Arbitration

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A few years ago, I asked Merlin Law Group attorney Doug Grose, “How did we end up in arbitration in London, England with policy delivered in Texas, a loss in Houston, Texas and our client from Houston, Texas?” He told me there was an arbitration provision and the federal court ordered us to go to arbitration in London because that is where the policy required the arbitration take place. I asked Doug: ”Geez, forgetting the extraordinary increased cost to our client do this, what chance do you think we have in arbitration in London against Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s of London?”…
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In Florida, certain first-party property cases are being ordered to non-binding arbitration. Under the statute and the State’s procedural rules, a Florida court may refer a civil case to arbitration before going to trial.1 While every case is different, resolving a case before trial can sometimes be favorable (e.g., through mediation). Participating in a non-binding arbitration is one way for early resolution. However, despite its name, a non-binding arbitration is not inherently devoid of risk and can have repercussions.…
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In an historic win for American consumers and workers, on September 20, 2019, the U. S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 1423, the Forced Arbitration Injustice Repeal or FAIR Act,1 by a vote of 225 to 186. This groundbreaking bill could be the beginning of the demise of the remedy-stripping, rights-stomping, forced arbitration clauses in contracts of adhesion. Arbitration is often referred to an alternative dispute resolution—meaning an alternative to the litigation of a dispute. …
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Lloyd’s of London

Hurricane Michael policyholders, public adjusters, contractors and agents must check their policies to make certain that there is not a one-year deadline to start arbitration. The above photo is Lloyds at London. Lloyds is a place where surplus lines insurers do business and it is not an insurance company. Many of the Lloyds Underwriters have placed obscure arbitration provisions into their policies which mandate that New York law with a one-year limitation to start the arbitration.…
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“Oh, Boy!” was my first thought after reading a case which holds that those arbitration agreements requiring policyholders to arbitrate in far-away places could not be stopped by state law. Congress should stop this, and state legislators should write laws to ban those insurance carriers who sell such policies.…
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A Florida based insurance agent educator asked me for my thoughts about how arbitration clauses harm policyholders and provide less coverage. He was referencing my earlier post this week, Arbitration Clause Requiring New York Law and New York Arbitration Cited as Avoidance of Florida Lawsuit—Another Instance of Surplus Lines Insurer Abuse in Florida.…
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Insurance Law360 is part of my daily reading and it tipped me off to a case which raises the same problem about arbitration, I noted in Should Insurance Agents Get Sued for Selling Insurance Which Requires Arbitration in a Far Away Location and Deprives Their Customers of Consumer Protection Laws? and Arbitration Is an Increasing Trend Found Within Property Insurance Policies, and Arbitration is Not Appraisal.…
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Why would any insurance agent sell a customer an insurance policy that allows the insurance company to low-ball, delay payment, and otherwise not pay, and then force the insurance customer to obtain justice through an arbitration in a far-away jurisdiction applying foreign law? That is exactly what many commercial policyholders are being sold in Texas and Florida. Insurance agents are supposed to sell insurance that protects policyholders, and these types of policies sold by the surplus lines insurance industry should be banned and not sold. The above image of Timbuktu is appropriate because that is where policyholders could be forced to arbitrate.…
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