Flood insurance claims are different than regular property insurance claims because virtually all flood insurance claims have to follow federal regulations. The vast majority of all flood insurance policies are written through the National Flood Program. Even if a private company known as a Write Your Own (WYO) is listed as the insurer on the … Continue Reading
Hurricane Florence insurance claims are the headache that starts after Florence damages your business or home. There is nothing easy about having your property destroyed—either emotionally or financially. It is going to hurt. I and a number of Merlin Law Group lawyers have been doing this work full time for as long as anybody in … Continue Reading
Merlin Law Group attorneys have an advantage over other lawyers and law firms because we invest in and have an in-house attorney Knowledge Manager fka Law Librarian, Ruck DeMinico. Ruck has researched more insurance law issues and public adjuster issues than anybody I know.… Continue Reading
Merlin Law Group phones and my cell phone have been constantly ringing with public adjusters questioning us about North Carolina and South Carolina Insurance claims law. Hurricane Florence is bearing down on those states as I write this post. God bless everybody in the path of this monstrous storm.… Continue Reading
Total loss and constructive total loss concepts in Florida are often confused with automobile total loss situations and exclusions and coverages related to Ordinance or Laws. We recently were asked about building law and ordinances which required a building to be demolished per building codes. The cause of the damage was by a covered peril … Continue Reading
Actual cash value polices should rarely be sold on a typical home. Insurance agents who sell these policies knowing that a mortgage exists are negligent because various federal laws and regulations generally require that negotiable mortgages are to be protected by replacement cost insurance: Property insurance for properties securing loans delivered to Fannie Mae must … Continue Reading
Law360 reported yesterday that State Farm settled a RICO lawsuit against it for $250 Million. I previously have noted this amazing, made-for-movie case in Did State Farm Buy Its Way Out of a Billion Dollar Judgment.… Continue Reading
Merlin Law Group has a new experienced California Insurance attorney, Victor Jacobellis, who is very busy fighting insurance companies like Farmers. Farmers has familiar advertisements showing cute situations where it pays claims. To be honest, it should also advertise and warn its customers how often it denies claims, how its polices are different than other … Continue Reading
Nebraska appraisals are virtually non-existent. The Supreme Court of Nebraska equated an appraisal clause to an arbitration clause, as both serve to “oust” courts of their jurisdiction, and therefore unenforceable.1… Continue Reading
David Stearnett, who is the Flood Insurance Advocate for the National Flood Insurance Program, and Sha Ron James, Florida’s Insurance Consumer Advocate, should be congratulated for hosting a free webinar on July 25: Guiding and Educating Insurance Professionals and Consumers about Flood Insurance Needs During a Catastrophe.… Continue Reading
Denied water damage claims are one of the more frequently handled claims by our law firm. The cost to repair these claims can be quite high depending on many factors including the length of time the water leaked, the length of the leak, the nature of the water, and the location of the water leak … Continue Reading
One certain way FEMA and National Flood Administrators get out of paying otherwise valid flood insurance claims is to require strict and timely requirements. Citing an internally generated and fraudulent 99% closure statistic, the National Flood Program denied a request to extend the timeline for filing Proofs of Loss for Hurricane Harvey, Irma, and Maria … Continue Reading
Bill Wilson is paramount educator of Insurance. His latest book, When Words Collide: Resolving Insurance Coverage and Claims Disputes, is an excellent resource all insurance claims experts and professionals should have in their library. I thought so much of it I have ordered the book for each Merlin Law Group attorney.… Continue Reading
One of the most offensive examples of insurance company claims managers losing their ethical way is when they demand that their insureds risk life and limb to immediately investigate their roofs after a hail storm. Most insurance policies require “prompt notice” of loss. But, does the insurance company ever warn its customers they must risk … Continue Reading
Claim assignments post loss are generally valid despite policy language preventing the same. This is true even if the amount of the claim owed is disputed.1… Continue Reading
Many state statutes and condominium bylaws require the purchase of reasonably available property insurance which covers all direct physical risks of loss on an extended and replacement cost basis. One issue I have heard associations and their insurance agents ask: “Is flood insurance reasonably available” so that it has to be insured.… Continue Reading
The Iowa Supreme Court determined that “appraisers may determine the factual cause of damage to insured property to ascertain the amount of loss,” in Walnut Creek Townhome Association vs Depositors Insurance Company.1 I am proud that Ashley Smith (nka Ashley Harris) was cited by the court for her analysis of the issue.… Continue Reading
The Texas Department of Insurance and Texas Insurance Commissioner issued two Consent Orders against contractors for the Unauthorized Practice of Public Adjusting.… Continue Reading
Overhead and Profit can generate a lot of debate when insurance company adjusters are looking to meet their adjustment severity goals and lower claims payments. But have you ever wondered how those same insurers instruct their sales people to calculate overhead and profit when they are calculating the premiums that they charge their customers for … Continue Reading
A question posed during the Georgia Association of Public Insurance Adjusters (GAPIA) Conference was: Who pays for the cost of the construction workers safety equipment?… Continue Reading
American politics and government can make people extraordinarily upset. The very nature of democracy, modern regulation, those being regulated and those regulating promotes active and emotional disagreements of what is the best public policy and how it should be determined. So, my first observation from yesterday’s post, Colorado House Bill 18-1153 Concerning Appraisals for Insurance … Continue Reading
Proof of loss rules are not what I normally think about Kentucky. Kentucky usually makes me think of beautiful rolling hills, great basketball, fast horses and the Kentucky Derby. But, we recently had some questions about proof of loss in Kentucky and thought we would share our findings.… Continue Reading
An older retired Florida Circuit Court judge once told me that his first job out of law school was in the claims department of an insurance company. He told me that all the company’s “adjusters” were licensed attorneys and that it was common for attorneys to act in that capacity during the 1930’s.… Continue Reading
