A Texas law firm that practices insurance defense work admits that claims delay is a strategy employed by some of its clients. In an article that was sent to me by numerous people, the law firm posted on its website blog:
Continue Reading Insurance Company Defense Counsel Admits That Claim Delay By Insurers Is a Strategy
The National Association of Public Insurance Adjusters (NAPIA) is hosting its annual meeting in Galveston, Texas. The claims handling tips make the event an excellent learning experience.
Continue Reading What To Do If You Cannot Get Your Property Insurance Adjuster to Return Calls
Insurance companies do not advertise how they deny customer claims or treat their customers when a dispute arises. Who wants to purchase insurance knowing that their insurance company treats them like the enemy? I am sure that State Farm hated to read about Discrimination Concerns at State Farm. Church Mutual probably does not like to brag about beating one of their Church customers in court, as I mentioned in Actual Cash Value Estimates Need To Be Made In Florida—How A Church Lost To Church Mutual.
Continue Reading Insurance Claims Ethics, Fairness, and Where the Rubber Meets the Road—Are All Insurance Companies Claims Culture the Same Throughout the United States?
State Farm Insurance Company is 100 years old. It is the largest property and casualty insurance and largest automobile insurance provider in the United States. State Farm has a huge presence in the insurance marketplace. A recent New York Times article, Where State Farm Sees ‘a Lot of Fraud,’ Black Customers See Discrimination-The giant insurer is facing lawsuits from customers, agents and former employees accusing it of racial discrimination,1 caught my attention. The article stated in part:
Continue Reading Discrimination Concerns at State Farm
The law firm that defended Scottsdale Insurance Company in the bad faith verdict I wrote about in Hurricane Laura Bad Faith Verdict Against Scottsdale Insurance, has a blog that noted the rules for payment of replacement cost value and actual cash value. This seemed to be a major theme throughout the lawsuit since Scottsdale claimed it was properly paying actual cash value payments in a timely manner.
Continue Reading Louisiana Insurance Company Law Firm Posts About Replacement Cost Value and Actual Cash Value
The Colorado Division of Insurance has regulators that are standing up for consumers to encourage full and prompt payment of losses. The Division issued a comprehensive news release yesterday which delves into the problems policyholders are facing following wildfires that have destroyed many homes and businesses over the past two years. Many recurrent problems complained of by our Colorado wildfire clients are addressed in the news release which we are copying in full as part of this post:
Continue Reading Colorado Wildfire Claims Problems? Colorado Division of Insurance Is Congratulated for Getting to the Most Commons Wildfire Claims Concerns
Bill Wilson’s recent post, Illusory Coverage: A Legal or an Ethical Issue? noted that March is Ethics Awareness Month for the insurance industry. In a prior post from two years ago, March is Ethics Awareness Month in the Insurance Industry, Bill Wilson raised the following three issues:
Continue Reading March is Ethics Awareness Month for the Insurance Industry
Contents claims are often overlooked. Some insurance companies, like FedNat, fail to adjust contents claims and only estimate and adjust real property insurance claims until their customer does the good faith work of investigation and evaluation for them.
Continue Reading Contents Claims Are Important and FedNat Does Not Adjust Contents Claims
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)