Insurance lawyers find it helpful, in the right case, to use an expert. What is important to understand is the criteria courts look at to determine whether someone qualifies as an expert. This issue is discussed in a 2022 opinion from the Western District of Texas, San Antonio Division. The…
Lawyers who handle claims related to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 know how hard this cases can be. Unlike other types of claims, such as personal injury, auto wrecks, on the job injury, and medical malpractice, under ERISA, a prevailing claimant is only entitled to actual benefits…
Lawyers who handle Employee Retirement Income Security Act cases will want to know about this June 2022, opinion from the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division. The opinion is a win for ERISA cases. It is styled, Michael Cloud v. The Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Player Retirement Plan. This case…
Is there such a thing as an oral insurance contract? Well, according to the 1949, Texas Supreme Court opinion styled, Pacific Fire Insurance Company v. Donald, …, Yes. In the Donald case, Paul Donald sued Pacific Fire to recover for the loss of 5500 bales of hay which were destroyed…
Insurance policies are contracts, and as such are subject to rules applicable to contracts generally. This is stated in the 1994, Texas Supreme Court opinion styled, Hernandez v. Gulf Group Lloyds. An insured seeking to recover on an insurance contract must prove that the contract was in force at the…
The incontestability period of an insurance policy is one of the most important parts of a life insurance contract. Life insurance policies must contain an incontestability clause — a provision that the policy will be incontestable after it has been in force during the lifetime of the insured for two…
Here is a policy interpretation case from the United States Fifth Circuit. The opinion was issued on June 2, 2022, and is styled, Kiolbassa Provision Company, Incorporated v. Travelers Property Casualty Company of America. Kiolbassa ran out of storage space in its warehouse and loaded 49,016 pounds of organic beef…
Life Insurance Lawyers need to be aware of Texas Insurance Code, Section 705.005. This statute says in relevant part that an insurance company may use as a defense a misrepresentation made in the application for or in obtaining an insurance policy only if the insurance company shows at trial that…
What if a life insurance company denies a claim for life insurance benefits based on their contention that the insured committed suicide? A 1982, opinion from the 14th District Court of Appeals styled, Parchman v. United Liberty Life Insurance Company, correctly states that life insurance policies typically exclude suicide as…
Life insurance claims attorneys have information about how life insurance claims should be handled that is valuable to someone who believes they have been wronged by an insurance company. It will occasionally happen that the life insurance company pays the wrong person as the beneficiary of the policy. Texas Supreme…