What is a First Party claim versus a Third Party claim? A “first party” policy typically involves insurance that provides policy benefits directly to the insured or beneficiary in the event of a loss. The Texas Insurance Code, Section 541.051(2) defines “first party claim” as a claim “by an insured…
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). These cases are tough even under the best of circumstances. Lawyers who handle ERISA cases do not spend time advertising their great results. The reason is the ERISA law prohibits “great” results. A win is just getting what you should have received in the…
Many employer based insurance plans fall under ERISA. Understanding how the courts look at ERISA cases is important for life insurance lawyers to be able to discuss a case with a client. The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently ruled on a case that involved a…
The Texas Insurance Code requires that life insurance policies contain incontestability clauses. These are a provision that a policy will be incontestable after it has been in force during the lifetime of the insured for two years from its date, except for nonpayment of premiums. This is found in Section…
Life insurance lawyers need to be know this 1990, opinion from the Texas Supreme Court. It is styled, Koral Industries v. Security-Connecticut Life Insurance Co. It is not uncommon for a beneficiary of a life insurance policy to concede that misrepresentations regarding health were made on an application for life…
Life insurance lawyers will get calls from people who may or may not be entitled to life insurance proceeds after someone has died. In these situations, that being situations where more than one person is making a claim for life insurance benefits, the insurance company will usually file a lawsuit…
There are lots of difficult cases insurance lawyers will see, but here is one that is hard to too. Mark Humphreys, P.C., announces the settlement of a life insurance case wherein the beneficiaries claim for benefits was declined due to the assertion by the insurance company that the insured intentionally…
Unfortunately, this is an issue that has to be addressed too often. An article was written in April 2019, in Forbes, that addresses this issue. The title of the article is “Insurance Issues To Consider In A Divorce.” Most of the time and fighting and arguing in divorce situations is…
With regards to life insurance policies, what if the insurance company denies a claim for benefits based on their assertion that a misrepresentation was made in the policy application? This is covered by the Texas Insurance Code, Sections 705.001 to 705.005 and 705.101 to 705.105. This is also addressed by…
Life insurance lawyers might know this law but most other people do not. The law is found in the Texas Insurance Code, Sections 705.101 thru 705.105. These Insurance Code sections require that an application for insurance be attached to the policy when the policy is sent to the applicant. This…