Several years ago, I published a blog regarding the number of occurrences triggered under a liability policy for a motor vehicle accident in Florida. Other states also addressed this issue. Recently, the Federal District...more
As a contractor, you are familiar with working together with subcontractors — delegating project scope as part of the overall job. However, when a subcontractor’s work is defective, who is liable for the damage?...more
With very limited exceptions, liability policies provide insureds with two primary benefits: a defense paid for by the insurance carrier and indemnity for covered claims. These benefits to the insured are purchased with...more
Tendering policy limits to an insured in response to a Notice of Intent to Litigate, under section 627.70152, Florida Statutes (2021), precludes insureds from recovering pre-suit attorney’s fees from their property insurers...more
Hurricane Irma’s landfall in Florida produced an avalanche of property insurance claims throughout the state, the majority of which involved reported damage to roofs. Though many of these claims were legitimate, enterprising...more
Hurricane Ian was a devastating storm for southwest Florida. While out in the Gulf of Mexico, it became a high-end category 4 hurricane early on September 28, 2022 and made landfall later that afternoon. The areas where Ian...more
Bucking a general consensus that had emerged over the last decade, a South Florida federal district court ruled recently that Florida law would govern a property insurance dispute involving Florida real property, even though...more
The last week of September, 2022, the State of Florida braced for what was categorized to be one of the worst storms to make landfall in U.S. history. Initially, all weather channels displayed the storm’s trajectory...more
How can carriers prepare for what is to come after Fiona’s direct impact on Puerto Rico? First and foremost, carriers should begin securing and mobilizing an adequate roster of independent adjusters, ready to respond to...more
In Silversmith v State Farm Insurance Company, 2021 W.L. 2910240 (Fla. 4th DCA July 7, 2021), Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeal ruled that policyholders may openly videotape an inspection by the insurance company...more
When an owner seeks the appraisal of a property insurance claim, insurers commonly object by demanding that the trial court must first rule on defenses to coverage before allowing appraisal panel to value the total claim...more
People often ask me “how much car insurance do I need?” Never has this question been more important than now. Michigan drivers now face the biggest changes in auto No-Fault insurance since the No-Fault Act was enacted in...more
IN RESPONSE TO RECORD-BREAKING FIRE LOSSES IN 2017, THE CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR SIGNED THE INSURANCE ADJUSTER ACT OF 2019 INTO LAW ON OCTOBER 3, 2019, WHICH NOW TAKES IMMEDIATE EFFECT TO GOVERN THE USE OF OUT-OF-STATE ADJUSTERS...more
Most first party property coverage policies contain an appraisal provision that allows either the insured or the insurer to make a written demand for appraisal when the parties agree that covered property was damaged by a...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
Great American denied a claim for coverage for damage to an insured’s corn and soybean crops in three Missouri counties, asserting that the insured had failed “to substantiate an insurable cause of loss” and “fail[ed] to...more
Recent legislative and judicial developments in Puerto Rico may very well have revived thousands of claims that insurers believed to be time-barred, per the terms of the Suit Against Us provisions of their Policies. ...more