Insurance policies are contracts. A violation of an insurance policy is a usually going to be a breach of the contract. A lot of insurance law, simply put, is contract law. So what about the relationship of breach of contract to other theories of liability? The 1996, Texas Supreme Court…
As most insurance lawyers know by now, an insurance company can accept responsibility for the conduct of it’s adjusters when the claim is caused mother-nature and by doing so will defeat diversity jurisdiction and allow a lawsuit to be litigated in a Federal Court rather than a State Court. The…
Bad Faith Claims and proving them have their own set of rules. These rules were discussed in a 2020 opinion from the Eastern District of Texas, Beaumont Division. The opinion is styled, Mt. Javed Ventures, Ltd. v. Mt. Hawley Insurance Company. This is a summary judgment opinion. The legal history…
Here is a complicated case regarding policy cancellation. The case is from the Eastern District of Texas, Sherman Division, and is styled, Scottsdale Insurance Company v. All Citizens Transportation, LLC, et al v. Burns & Wilcox of Texas, Inc. et al. The procedural history is complicated and the opinion needs…
In the majority of cases it is best for a cases wherein an individual or small company litigates the case in State Court rather than Federal Court. As a result, knowing how to keep a case in Federal Court is important. Here is a 2020 opinion from the Eastern District…
Here is a 2020, case from the Eastern District of Texas, Sherman Division, that has an interesting twist. The case is styled, Jennifer Hamorsky v. Allstate Vehicle and Property Insurance Company and Charmell King. In this case, Jennifer sustained hail and wind damage to her home as the result of…
The answer to the titled question will vary according to the exact situation being reviewed. According to the 1994, Texas Supreme Court opinion, Celtic Life Ins. Co. v. Coats, an insurance company cannot escape liability by showing that it did not authorize the specific wrongful act. The Supreme Court in…
Bad faith claims are a common source of litigation. A 2020, opinion from the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division, discusses bad faith claims in the situations where an appraisal clause in the insurance contract allows for appraisal and that clause is invoked. The case is styled, Braulio Reyna v.…
Here is an opinion from the Texas Supreme Court that was issued in April 2020. This opinion deals with how an appraisal clause is handled when the appraisal clause is unilateral. The style of the case is Steven Biasatti and Paul Gross D/B/A TopDog Properties v. GuideOne National Insurance Company.…
Does an insurance company making a partial payment of a claim mean that they are responsible for the claim. The answer to this question and a couple of other questions was answered by the United States 5th Circuit in the April 2020, opinion styled, Sandford T. Pulley v. Safeco Insurance…