How Florida Insurers Make Millions on The Side

By Chip Merlin on Posted in Florida Insurers

Paige St. John wrote a Pulitzer winning series on the corruption of Florida’s insurance industry and propaganda by the insurance company trade associations nearly nine years ago. I was thinking about this and one particular article, How Florida Insurers Make Millions On The Side, when the Security First CEO blamed the furious and upset policyholders for hiring attorneys to help them get their claims paid. I suppose the Security First claims department was counting on policyholders just giving up? Continue Reading

Court Holds Documents Created by Counsel During Claims Handling Were Not Privileged

By Jason Cieri on Posted in Insurance

We’ve all seen it before. The insured files a claim, the insurance company sends out an adjuster to adjust the loss, the loss is more complex, or a situation arises that the adjuster cannot handle so the insurance company forwards the claim to their legal department. At that point, an attorney becomes involved and the adjustment of the claim, as well as the communication between the parties is limited and calculated. Continue Reading

Is Failing to Comply With a Post-Loss Duty an Automatic Bar to Recovery?

By Christina Potter on Posted in Court Opinion, Florida, Insurance

In Florida, if an insured fails to meet a post-loss obligation, is it a complete bar to recovery? In a recent decision, the Third District Court of Appeal certified a conflict with the Fourth District Court of Appeal and held that an insurer must be prejudiced by the insured’s non-compliance with a post-loss obligation in order for the insured to forfeit coverage. Continue Reading

Insurance Companies Should Be Accountable For Not Including Legally Required Costs Of Safe Construction

By Chip Merlin on Posted in Insurance

Safety is first. But that is not the course of affairs when dealing with insurance company adjusters who usually say that they will not include the costs of legally required safe construction practices because their managers will not allow those costs. Continue Reading

Are My Children and Their Spouses Required to Submit to an Examination Under Oath for My Property Damage Claim?

By Paul LaSalle on Posted in Insurance

In a recent case, a federal appeals court held that named insureds’ son and daughter-in-law were required to submit to an examination under oath (“EUO”) because they resided in the insureds’ house, and that their failure to do so precluded recovery on the insurance claim.1 Continue Reading

The (Usually) Not-So-Difficult Question: Should a Policyholder Ask To Recuse a Federal Judge?

By Ian Dankelman on Posted in Insurance

To avoid the appearance of impropriety, the federal judiciary ensures that every case is assigned to impartial judicial officers. Absent a unique circumstance,1 all cases are assigned to a judge based on a random-draw system. Thus, there is usually no way for litigants to know which judge will preside over the action. Most districts also require the parties to file corporate disclosure forms and certify that the parties are aware of no judicial conflicts. Judges often proactively screen themselves from certain cases where parties are represented by former colleagues or law clerks. Continue Reading

What Is the California FAIR Plan?

By Daniel Veroff on Posted in Insurance

Californians have many questions after being non-renewed by their insurance companies and unable to find another company that will insure their properties. The losses from recent wildfires have caused carriers to scale back, and some have completely ceased writing insurance in several California regions.

The California FAIR Plan remains the only option for many of these Californians. So, what is the FAIR Plan? Continue Reading

Hurricane Michael One Year Later and Keeping The Devastation in The Minds of Our Leaders

By Chip Merlin on Posted in Insurance

Hurricane Michael devastation and the similarity to other devastated areas is shockingly apparent to me. I lived in Panama City, Florida, and raced sailboats out of the St. Andrews Bay Yacht Club. Today, we represent the yacht club, longtime friends, iconic night clubs, a church, and numerous others as they try to get their lives, businesses, and community back on a road of recovery. Why can’t our leaders learn to do this better? Continue Reading

Former Republican Florida House Speaker Says Insurance Companies Beat Down Policyholders

By Chip Merlin on Posted in Consumer Protection, Insurance

Allan Bense

Hurricane Michael policyholders who are battling their insurance companies have a somewhat surprising ally in former Speaker of the Florida House Allan Bense who was quoted in a Miami Herald article, Insurance Companies ‘Terribly Unhelpful’ With Hurricane Recovery, Former Lawmaker Says. Continue Reading

Insurance Gaps Are Killing Policyholders, Your Business and Your Ability to Restore Damaged Property—Sign Up For This Friday’s Insurance Gaps Seminar

By Chip Merlin on Posted in Consumer Protection

This Friday, October 11 at 12:30 p.m. EST, Holly Soffer, who is the general counsel of the American Association of Public Insurance Adjusters (AAPIA), and I will co-host a free live webinar on the subject of coverage gaps and what can be done to stop this problem. Rutgers insurance law professor Jay Feinman, author of, Delay, Deny, Defend – Why Insurance Companies Don’t Pay Claims And What You Can Do About It, will have a guest video appearance on the topic. Continue Reading

LexBlog