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Like me, you’ve probably seen Nationwide Insurance’s widely aired commercial touting their service, "Brand New Belongings." The eye-catching ads feature a sleek Cat-Women-like heroine coming to the rescue in every homeowner’s worst nightmare situations, stealthily following behind home-invading thieves to replace the items they steal, or swinging into a fire-damaged apartment to switch out smoke-damaged valuable with shiny, new ones. The narrator explains these entertaining scenarios illustrate Nationwide’s "Brand New Belongings" program, in which they "replace destroyed or stolen items with brand new versions," not just paying you their partial value.…

Continue Reading Nationwide’s “Brand New Belongings”- Cool Commercial, But What Does It Cover?

This is a quote from a recent trial court order in a New York state case where Nationwide asked the judge to decide in its favor without submitting the case to the jury. Congregation Chesed L’Avraham d/b/a V’Kollel Ohel Moshe Society v. Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co., No. 19954/09 (N.Y.S. Sup.Ct. Kings County 2011). Since the practice of law is an art, there is not a bright line rule as to when the facts of a case support an insurance company’s motion for summary judgment. Some insurers file them regularly to see if they can get a favorable ruling without the need for a jury trial.
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Continue Reading “Credibility Determinations, The Weighing Of The Evidence, And The Drawing Of Legitimate Inferences From The Facts Are Jury Functions, Not Those Of A Judge…On A Motion For Summary Judgment”

The following coverage case note summarizes a decision rendered last week in Florida. Even for a practitioner constantly involved with insurance coverage disputes, it is hard to follow the entire logic of the Court’s reasoning. I doubt those outside the law will find the decision very helpful, unless they want to become brained tired and desire sleep.

What is apparent to one reading all risk policies for nearly three decades is the ever changing language drafted by insurers which increasingly limits coverage through broadening exclusionary language. Early all risk policies would have covered most of Ms. Liebel’s damage. As indicated here, only part of the damage is covered.…

Continue Reading Can Policyholders Really Have Peace of Mind When Their Insurers Write So Many Exclusions into an All-Risk Insurance Policy? A Case Note Study

The exodus of the larger national multiline carriers along coastal areas continues. Nationwide has reportedly filed a plan to non-renew 60,000 property insurance policies in Florida starting next July. Unlike State Farm, however, Nationwide Insurance Company has made arrangements with Tower Hill Insurance Group out of Gainesville, Florida, to accept all 60,000 policies.…

Continue Reading Nationwide Continues its Removal From Florida Property Insurance Marketplace

Some insurance policies have small print that can provide significant business income benefits under "dependent properties" that usually go unnoticed following a widespread catastrophe. I would encourage Nationwide and Nationwide agents to write, advertise and call their Hurricane Ike and other commercial policyholder customers about these valuable benefits because it is obvious to me that their adjusters have no clue about what this benefit means and are ignorant to advise their own policyholders about it.…

Continue Reading Nationwide Insurance Commercial Customers Should Check Their Policies for Dependent Property Lost Income Coverage

I was thinking about the question of property insurance trade associations and lobbying while reading today’s St. Petersburg Times article, At what Cost Care? The article was a question and answer discussion with Wendell Potter, who was a public relations executive for two major health insurers. Potter has given an inside view into the political and social power of the health insurance industry in a manner most Americans probably deplore. I wonder if property insurers are different? I doubt it.…

Continue Reading Is Property Insurance Propaganda and its Impact on Public Policy Similar to What the Health Insurance Industry Does?

Coastal Mississippi policyholders are well served by the daily and in depth reporting by Slabbed. Writing daily for this blog is time consuming; posting two to five in-depth discussions each day must border on a full time job. Lately, Slabbed’s posts have highlighted two important issues regarding insurance coverage and insurance coverage litigation in Mississippi. One, if insurance companies want to pay nothing under the all-risk policy because of the anti-concurrent causation clause, a new form policy is needed–even if the government has to sponsor it. Two, the insurance industry is winning the lawsuits in Southern Mississippi because they are winning the discovery battle over key information.…

Continue Reading Slabbed Keeps Pounding on Policy Coverage Problems and the Litigation Discovery Policy in Southern Mississippi

Why are major insurance companies selling insurance with "feel good" messages rather than explaining how many different types of accidents and catastrophes they will not cover? If they were honest, wouldn’t they explain to customers what is not covered before the purchase? Sandy Burnette wrote a comment to "Is the State Farm Policy Really Worth Anything?" As I indicated in yesterday’s "Some Public Adjuster and Insurance Attorney Concerns and My Blogging Mistakes," he made a valid criticism which I corrected and appreciate him calling to my attention.…

Continue Reading The Dirty Secret of Exclusions Some Major Insurance Companies Like State Farm, Allstate, Nationwide and even USAA, Do Not Want You to Think About

What is the value of insurance if it does not pay for insured losses? Imagine if you had a significant accidental water damage to your home or business, do you know whether your insurance company has your back? Will it really be there to help you? Don’t count on it. Today, modern insurance companies are re-writing their insurance policies to limit what is covered and excluding many losses that used to be covered under all-risk policies. State Farm, as an insurance industry leader, is leading the charge of making an insurance product that no consumer should trust as providing the amount of coverage the insurance product afforded 25 years ago. It is always important to remember that Policyholders Buy Insurance for Peace of Mind and Not Economic Advantage and that concept is being defeated as carriers try to gain economic advantage by changing small print in the policy that may have significant consequences discovered by the policyholder only after disaster happens. To be Fair And Balanced with State Farm, I could have substituted Allstate, Nationwide and USAA into the title.
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Continue Reading Is the State Farm Policy Really Worth Anything?