General

Auto Liability Insurance

December 18, 2010 | Mark S. Humphreys

How much coverage does someone in Dallas, Fort Worth, Arlington, Grand Prairie, Mansfield, Cleburne, Mesquite, or anywhere else in Texas have on their automobile policy? The answer would depend on what type of coverage you are talking about. There are different coverage amounts based on what a person wants and what is available. Let’s look at just auto liability coverage.

The Austin American Statesman published an article that ran on December 13, 2010. The title of the article is, “Mandatory Auto Liability Coverage to Rise in New Year.” The article was written by Tim Eaton.

According to a 2007 law, authored by former State Senator Kip Averitt, the minimal liabilty coverage that can be sold in Texas raises to $30,000 for each injured person, $60,000 per accident and $25,000 for property damage.

Insurance For Injuries

December 7, 2010 | Mark S. Humphreys

Young athletes in Dallas, Fort Worth, Grand Prairie, Arlington, Mansfield, Irving, Cleburne, Mesquite, Garland, Weatherford, and other places in Texas, usually have some sort of insurance coverage in case they get injured when involved in school sporting events. But exactly what does this coverage provide?

A student athlete in Clark County School District in Nevada, is finding the answer to be “not enough.” This is in an article published by the Las Vegas Sun and written by Steve Green. The article, titled, “High School Football Injury Sparks Lawsuit Over Insurance Coverage” was published on December 1, 2010. The athlete is LaQuan Phillips, who was a Green Valley High School football player who got injured in a game on September 5, 2008. Phillips suffered a spinal injury and has incurred more than $195,000 in medical expenses, which does not include future medical expenses and rehabilitation recommended by his medical providers. This figure also does not include compensation for Phillips pain and suffering and/or lost quality of life.

The insurance policy at issue in this case was issued by National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburg, Pa. The policy is issued to the school district and is suppose to cover student athletes, cheerleaders and students in non-sports extracurricular activities and provides up to $2.5 million in coverage.

Insurance Policy Appraisal Clause

November 14, 2010 | Mark S. Humphreys

If you have an insurance policy in Dallas, Fort Worth, Grand Prairie, Arlington, Mansfield, or anywhere else in Texas, you should look at it closely. It probably has an “appraisal clause” in it.

The United States Western District of Texas, Austin Division, decided a case on October 27, 2010. The style of the case is Orleans Harbor Homeowners Association, Inc. v. Public Service Mutual Insurance Company. The main issue in the case dealt with the appraisal clause in the insurance policy between Orleans Harbor Homeowners Association, Inc. (Orleans) and Public Service Mutual Insurance Company (Public).

Here is some background:

Policyholder Lawsuit Against Farmers

November 2, 2010 | Mark S. Humphreys

Can someone in Dallas, Fort Worth, Grand Prairie, Arlington, Mansfield, Granbury, or anywhere else in Texas sue their insurance company when their insurance company is cheating them by charging excessive fees?

According to an article written by Tiffany Hsu and Marc Lifsher, reporters for the Los Angeles Times, that is exactly what some customers of Farmers Group did. The article is titled, “Farmers Group agrees to pay $455 million to settle policyholder suit.”

This article tells us about a class action lawsuit which accused a Los Angeles based insurance management firm of charging excessive fees to customers. Farmers insist the lawsuit is without merit but they agreed to settle the lawsuit anyway.

Property Insurance

October 9, 2010 | Mark S. Humphreys

Property insurance for residents of Grand Prairie, Arlington, Weatherford, Dallas, Cleburne, Mansfield, De Soto, Duncanville, Lancaster, and other residents in Texas is not something most would be familiar with or how it works. So what is it?

Property insurance involves the indemnification of the insured by the insurance company for the loss of, or damage to, indentifiable property described either specifically or by general language in the policy. This is discussed in the Dallas Court of Appeals case, Cumis Insurance Society v. Republic National Bank of Dallas, decided in 1972. Coverage evaluations in the context of property insurance examine the relationship between perils covered under the policy and perils excluded under the policy. This is discussed by the Corpus Christi Court of Appeals case, Warrilow v. Norrell, a 1989 decision.

Property insurance policies are intended solely to indemnify the insured for his or her actual monetary loss, and unless the insured has sustained an actual loss, the insurance company has no liability. This is stated in Highlands Insurance Company v. City of Galveston, by the Houston Court of Appeals, 14th District, decided in 1986.

On-Line Insurance Policies

September 22, 2010 | Mark S. Humphreys

Everybody in Arlington, Grand Prairie, Mansfield, Burleson, De Soto, Dallas, Fort Worth, Benbrook, and other places in Texas have access to internet services. Using the internet, people have started purchasing all kinds of goods and services. One of the things purchased a lot on-line now days is insurance policies. When this happens some interesting questions can arise. How about this:

Let us say that you desire to purchase auto insurance on-line. One thing we have learned from earlier blogs at this site is that Insurance Law in Texas requires that on all insurance policies issued in the state of Texas that Personal Injury Protection (PIP) benefits be part of the policy. This is stated in the Texas Insurance Code, Section 1952.152(a). Section 1952.152(b) tells us that this coverage must be rejected in writing otherwise it is part of the policy.

Next, let’s say that when you purchase an auto policy on-line that you are prompted to check a box indicating a rejection of PIP coverage but because this is being purchased on-line there is no signature. Have you properly rejected PIP coverage? Or do you have the coverage?

Life Insurance Policies And Dead Soldiers … Sad

September 16, 2010 | Mark S. Humphreys

Parents and spouses of military members in Arlington, Garland, Mesquite, Irving, Dallas, Fort Worth, Lake Worth, Colleyville, and through-out Texas would find the way some life insurance companies conduct their bussiness to be disgusting.

The New York Times published an article on August 29, 2010. The article was written by Dan Frosch and is titled “Families of Dead Soldiers Sue Insurer Over Its Handling of Survivors’ Benefits.”

The article starts out telling the reader about Vicke Castro. Her only child, Jonathan Castro, was killed six years ago just before Christmas, when a suicide bomber blew himself up inside an Army mess tent in Mosul, Iraq.

Insurance Policy Responsibilities For Insureds

September 14, 2010 | Mark S. Humphreys

Grand Prairie residents, residents of Arlington, Mansfield, Duncanville, Benbrook, Crowley, Weatherford, Aledo, Azle, and all other locations in Texas will almost all have one responsibility in common in their insurance policies. That one responsibility in common is to co-operate with their insurance company in the insurance copanies investigation of the claim. One other responsibility is to keep the insurance company informed of relevant events related to your coverage.

On July 22, 2010, the Houston Court of Appeals, (14th) Dist.) decided a case before them that dealt with this issue. The style of the case is, Darrell Dean Valenzuela v. State & County Mutual Fire Insurance Company. This was an appeal from the 164th District Court, Harris County, Texas.

In this case, Darrell Dean Valenzuela and Armando Rodriguez Torres were in a motor vehicle accident in 2002, and Valenzuela claimed he sustained injuries from the accident. Valenzuela sued Torres in August 2007. At the time of the accident, Torres was covered by a standard form personal auto policy from State & County. The policy insured the automobile Torres drove on the day of the accident. The case went to trial, and Valenzuela obtained a judgment for $12,100.00, prejudgment interest in the amount of $4,502.11, and court costs in the sum of $1,941.67. State & County did not receive notice of the lawsuit until Valenzuela delivered a copy of the final judgment on Septmenber 10, 2007. State & County claimed its policy provisions required Torres to provide proper and timely notice regarding any pending lawsuits so State & County could participate in Torres’s defense.

Insurance Law / Policies & Exemplary Damages

September 8, 2010 | Mark S. Humphreys

Here is information for people living in Grand Prairie, Arlington, Mansfield, Burleson, Benbrook, Dallas, Fort Worth, and other places in Texas. If has to do with “exemplary damages.”

Exemplary damages, often called punative damages, are damages awarded in a lawsuit when the defendant’s willful acts were malicious, violent, oppressive, fraudulent, wanton, or grossly reckless.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled in a case on August 27, 2010, that dealt with a exemplary damages and insurance policies. Judge Haynes issued the opinion of the Court. The style of the case is, Darrell D. Minter, As Receiver, v. Great American Insurance Company of New York.

Insurance Policy Declarations Page

August 31, 2010 | Mark S. Humphreys

Someone from Dallas, Fort Worth, Mansfield, Arlington, Grand Prairie, Benbrook, Aledo, Burleson, or anywhere else in Texas might ask. What is the declarations page?

One web-site describes the “declarations page”, otherwise known as the “dec page”, very simply as “this page contains the basic terms of coverage. It is an outline of who and what is covered.”

Insurance policies normally contain a declarations page or pages. This page sets forth the identity of the insured, the policy limits, and the duration of coverage, and it identifies the attached policy forms. The main function of the declarations page is to customize the policy for the particular insured and the specific risks covered by the policy. This is set out in the 14th Houston Court of Appeals case, Frazier v. Wallis, decided in 1998. And the San Antonio Court of Appeals case, Ortiz v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, in 1997.