Insurance attorneys understand the importance of proper communications with an insurance company. The Claims Journal, which is a publication for the insurance industry, published an article in September 2017, suggesting ways for a company to properly communicate with their insured. The article is titled, 10 Tips On Responding To Claimant…
Insurance adjusters who are inexperienced and do not know what they are doing can hurt insureds who just want their claim paid. Reuters ran a story on September 11, 2017, dealing with the shortage of trained and experienced insurance adjusters after Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. The story is titled “Insurers…
Arlington life insurance lawyers know the requirements insurance companies must meet to successfully defend a life insurance case based on the defense of misrepresentation. Misrepresentation in the policy application is the most common reason for denial of a claim for benefits. The Texas Insurance Code, Sections 705.001 to 705.005, prohibits…
Grand Prairie life insurance lawyers know that for a life insurance company to establish misrepresentation as a defense for refusing to pay on a claim, that the life insurance company must plead and prove five elements: the making of the misrepresentation; the falsity of the misrepresentation; reliance on the misrepresentation…
A 1982, 14th Court of Appeals opinion recognizes and upholds that life insurance policies typically exclude suicide as an assumed risk of the carrier. The opinion is styled, Parchman v. United Liberty Life Insurance Co. In Parchman the policy excluded suicide as an assumed risk for two years from the…
The Texas Insurance Code, Section 1101.055 limits the permissible life insurance exclusions to suicide, stated hazardous occupations, and aviation activities. Courts have construed this list to render void other exclusions, such as one excluding a loss caused by a preexisting condition. This preexisting condition exclusion is discussed in the 1921…
For a beneficiary to recover death benefits, the insured must be dead. Doubt may arise when the insured disappeared or when there is uncertainty over the identity of the dead body. This is illustrated in the 1987 Texas Supreme Court case, Davidson v. Great National Life Insurance Co. and in…
If insurance benefits are paid to a beneficiary who does not have an insurable interest, that beneficiary holds the proceeds for the benefit of those entitled by law to the proceeds according to a 1894, Texas Supreme Court opinion styled, Cheeves v. Anders. This proposition was upheld in a Tyler…
Who has an insurable interest in the life of someone else? The Texas Supreme Court in 1968, declared that a creditor may designate itself the beneficiary of a policy purchased by it on the life of its debtor, but its insurable interest is limited to the loan balance at the…
As it relates to homeowner’s policies, the Texas courts have adopted a rigid rule for when a loss occurs. The Texas Supreme Court in, Don’s Building Supply, Inc. v. OneBeacon Ins. Co. has emphasized that the applicable rule for when a loss occurs depends upon the language in the policy.…