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A recent topic of this blog has been the made-up insurance fraud statistics by the insurance industry, which has been discussed in Is the Insurance Industry’s Fraud Statistic Fraudulent? and Insurance Professor Jay Feinman Comments About Insurance Fraud Statistics. I have always wondered why we encounter such few allegations of policyholder fraud from insurers such as Amica, Chubb, and Lexington Preferred who charge higher premiums and compete on service rather than price. These companies do not nitpick their customers to death, and the focus is on fully paying the loss right away.
Continue Reading Does Nitpicking On Claims Have An Adverse Effect on Policyholder Morals?

How often do insurance companies shop for a new opinion looking for a way to deny coverage of a large loss? This was the situation in a recent trial which resulted in the insurer being liable for $44 million. The facts summarizing the “shopping” for a new expert opinion regarding a boiler and machinery loss were outlined by the court:…
Continue Reading A $44 Million Verdict After Wrongful Denial of a Boiler and Machinery Claim—Yet No Bad Faith?

If you have not been to the Jersey Shore in the summer, you have missed out. My mother grew up in Philadelphia and always talked about going to the New Jersey beaches in the summertime. Following Superstorm Sandy in 2012, I lived and worked in New Jersey and greater New York City.
Continue Reading Catching Up On Summer 2022 Along The Jersey Shore, Ohio Limitations on Punitive Damages In Bad Faith Cases and Colorado Appraisals

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