Bad Faith Insurance

Insurance And Mental Anguish Claims

December 27, 2011 | Mark S. Humphreys

When someone in Weatherford, Mineral Wells, Aledo, Willow Park, Hudson Oaks, Azle, Springtown, Millsap, Brock, or anywhere else in Texas really gets mistreated in an insurance case, that person will probably have a claim for mental anguish. So, how does that work?

A 2004, Corpus Christi Court of Appeals case gives some insight on the answer. The style of the case is, Minnesota Life Insurance Company v. Elia L. Vasquez. Here is some background.

Elia Vasquez alleged that Minnesota Life Insurance Company unreasonably delayed payment of the proceeds of an accidental death policy that insured the life of her deceased husband. As part of the lawsuit, Vasquez sued for mental anguish damages. The jury awarded her $60,000 in mental anguish damages. There were other issues in the case which are not discussed here.

Attorney Bad Faith Issues To Know

December 17, 2011 | Mark S. Humphreys

Bad Faith attorneys in Grand Prairie, Grapevine, Colleyville, Keller, Saginaw, Newark, Southlake, Roanoke, and other places in the DFW metroplex might find this case worth knowing.

The United States District Court, Southern District of Texas, Houston Division, issued an opinion in November 2011, in the case styled “839 East 19th Street, LP v. Lexington Insurance Company, et al.” This is a case wherein a motion for summary judgment filed by one of the defendants, Unified Building Sciences, Inc. (UBS), was granted.

Here is some background:

Attorneys And Insurance Law

December 15, 2011 | Mark S. Humphreys

Attorneys in Weatherford, Grand Prairie, Fort Worth, Mineral Wells, or anywhere else in Texas have to have an understanding of insurance law to handle insurance disputes effectively for clients.

There are different ways of recovering when insurance disputes arise. Many of these theories of recovery have common elements.

Insurance transactions tend to resemble one another, so disputes arising from them tend to resemble one another. There are only so many ways that an insurance company and their customer can get crossways. Most situations present recurring problems that can be grouped into categories. Insurance law is even more precedent-driven than other areas of law, as courts try to construe similar policy language consistently. It is not surprising that many cases start to look alike.

Ways Insurance Companies Mess Up

December 13, 2011 | Mark S. Humphreys

No matter if you are in Weatherford, Mineral Wells, Aledo, Azle, Willow Park, Hudson Oaks, Brock, Millsap, Cool, Peaster, Springtown, or any other place in Parker County, at many points in your life there will be times when you buy insurance and as a result there will be many chances for the insurance company to make a mistake.

The insurance industry is regulated in Texas by the Texas Department of Insurance and complaints can be filed with that department. The courts in Texas handle disputes that become lawsuits and these disputes can wind up in the Texas Supreme Court. Guidelines and laws/statutes for insurance companies to follow are found in the Texas Insurance Code and the Texas Administrative Code.

There are many ways an insurance company can mess up.

How Long Can An Insurance Company Take To Pay A Claim?

December 1, 2011 | Mark S. Humphreys

People in Weatherford, Mineral Wells, Palo Pinto, Aledo, Azle, Hudson Oaks, Willow Park, Brock, Cool, Millsap, Peaster, and other places in Parker and Palo Pinto Counties may wonder how long an insurance company can take to pay a claim.

The answer is found in the Texas Insurance Code, Sections 542.051 thru 542.061. These sections are also known as the Prompt Payment of Claims law.

A careful reading of these sections will see that the time frame for paying an insurance claim depends on many factors. Some of those factors are (1) what type of insurance company is involved, (2) what type of claim is being made, (3) what is involved in the investigation, (4) how much has the claimant cooperated in the investigation of the claim, and variations of the preceding.

Attorney Wins On Insurance Misrepresentation Case

November 24, 2011 | Mark S. Humphreys

Insured people in Grand Prairie, Fort Worth, Dallas, Lake Worth, Benbrook, Saginaw, Crowley, Mansfield, and other places in Tarrant County and Texas need to be cautious when dealing with their insurance company agent.

A case from the Austin Court of Appeals decided in 2000, is a good example of the above. The style of the case is, “Stan Stumph, d/b/a Concrete Concepts/Dallas Fire Insurance Company v. Dallas Fire Insurance Company/Stan Stumph, d/b/a Concrete Concepts.”

Here is some background.

Attorneys Holding Insurance Company Liable For Unfair Business Practices

November 22, 2011 | Mark S. Humphreys

Misrepresentations to people in Grand Prairie, Fort Worth, Dallas, Duncanville, De Soto, Lancaster, Cedar Hill, and other places in Texas can be a reason to sue an insurance company when the misrepresentation causes harm.

This issue is discussed in a 1987, Texas Supreme Court case styled, The Aetna Casualty and Surety Company v. Robert W. Marshall.

In this case the court upheld a verdict wherein The Aetna Casualty and Surety Company, (Aetna) was found to be guilty of making a misrepresentation by contractually promising benefits and then refusing to pay them.

Insurance Complaints

November 20, 2011 | Mark S. Humphreys

People in Grand Prairie, Arlington, Saginaw, Bedford, Hurst, Euless, Grapevine, Colleyville, Grapevine, Keller, Boyd, Newark, or anywhere else in and around Tarrant County should know a little bit about the insurance company they are buying their insurance from.

The Texas Department of Insurance is a good resource to use to learn about almost all insurance companies doing business in the State of Texas. Their web-site is easy to navigate and contains lots of useful information on insurance companies and insurance agents and insurance adjustors. It has information related to licensing and information related to complaints filed. There is also a lot of information about the financial viability of the companies.

The site has lots of general information. Surfing their web-site will usually result in finding out information you did not know and are glad you discovered.

Insurance Lawyer Needed

November 15, 2011 | Mark S. Humphreys

People needing an attorney in Grand Prairie, Arlington, Mansfield, Irving, Fort Worth, Dallas, and other places in Texas will probably get confused on this case and realize the necessity of hiring an experienced Insurance Law Attorney.

The Amarillo, Court of Appeals, issued an opinion on October 17, 2011, styled, In Re Farmers Texas County Mutual Insurance Company. This is a case where Farmers was seeking the issuance of a writ of mandamus from this appeals court. Farmers was asking this court to issue an order to Judge Carter Schildknecht of the 106th Judicial District Court of Garza County, Texas, to abate trial on extra-contractual claims asserted by real-party-in-interest, Terry Henrie. This court denied Farmers request.

Here is some background.

Bad Faith Insurance Claims

September 18, 2011 | Mark S. Humphreys

An insured in Grand Prairie, Arlington, Fort Worth, Dallas, or anywhere else in North Texas might wonder how an under-insured motorist claim works. That is a long answer, but here is how some of it worked in this situation.

The Dallas Court of Appeals issued an opinion on August 12, 2011, in the case styled In Re State Auto Property & Casualty Insurance Company and Hotchkiss Family Holdings, Inc D/B/A Hotchkiss Insurance Agency. This is a mandamus proceeding complaining of two orders of the trial court. Here is some background information.

Graeber and Kori Anderson were involved in an auto accident in which liability was disputed. After Graeber settled his lawsuit against Kori Anderson within Anderson’s policy limits, he sued State Auto, two of its adjusters, and his local insurance agent, Hotchkiss, seeking underinsured (UIM) benefits and extra-contractual damages for bad faith and other claims. State Auto asked the court to sever and abate the UIM claims from the extra-contractual claims. This was denied, but separate trials with separate juries was ordered, as well as a stay of discovery and proceedings on the extra-contractual claims until the disposition of the UIM claim.