal of a Policy, Insurers Must Give Policyholders Advance Notice of “Material Changes”

The Indiana Department of Insurance (IDOI) mission is to “protect consumers from illegal insurance practices by ensuring that insurance companies and producers. . . act in accordance with State insurance laws.” One way it accomplishes this is by investigating consumer complaints against insurance companies, agents, and adjusters. If you think that your insurance claim or policy has been delayed, wrongly denied, deliberately underpaid, or otherwise improperly managed, you can file a complaint with IDOI and request an investigation into the matter.…
Continue Reading How to File a Complaint with the Indiana Insurance Department

(Note: This guest blog is by Liberty Ritchie, a Licensed Legal Intern in our Oklahoma City office)

The Arizona Department of Insurance (ADI) “helps insurance consumers resolve disputes that are within the Department’s jurisdiction, and…investigate apparent violations of Arizona law.”1 Specifically, the Investigations Division of the ADI investigates consumer complaints of wrongdoing by insurance companies, agencies, and agents, and the Market Oversight Division more broadly examines companies’ marketing and claim settlement practices. If you think that your claim has been delayed, unfairly denied, or otherwise poorly handled, you can file a complaint with the ADI requesting an investigation.…
Continue Reading How to File a Complaint with the Arizona Department of Insurance