A federal judge in California handed down an entertaining read of an opinion last week. Although it addresses liability insurance the principles apply to property insurance all the same. The case is Northfield Insurance Company v. Tilted Turtle.1 It presents a cautionary tale for what happens when an insured makes a misrepresentation to their insurer, and what happens when a judge slams the gavel on absurd legal defenses. Continue Reading A Series of Unfortunate Events for Tilted Turtle Bar & Grill Leads to Rescission of Policy

Like many people, I cannot remember the last time I paid for a dinner out, bought a new pair of pants, or paid an electric bill with cash or a check. When I am not working on behalf of policy holders, I like to travel, so I pay for everything I can by credit card to earn travel miles. For a business owner to get paid from my credit card transaction, they must enter into agreements with a third-party servicer to facilitate the processing of credit card transactions. To complete these transactions, the third-party servicers also have separate agreements with credit card associations, like MasterCard and Visa. MasterCard or Visa have rules that may obligate the business owner to pay additional fees and assessments in the event of a data breach in order to keep accepting credit cards. Continue Reading Cybersecurity Insurance: Credit Card Data Breaches Come with Extra Costs that May Not be Covered

Have you ever read an insurance company advertisement saying that it is going to potentially treat their own customer’s insurance claim with a marring protocol or technical claims directive such as the one I published yesterday in, The Marring Protocol and Other Unfair Methods to Underpay Florida Policyholders? Of course not. Most insurance companies promise prompt, quick, easy, and fast payments with the best claims service in the industry. Continue Reading Insurance Company Advertisements and Promises of Peace of Mind Versus the Reality of Claims Treatment

Stone Creek Condominium Owners Association, Inc. (“Stone Creek”),1 suffered a hail loss in 2016 for which it submitted a claim to its property insurance carrier, Charter Oak Fire Insurance Company (“Charter”). Charter inspected and issued payment in accordance with its estimate. Charter determined that four of the twenty buildings had sustained damage, although no damage was noted to any of the roofs. Continue Reading Jury to Decide if Adjuster’s Instruction to Insured Waived Date of Loss

When a hurricane makes landfall, it is national news due to the devastation caused. Billions of dollars of damage, and thousands of people become homeless and without a job. Most everyone in the country has seen the pictures, if only for the shock value. As Floridians, most of us have lived this devastation in some shape or form. For policyholders, we know that the storm is only the beginning of the ordeal. Continue Reading Florida Senate Bill 76 and House Bill 305 Would Harm Policyholders and Encourage Improper Claims Handling by Insurers

Over the past few days, many enjoyed watching what’s been dubbed March Madness. The 64-team college basketball tournament usually draws a massive and lucrative following. People who don’t allocate any time watching basketball during the year will often time tune in to watch all of the madness that March has to offer. Continue Reading NCAA’s March Madness Business (Bracket) Interruption Insurance Payout