In this installment of Know the Regs to Use the Regs, we examine additional excerpts from the California Code of Regulations’ Fair Claims Settlement Practices, Sections 2695.4 and 2695. To read more about California Code of Regulations 2695.7 in a past blog, click here, and for California Code of Regulations 2695.9, click here.
Continue Reading Know the Regs to Use the Regs – a look at California Fair Claims Settlement Practices Regulations (10 CCR 2695.4 and 10 CCR 2695.5)
Note: This guest blog post is by Holly Soffer, Esq., a policyholder attorney and General Counsel to the American Association of Public Insurance Adjusters.
Unfortunately, we are singing the same old song again in Louisiana, having to report new administrative actions filed against public adjusters for the unauthorized practice of law and licensing violations. The pursuit of these types of actions by the Louisiana Department of Insurance (LDI) has been dormant for a few years. As a result, some public adjusters have relaxed their concern about possible scrutiny by the LDI on their conduct. This is a mistake. Even armed with all the correct types of documents, however, one can still fall outside the law regarding conduct.
Continue Reading Beware Public Adjusters – Danger Ahead in Louisiana!
This blog follows up last month’s “Know the Regs to Use the Regs” on 10 CCR 2695.9. The purpose is the same – one of the most impactful, if not the most impactful course of action a policyholder or policyholder advocate can take to add value to a claim is knowing and enforcing your legal rights.
Continue Reading Know the Regs to Use the Regs – a look at California Fair Claims Settlement Practices Regulations (10 CCR 2695.7)
Colorado, like most states, has imposed regulatory guidelines that govern insurance company claims handling procedures. Many of those regulations and statutes provide potential penalties that may be imposed when the adjustment process implemented by an insurer fails to comply with the standards enumerated. Title 3 of the Code of Colorado Regulations § 702-5-1-14 is a good example of the methods aimed at deterring such conduct. Due to the recent wildfires in Colorado leading to delayed payments and improper claims handling by numerous insurers, these regulations and the recourse they offer insureds are worth emphasizing.
Continue Reading Failure to Make Timely Decisions/Payments in Colorado will Lead to Penalties for Insurers Pursuant to Title 3 Colo. Code Regs. § 702-5-1-14
We’ve all heard some iteration of the phrase, “knowledge is power.” No matter what source you attribute the quote, its application in the first-party insurance context holds true. One of the most impactful, if not the most impactful course of action a policyholder or policyholder advocate can take to add value to a claim is knowing and enforcing your legal rights. To be clear, to “add value” means to maximize payment of policy benefits owed in the most efficient manner possible, and to “enforce” means to speak up when you are being treated to the contrary, or at the onset of a claim to remind an insurer of its obligations to you. While it is important to know your rights when dealing with in-state insurance adjusters, out-of-state adjusters may pose a higher risk of being unfamiliar with your state’s rules and guidelines, especially following widespread and catastrophic disasters such as wildfires and hurricanes.
Continue Reading Know the Regs to Use the Regs – a look at California Fair Claims Settlement Practices Regulations (10 CCR 2695.9)
A recent Texas Administrative Proceeding involving a public adjuster1 highlighted what public adjusters have to fear if investigated by a Department of Insurance. In the Texas case, here were the areas of inquiry:
Continue Reading What Do Public Adjusters Have To Fear From Regulators? — The Loss of Your Public Adjuster License
Insurance companies will no longer be able to write insurance policies which depreciate labor costs when determining actual cash value in Washington. The Washington Insurance Commissioner just made a rule preventing insurance companies from nickeling and diming of their customers by depreciating labor costs. This ruling becomes effective on January 1, 2022.
Continue Reading Can Insurance Companies Depreciate Labor Costs in Washington? Insurance Commissioner Stands Up For Policyholders
During the First Party Claims Conference last week, New York attorney Jonathan Lerner and I discussed the new public adjuster regulations that had just come into effect in New York on October 8. The New York Department of Financial Services listed the following in a press release announcing these new regulations:
Continue Reading New York Public Adjusters Have New Consumer Protections To Follow
In my last blog, The McCarran-Ferguson – Expanded, I spoke at length about how the McCarran-Ferguson Insurance Regulation Act declared that continued regulation and taxation of the insurance industry by the states was in public interest. Pursuant to this policy, the Act exempts the business of insurance from the federal anti-trust statutes to the extent that state law regulates the insurance industry.1 Section 3(b) of the McCarran-Ferguson Act, however, provides an exception to this exemption by excluding from the statute’s protective shield acts and agreement amounting to boycott, intimidation, or coercion.2 This section was enacted to prevent a recurrence of anticompetitive practices characterized by the United States v. South-Easter Underwriters Association (South Eastern Underwriters) court as “boycott, coercion, and intimidation.”
Continue Reading Insurance Anti-Trust and The McCarren-Ferguson Act: Boycotts
Public adjusters play a critical role in claims adjudication process and can often serve as the policyholder’s ally in getting claims disputes resolved prior to litigation. The Arizona Revised Statutes define “Adjuster” as any person who for compensation, fee or commission either:
Continue Reading Defining the Role and Requirements of Public Adjusters in Arizona