Ending a putative class action, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit examined policy language and two statutes to hold that an insurer does not owe sales tax on top of an actual cash value payment. The...more
A roofing contractor called Stonewater Roofing, Ltd. (Stonewater) challenged a Texas statute regulating public adjusters' conduct on the basis that the statute violates free speech and due process rights under the First and...more
6/12/2024
/ Contractors ,
False Advertising ,
First Amendment ,
Fourteenth Amendment ,
Insurance Claims ,
Insurance Code ,
Insurance Industry ,
Insurance Litigation ,
Property Damage ,
Public Adjusters ,
TX Supreme Court
In Rodriguez v. Safeco Ins. Co. of Ind. the Texas Supreme Court addressed a key issue concerning appraisal that was dividing lower Texas state courts and Texas federal district courts. The United States Court of Appeal for...more
COVID-19 business interruption claimants have had few state appellate court decisions upon which to rely. Louisiana produced one such decision in Cajun Conti, LLC v. Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s, 2022 La. App. LEXIS 939...more
There is a clear nationwide trend of federal courts disposing of COVID-19 business interruption suits. Insureds are not clearing their initial burden to establish direct physical loss or damage to property, or they are...more
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has joined seven other Circuits in finding no coverage for COVID-19 business interruption claims. In Terry Black’s Barbecue, L.L.C. v. State Auto. Mut. Ins. Co., 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 287...more
At least five Circuit Courts of Appeal have now come out in favor of insurers in COVID-19 business interruption lawsuits. The latest is the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Sandy Point Dental, P.C. v. Cincinnati Ins. Co.,...more
12/21/2021
/ Business Interruption ,
Business Losses ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
IL Supreme Court ,
Insurance Claims ,
Insurance Industry ,
Insurance Litigation ,
Policy Exclusions ,
Property Damage ,
Property Insurance
Policyholders attorneys often try to skip the threshold steps of bringing their client’s claim within coverage and allocating between covered and non-covered causes of loss. Instead, the policyholder attorney would have the...more
Texas policyholders can no longer cut deals with storm repair contractors to pocket their deductibles for storm repairs. The Texas Legislature has amended the Texas Insurance Code and Texas Business & Commerce Code,...more
10/23/2019
/ Construction Project ,
Contract Waiver ,
Contractors ,
Deductibles ,
Goods or Services ,
Insurance Claims ,
Insurance Code ,
Insurance Regulations ,
Policy Terms ,
Property Damage ,
Property Insurance ,
Repairs ,
Severe Weather
Judge Nancy Atlas of the Southern District of Texas cut through competing arguments to resolve a high-profile dispute involving a Hurricane Harvey claim through Contract Interpretation 101....more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued a per curiam opinion in De Jongh v. State Farm Lloyds, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 21432 (5th Cir. 2016) that clarified a typical but potentially tricky question involving...more