Drones and new technology can help show damage easier, far less costly, and much safer. But are drone investigations accurate? Will they miss damages otherwise owed with a full investigation to determine roof damage?… Continue Reading
This week in my series on calculating actual cash value, we will look at the Green Mountain State, Vermont. It is the second smallest by population and the sixth smallest by area of the fifty states.1… Continue Reading
Residents of the U.S. Virgin Islands affected by hurricanes Irma and Maria now have through January 8, 2018, to register with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).1 Registration is required if survivors intend to apply for federal disaster benefits, such as low-interest Small Business Administration disaster loans and/or FEMA grants for rental assistance, home repairs, … Continue Reading
The Mississippi Department of Insurance just issued a bulletin regarding the depreciation of labor from Actual Cash Value. This is similar to Arkansas which Shane Smith reported in Arkansas Insurance Department Bulletin on Depreciation of Labor.… Continue Reading
Following another reader’s request, this week’s installment of my blog series on Assignment of Benefits (“AOB”) we are exploring the applicability and validity of AOBs in Virginia.… Continue Reading
While most of our readers are familiar with Business Income loss claims as a result of a natural event such as fire or hurricane, what protects a business when forced to cease operations or can’t get the supplies needed to manufacture goods because of a political event?… Continue Reading
Homeowner property insurance policies usually cover the dwelling located at the “residence premises,” which is typically defined as the one, two, three, or four-family dwelling used principally as a private residence and where the insured resides. What happens if the insured is not residing in the dwelling at the time of a fire loss? Is … Continue Reading
In Nebraska, the test for calculating actual cash value is Fair Market Value. In Olson v. Le Mars Mutual Insurance Company of Iowa,1 when both the insurer and insured advocated use of the broad evidence rule, the Nebraska Supreme Court held that the test was Fair Market Value.… Continue Reading
Last week I wrote a post: That Check from Your Insurer Might Just be the Insurance Company’s First Offer. I was unnerved at the language I heard at the Roundtable meeting about the insurance company’s sending over “first offers” and not hearing any rebuttal from their insured regarding the Matthew claims. I am most upset … Continue Reading
The Windstorm Insurance Conference in Orlando will feature a debate re-match between yours truly representing the policyholder view and Steve Badger who represents insurance companies. Many of my policyholder friends often ask how I can have such a good professional relationship with Badger whom they view as somebody akin to Darth Vader. I am certain some … Continue Reading
The First Party Claims Conference (FPCC) will be hosting its annual meeting in Warwick, Rhode Island from October 19-21, 2015. For those who are unfamiliar, “FPCC is a nationally recognized provider of education specifically designed for adjusters, public adjusters, attorneys and others in the first party property insurance claims community.” They are also closely associated … Continue Reading
I’d like to take this opportunity to tell you about a great symposium being put on by students at Texas Weslayan School of Law in Fort Worth, Texas.… Continue Reading
Austin, Texas Federal Judge Sam Sparks recently issued a novel Order in response to a fairly routine discovery dispute: Greetings and Salutations! You are invited to a kindergarten party on THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1,2011, at 10:00 a.m. in Courtroom 2 of the United States Courthouse, 200 W. Eighth Street, Austin, Texas. The party will feature many … Continue Reading
The Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Lenny Kravitz, Mos Def, Trombone Shorty, and Tim Robbins recorded a version of The New Orleans Mardi Gras classic, It Ain’t My Fault, by Joseph Smokey Johnson and Wardell Joseph Quezergue, updating some of the lyrics for the Gulf Aid concert:… Continue Reading
The hosting site for this blog is experiencing problems caused by a massive amount of comment spam generated by ‘spambots’ automatically posting random junk comments to their network. The hosting site has temporarily disabled comments on the blog while fixing the issue. They have also had to temporarily disable the email notifications that are sent out … Continue Reading
It is hard to imagine that I have insurance defense counsel friends going to a fundraiser for Alex Sink at an insurance company and then coming to my home next Monday for a fundraising reception we are hosting for her. Alex Sink has respect from many or she would not have that type of divergent support … Continue Reading
I appreciate the kind comments and suggestions many readers express regarding the educational nature of this Blog. Our new law firm website also has many reference materials and some funny news videos of yours truly trying to comment on a variety of legal issues. If you have any comments or suggestions regarding our new website, … Continue Reading
A paralegal at the Port of New Orleans gave me a photograph from the September 22, 2008, Times-Picayune. She entitled the photo, "State Farm Dreams." I share it with you below.… Continue Reading
My collegues and I coined a new term in 2004, following Hurricane Ivan. We became co-counsel with the prominent Pensacola firm of Levin, Papatonio, Thomas, Echner & Proctor. They brought a brilliant attorney, Bobby Loehr, out of semi-retirement to work with me on their insurance claim litigation. We referred to hurricane cases where nothing was … Continue Reading
After a long day of work, I called a client at 11:38 on Saturday night to confirm the resolution of a long and hard-fought lawsuit. An attorney in our Houston office and my paralegal immediately emailed, thanking me that they could stop working around the clock to prepare the case for trial. My work day … Continue Reading
Tropical Storm Arthur starts off the 2008 hurricane season with some early inning excitement. In my line of work, I am always asked during the summer months how many hurricanes there will be and where they will hit. The newspapers are full of stories from meteorologic prognosticators regarding these events. I simply reply it is … Continue Reading
June 1st starts another hurricane season. USA Today quoted the Climate Prediction Center as saying, "there’s no reason to think that break [from hurricanes over the past two years] will continue." In short, they think the probabilities are good (or bad, if you think about it) that a few times this year somebody, somewhere, is … Continue Reading
It’s about time. For a decade, Allstate has refused to comply with discovery and court rules regarding its internal documents which demonstrate who, how and why Allstate redesigned everything in its claims program to simply pay less on claims. The Florida First District Court of Appeal issued an opinion which condemns many of the tactics … Continue Reading
That’s the annual revenue of United Casualty parent, Unitrin, a company with a branded glass tower at One Wacker Drive in Chicago. To put things in perspective, even if United Casualty had paid policy limits to our clients for damages caused to their homes by Hurricane Charley, it would have probably still been shy of … Continue Reading
