Read the full policy after the loss—RTFP. When doing so, it is also important to check for the manner in which disputes are to be resolved and the applicable rules, including the time frames to invoke them. This is especially true with foreign insurers where an arbitration provision will apply.
Continue Reading Check For Arbitration Provisions—Especially When Dealing With Foreign Insurers
When it comes to determining actual cash value and whether labor can be depreciated in Kentucky, do what insurance education Bill Wilson teaches and RTFP—Read the Full Policy. While a favorable Kentucky federal opinion ruled that depreciation could not be depreciated, it did so on the basis of ambiguity in the policy.1 It left open the question of whether the Kentucky Department of Insurance would allow insurers to have their policies.
Continue Reading Depreciation of Labor in Kentucky—Read the Policy!
What exactly is a fire alarm? What is required to satisfy the requirements of a fire alarm as a protective safeguard? A recent case decision finding that a motion detector that acted very much like a fire alarm still may not technically satisfy the policy and application requirement of an automatic central fire alarm.1
Continue Reading A Warning About Protective Safeguards—Motion Detectors That Report Fires May Not Satisfy Fire Alarm Requirements
United Policyholders is the one organization that policyholders can count on to stand up and comment on what insurance companies are trying to push through departments of insurance. United Policyholders Sandy Watts and I will be presenting today about insurance gaps created in new language found in insurance policies. One policy form we will be talking about is the one State Farm is pushing for approval in the California Department of Insurance.
Continue Reading State Farm New Policy Filing In California Should Be Concerning To All In the Property Insurance Industry—An Example Is the New Appraisal Language
A recent Louisiana case1 demonstrates the difficulty of interpreting deductibles when sub-limits of a peril apply. The case is significant because many high limit commercial policies have similar deductible clauses, which courts have found ambiguous and afforded the policyholder a much greater recovery.
Continue Reading Deductibles Can Be Confusing and Ambiguous
In 2016, State Farm came out with a new appraisal provision for its homeowner insurance policy.1 This new provision makes the appraisal process extremely burdensome for policyholders. While I have always felt the new provision violates the Standard Fire Policy, a Michigan federal district court recently reached the same conclusion.
Continue Reading State Farm’s Appraisal Provision Violates the Standard Fire Policy
A 1989 Arkansas Insurance Bulletin indicates that arbitration and appraisal clauses are not to be placed into insurance policies. This bulletin is still listed on the Arkansas Department of Insurance website and states:
Continue Reading Is Appraisal Illegal in Arkansas?
Don Malecki was an insurance coverage guru. He wrote many treatises regarding insurance coverage. He was respected and a much sought-after insurance coverage expert. Malecki wrote an article in an insurance agent publication, Rough Notes, entitled, Troubled Terminology: “Risks of Direct Physical Loss” Wording Is Currently Read Broadly By Courts.1 He noted that most policyholders do not understand the basic meaning of “risks of direct physical loss”:
Continue Reading The Troubled Understanding of “Risks of Direct Physical Loss”
History is important. Insurance history gives context and meaning to the thoughts and views of what should be and why things should be the way they were and are. Those historic views have been ever increasingly challenged in social media and very dynamic processes throughout the United States in the past few years. I want to know what people were thinking and what their intent was regarding insurance policy forms. Insurance history and policyholder advocacy is my life.
Continue Reading The History of the Business Interruption Policy In the United States
In part one of this series, located here, I discussed the inherent contradiction that arises when insurers deny claims citing conflicting policy provisions. This follow-up is aimed at reviewing how Florida courts have dealt with this persistent issue.
Continue Reading Denying Claims Based Off Conflicting Policy Provisions Violates Florida Law: Part II