Texas Insurance Code, Section 541.060(a)(7) requires an insurance carrier to conduct a reasonable investigation when refusing to pay a claim. The Texas Supreme Court 2009, opinion styled, Tex. Mut. Ins. Co. v. Morris, found there was sufficient evidence to support finding the insurance carrier refused to pay a claim without…
An inconsistent investigation and the insurance company relying on it is bad faith according to the 1988, Dallas Court of Appeals opinion, Harco Nat’l Ins. Co. v. Villanueva. The owner of a truck reported the theft of the truck to his insurance company, Harco. Harco’s investigator stated that he saw…
An insurance company may breach its duty of good faith and fair dealing by failing to reasonably investigate a claim. As an example, in the 1997, Texas Supreme Court opinion, Universe Life Ins. Co. v. Giles, the insurer could not escape liability merely by failing to investigate the claim so…
As was stated in the 1997, Texas Supreme Court opinion, Universe Life Ins. Co. v. Giles, an insurer violates its duty of good faith and fair dealing by denying or delaying payment of a claim if the insurer knew or should have known that its liability was reasonably clear. However,…
The standard of bad faith was originally phrased in the negative under the 1988, Texas Supreme Court case, Aranda v. Insurance Co. of N. Am. Under that case, the first element of bad faith required an objective determination of whether a reasonable insurer under similar circumstances would have denied plaintiff’s …
The Insurance Code sections and the Deceptive Trade Practices Act were adopted together in 1973, as part of a package to reform legislation, are interrelated, and incorporate each other. Texas Insurance Code, Section 541.008 says the Insurance Code provisions are to be liberally construed and applied to promote its underlying…
Insurance attorneys know that Section 541.051 broadly prohibits making any statement misrepresenting the terms of a policy, or the benefits, advantages, or dividends of a policy, making misrepresentations about the financial condition of an insurer, misrepresenting the true nature of any policy or class of policies, or making any misrepresentation…
Here is a 2018, case with circumstances this insurance lawyer has not seen before. The case is out of the San Antonio Court of Appeals and is styled, Virginia Bretado v. Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company. This case is an appeal from a motion for summary judgment granted in favor of…
Suing Adjusters in federal court is often times difficult. The reason is that an adjuster is usually sued in state court in an effort to defeat diversity jurisdiction thus, keeping the case in state court. When an insurance company believes the adjuster has been sued solely to defeat diversity jurisdiction,…
Insurance company unfair settlement practices is dealt with in a specific section of the Texas Insurance Code. Look at Texas Insurance Code, Section 541.060. The statute prohibits engaging in any of the following settlement practices with respect to a claim by an insured or beneficiary: (1) misrepresenting to a claimant…