The issue of whether Iowa's common law cause of action for bad faith failure to pay workers compensation claims applied to third party claim administrators (TPAs) in the workers comp context was recently addressed by the Iowa Supreme Court by way of certified question...
Year: 2020
IMMUNITY MATTERS
Recently the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals held, predicting the law of Mississippi, that when a driver was immune from suit, UIM coverage was not triggered because the insured would not be "legally entitled" to recover damages from a tortfeasor with no civil...
ARE YOU A VOLUNTEER? THE MISSISSIPPI COURT WEIGHS IN
Recently, the Mississippi Supreme Court adopted a broad interpretation of the "volunteer defense" to claims asserting equitable subrogation and indemnity. The Court in Colony Ins. Co. v. First Specialty Ins. Corp., 262 So.3d 1128 (Miss. 2019) held that when an...
BOTH THE INSURANCE COMPANY AND THE INSURANCE BROKER ARE REQUIRED TO PROVIDE THE MORTGAGEE WITH A STATUTORY CANCELLATION NOTICE OF THE POLICY FOR NONPAYMENT OF PREMIUM IN MISSISSIPPI
In James Allen Ins. Brokers v. First Financial Bank, 267 So.3d 759 (Miss. 2019), the Court held that a mortgagee was entitled to coverage under a binder notwithstanding the insured mortgagor's failure to pay the initial policy premium. In this case, the insurance...
ILLINOIS LAW REQUIRES A TWO-PRONG DETERMINATION IN BAD FAITH FAILURE TO SETTLE CASES
Recently the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals held, interpreting Illinois law, that to establish a bad faith failure to settle case under Illinois law, the claimant must prove both reasonable probability of liability and reasonable probability of damages in excess of the...
IMPORTANT CASE FOR CLAIM ADJUSTER LIABILITY
In Essex Insurance Co. v. William Kramer & Assoc., 331 Conn. 493, 205 A.3d 534 (2019), the Connecticut Supreme Court issued an important decision regarding the statute of limitations for claims brought by insurers against TPAs.Under Connecticut law there is a...
PUNITIVE DAMAGES INCENTIVIZING A SUBSTANDARD DEFENSE?
Recently the Illinois Court of Appeals in Xtreme Protection Services, LLC v. Steadfast Insurance Co., 2019 Ill. App. (1st) 181501 N.E.3d (Ill. App. 3/3/19) found that the insurance company was required to relinquish its control of the insured's defense and to...
IMPORTANT CASE FOR CLAIM ADJUSTER LIABILITY
In Essex Insurance Co. v. William Kramer & Assoc., 331 Conn. 493, 205 A.3d 534 (2019), the Connecticut Supreme Court issued an important decision regarding the statute of limitations for claims brought by insurers against TPAs.Under Connecticut law there is a...
WHERE YOU FILED IS SIGNIFICANT FOR FLOOD INSURANCE RECOVERY
The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in Ekhlassi v. National Lloyds Ins. Co., 926 F.3d 130 (5th Cir. 2019) found that a lawsuit brought against a flood insurer was untimely when it was not filed in federal court within one year. In this case, the 5th Circuit Court of...
COMPUTERIZED MEDICAL BILLING REVIEWS COMES UNDER SCRUTINY IN WASHINGTON
Recently, in Folweiler Chiropractic, PS v. American Family Ins. Co., 2018 WL 5729873 (Wash. App. 2018), the Washington Court of Appeals reinstated a class action lawsuit against American Family where the suit accused American Family of unfairly discounting medical...