In Jody James Farms, J.V. v. Altman Group, Inc., 547 S.W.3d 624 (Tex. 2018), the insurance agent failed to timely submit a hail and rain claim on behalf of the insured to the insurance company. The agent was then sued by the policyholder, alleging breach of fiduciary...
Year: 2018
Binding the Insurer to Relevant Facts Through a Consent Settlement
Recently the Missouri Supreme Court in Allen v. Bryers, 512 S.W.3d 17 (Mo. 2016), as modified (Apr. 4, 2017), reh'g denied (Apr. 4, 2017), cert. denied sub nom. Atain Specialty Ins. Co. v. Allen, 138 S. Ct. 212, 199 L. Ed. 2d 118 (2017) held that an insurance...
Settling into Bad Faith
Under Florida Insurance Code §624.155, in order to bring a bad faith action there must be a favorable determination of liability against the insurer as a prerequisite to maintaining a bad faith action. In Barton v. Capitol Preferred Ins. Co., Inc., 208 So. 3d 239...
Failure to Read Insurance Policy Not Required in Deceptive Business Practice Action Against Agent
Generally, insureds are required to read their insurance policies in Texas. However, where the nature of the lawsuit brought against the agent or broker involves affirmative misrepresentations under Texas' Deceptive Business Practices statute, the insured's failure to...
Can Issuing a Supplemental ROR Letter Cure the Insurer’s Failure to Seek Reimbursement in the Original ROR Letter?
In James River Insurance Co. v. Medolac Laboratories, 290 F.Supp.3d 956 (C.D. Cal. 2018) the court held that a liability insurance company's failure to seek reimbursement of defense costs in an initial reservation of rights letter did not preclude the insurance...
Actual Cash Value Does Not Permit Depreciation of Labor Costs in Mississippi
The Federal District Court in Mississippi held in Titan Exterior, Inc. v. Certain Underwriters at Lloyd, London, 2018 WL 1057139, _____ F.Supp.3d _____ (No. Dist. Miss. February 26, 2018) that the concept of ACV did not allow for depreciation of labor costs. In this...
Florida Requires UIM Coverage Limits to Mirror the Policy’s Liability Coverage
In Amica Mutual Insurance Co. v. Willis, 235 So.3d 1041 (Fl. App. 2d Dist. 2018) the Florida Court of Appeals held that the scope of UIM coverage must mirror the policy's liability coverage. In so finding, the Court of Appeals struck down a golf cart exclusion in the...
Oregon Court Finds That Insurer Bad Faith Is Not Elder Abuse
The Oregon Supreme Court, answering a certified question by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, held that bad faith delay or denial of payment of an insurance claim did not state a claim under Oregon's Financial Elder Abuse Statute. In Bates v. Bankers Life and Casualty...
Breach of Contract Exclusion Trumps Advertising and Personal Injury Coverage According to a California Court
In James River Insurance Co. v. Medolac Laboratories, 290 F.Supp.3d 956 (C.D. Cal. 2018) the court held that a CGL policy's breach of contract exclusion precluded personal and advertising injury coverage in a situation where the insured promised not to commit any...
Refining Florida’s Bad Faith Law
In order to bring a bad faith claim in Florida, the following three elements need to be established: (1) the insurer's liability for coverage needs to be determined; (2) the extent of the insured's damages needs to be determined; and (3) it must be established that...