The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals recently held in Wilkerson v. American Family Insurance Co., 997 F.3d 666 (6th Cir. 2021) that ACV meant market value in a standard automobile policy and that market value did not include the taxes and fees that the insured needed to...
Insurance Law
MISSISSIPPI SUPREME COURT FINDS THAT HOMEOWNER POLICY’S MOTOR VEHICLE EXCLUSION APPLIED TO A CLAIM OF DELAY AND RENDERING AID TO AN ACCIDENT VICTIM AFTER A MOTOR VEHICLE ACCIDENT OCCURRED
In Champ v. Mississippi Farm Bureau Casualty Insurance Company, 2021 WL 790679 (Miss. March 2, 2021), a pedestrian was struck by a vehicle. The driver of the vehicle stated that she did not know that her vehicle hit something until she reported the incident to her...
NORTH DAKOTA SUPREME COURT RULES THAT REGULAR USE EXCLUSION IN EMPLOYER’S AUTOMOBILE POLICY WAS NOT ENFORCEABLE
In Pioneer State Mutual Insurance Company v. Bear Creek Gravel, Inc., 956 N.W.2d 377 (2021), the North Dakota Supreme Court affirmed a trial court ruling finding that a regular use exclusion set forth in an employer’s policy did not impose restrictions on an...
LOUISIANA COURT FINDS UM REGULAR USE EXCLUSION VIOLATED LOUISIANA LAW
In Higgins v. Louisiana Farm Bureau Casualty Insurance Company, 315 So.3d 838 (2021), the claimant was injured in a motor vehicle accident while operating a truck owned by his employer. The tortfeasor was underinsured. The employer’s policy did not have underinsured...
NORTH DAKOTA SUPREME COURT WEIGHS IN ON REGULAR USE EXCLUSIONS IN COMMERCIAL POLICY
Recently, the North Dakota Supreme Court held that an employee’s use of a company owned vehicle did not constitute regular use within the purview of a regular use exclusion. In Pioneer State Mutual Insurance Co. v. Bear Creek Gravel, Inc., 2021 WL 1114155 (N.D. March...
FAILING TO RENDER AID AT AN ACCIDENT NOT COVERED
The Mississippi Supreme Court recently affirmed a trial court ruling that a policy motor vehicle exclusion barred coverage for a claim of delay in rendering aid after an accident, In Champ v. Mississippi Farm Bureau Casualty Insurance Co., 2021 WL 790679 (Miss. March...
POLICY BUYBACK LIMITATIONS
Insurance companies may negotiate with their policyholder a settlement of a coverage dispute through a coverage buyback agreement. In this situation, after a potentially noncovered loss has taken place, a settlement of the coverage dispute is negotiated whereby the...
Covering the Disgorgement of Legal Fees Reprinted from Claims Journal, January 27, 2016
Typical legal malpractice policies do not provide coverage for the disgorgement of attorney’s fees that were received by the insured attorney during the representation that gives rise to the malpractice claim. However, recently the United States District Court in...
A ROADMAP FOR THE NAIC’S UNFAIR CLAIMS SETTLEMENT PRACTICES ACT
As a part of its effort to insure enactment of uniform insurance laws, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) drafted the Unfair Claims Settlement Practices Act which required specific insurance adjuster conduct and claims handling. The Model Act,...
DETERMINING THE NUMBER OF OCCURRENCES FROM CARBON MONIXIDE POISONING By Steven Plitt (Reprinted from Claims Journal, March 13, 2014)
Does a carbon monoxide leak in a duplex apartment building constitute a single occurrence or multiple occurrences for purposes of liability insurance? This question was recently answered by the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeal in Kosnoski v. Rogers, 2014 WL...
