The reasonable expectations doctrine could be outcome determinative in coverage disputes in the Tar Heel State. Two doctrines courts often consider when analyzing policy interpretation are the doctrines of (1) contra proferentem and (2) the insured’s “reasonable expectations.” North Carolina state courts embrace the doctrine of contra proferentem while its adoption of the reasonable expectations … Continue Reading
North Carolina was battered by Hurricane Florence last year and reports show very concerning issues of claims handling and low claim payments after the storm. Perhaps Hurricane Michael losses pulled adjusters out of North Carolina and for some insureds caused additional delays to their claims. North Carolina does have an option where you can advise … Continue Reading
The North Carolina Insurance Commissioner, Mike Causey, gets an A+ grade for his recent bulletin requiring greater investigation of otherwise hidden areas behind walls to ensure losses are being adjusted properly. This bulletin will certainly help victims of Hurricane Florence with hurricane claims.… Continue Reading
The widespread devastation of Hurricane Florence brought to a recent discussion the question of whether assignment of benefits contracts for property insurance proceeds are enforceable in North Carolina. This is a great question. In a general setting, vendors, services providers and contractors begin their work with a down payment and receive additional payments as work … Continue Reading
Florence battered the Carolina Coast with 90mph winds when it made landfall near Wilmington, North Carolina on September 14, 2018. Florence downgraded to a tropical storm Friday evening and is now crawling across South Carolina at a drastically slow rate of approximately 5mph. The Carolinas are now facing the devastating effects of catastrophic storm surge, … Continue Reading
North Carolina received another “F” from R Streets Institute’s 2018 Insurance Regulation Report Card. North Carolina finished 49th, with only Delaware getting a lower score. Louisiana and Massachusetts also received an “F”.… Continue Reading
Hurricane Florence insurance claims are the headache that starts after Florence damages your business or home. There is nothing easy about having your property destroyed—either emotionally or financially. It is going to hurt. I and a number of Merlin Law Group lawyers have been doing this work full time for as long as anybody in … Continue Reading
At this point, it seems that Hurricane Florence will strike and cause damage to buildings and homes beginning on Thursday, September 13, 2018. While hurricanes seem to always have an ingredient of unpredictability, the experts at the National Hurricane Center are warning of extreme winds, intense rain and storm surge.… Continue Reading
Merlin Law Group phones and my cell phone have been constantly ringing with public adjusters questioning us about North Carolina and South Carolina Insurance claims law. Hurricane Florence is bearing down on those states as I write this post. God bless everybody in the path of this monstrous storm.… Continue Reading
The Carolinas are bracing for the impacts of Hurricane Florence – currently a Category 4 hurricane at time of publication. Unlike many storms when the hurricane track is hotly debated, and landfall is anyone’s guess, the tracking models seem to be in agreement: … Continue Reading
The requests from our readers keep coming and in and this week we are taking a look at Assignment of Benefits (“AOBs”) in North Carolina.… Continue Reading
Riggings Homeowners, Inc. (“Riggings”), has filed suit against Hartford Insurance Company of the Midwest (“Hartford”) for damages sustained to Building 1 of the condominium association during Hurricane Joaquin. In a 10-count complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina,1 Riggings alleges that Hartford “has a pattern and practice of … Continue Reading
Next up in our whirlwind 50-state tour of claims handling requirements is the Tar Heel State. Unlike our previous stops in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, North Carolina has relatively few explicit claims handling requirements. This may be why North Carolina ranked dead last in a 50-state ranking of insurance regulations as pointed out by my … Continue Reading
In the wake of Hurricane Matthews, President Obama declared a “major disaster” for North Carolina. As such, on October 10, 2016, FEMA announced that federal disaster assistance is available to residents of the State of North Carolina to supplement recovery efforts in the areas affected by Hurricane Matthew. Specifically, funding will be available to affected … Continue Reading
All too often, policyholders contact us when their residential or commercial carriers send a notice that they will no longer provide insurance coverage. It is critically important that all insureds understand the major difference between an insurance company canceling a current policy and a notice of non-renewal. Every policyholder should carefully study any written notifications … Continue Reading
Insurance companies asking to increase property insurance rates by an average of 25% has been called excessive and unfairly discriminatory by the North Carolina Commissioners Office, but how will Commissioner Wayne Goodwin respond?… Continue Reading
In my previous post regarding insurance broker negligence in North Carolina, I reached the conclusion that North Carolina can be considered an “order taker” state, whereby the insurance agent simply purchases what the client asks for and is under no duty to advise further. The courts have stated this “duty does not, however, obligate the … Continue Reading
Miami’s National Hurricane Center reported that Hurricane Arthur’s eye came ashore at about 11:15 p.m. ET over the Shackleford Banks, between Cape Lookout and Beaufort, North Carolina, the point of landfall was near 34.6 N, 76.6 W. Arthur brought 1-minute maximum sustained winds to the region of around 157 km/h (97 mph). Wind gusts in … Continue Reading
As the 2014 Atlantic hurricane season has begun with the first tropical storm officially named Arthur, Nicole Vinson reminds policyholders to verify their insurance coverage. Arthur is moving in a northwest direction up the Atlantic coast with a position for landfall on the coast of North Carolina. Nicole Vinson is a licensed attorney in both … Continue Reading
I previously wrote a series of blogs concerning broker negligence in New Jersey. I thought I would extend that series now into North Carolina. Under North Carolina law, “[n]egligence is the failure to exercise proper care in the performance of a legal duty which the defendant owed the plaintiff under the circumstances surrounding them.”1 North … Continue Reading
My colleague, Nicole Vinson, is licensed to practice law in the state of North Carolina and is a strong advocate for policyholders. Naturally, when I’m retained by a policyholder in North Carolina, I immediately ask Nicole to co-counsel the case.… Continue Reading
In North Carolina, does a private meeting with one appraiser constitute fraud? It is not uncommon for an insurance policy to have an appraisal provision. Keep in mind, the wording differs from policy to policy and the actual guidelines of an appraisal will be dictated by the appraisal provision with a policy, but, historically, an … Continue Reading
A policyholder who is asked to submit to an examination under oath (EUO) usually does not know exactly what an examination under oath entails. The lack of rules that govern examinations under oath, coupled with an insured’s unfamiliarity with the process, allows insurance lawyers to turn an information gathering session into a heated interrogation. This … Continue Reading
In North Carolina, when an insurance carrier alleges that a policy should be voided because of an application misrepresentation, the allegation is that an insured made a representation that is false and material, and the policy may be voided even if the statement was not fraudulent.1… Continue Reading
