Home Owners Policies

Accused Of Arson By Insurance Company

August 9, 2011 | Mark S. Humphreys

Arson cases are the same in Grand Prairie, Arlington, Irving, Fort Worth, Dallas, Mesquite, Garland, Mansfield, Duncanville, Lancaster, De Soto, or anywhere else in Texas. Fires happen by accident and by arson. When a fire occurs the insurance company is going to investigate for reasons of denying coverage for the claim or to find reasons to lower the amount of money they may have to pay on the claim.

In 1992, the San Antonio Court of Appeals, issued an opinion in a case styled, State Farm Lloyds, Inc. v. Robert Polasek and Shirley Polasek.

In this case, arson and bad faith were asserted against State Farm. The Polasek’s prevailed at trial and State Farm appealed. The jury had awarded $40,000 in property damage and $500,000 as exemplary damages against State Farm. The court sustained the verdict for the property damage but overruled the finding of bad faith that allowed the award of exemplary damages. Here is some background.

Arson And Insurance

August 7, 2011 | Mark S. Humphreys

Anyone living in Weatherford, Mineral Wells, Aledo, Azle, Hudson Oaks, Willow Park, Millsap, Brock, Cool, Springtown, or other areas in Parker County, or the State of Texas know what arson means. The question to be wondered about is, what happens if your home burns as the result of an arson fire?

The Waco Court of Appeals issued an opinion in 1998, in the case styled, State Farm Fire and Casualty Insurance Company v. Sandra Sue Vandiver.

In this case Vandiver had sued State Farm seeking to recover damages which resulted from the destruction of her home by a fire. The trial court made many ruling in favor of Vandiver, the result of which, she won her case. One of these ruling was a directed verdict against State Farm on its arson defense. State Farm appealed and this court reversed the verdict and set the case for a new trial. Here is some relevant information.

Homeowners Claims

August 2, 2011 | Mark S. Humphreys

Homeowners in Grand Prairie, Arlington, Fort Worth, Dallas, Mesquite, Garland, Irving, and other places all through Texas scored a minor victory recently. This according to a Houston Chronicle article published this July. Much of the article is included here.

It appears homeowners insured by the two insurer’s of last resort will receive additional payments for their Hurricane Ike claims.

The two insurer’s are The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association and Texas Fair Access to Insurance Requirements Plan. These two insurers sell insurance coverage to those who can’t find it in the private market. They have agreed to settle cases brought by state regulators over delayed payments and disputes over damaged roofs and other claims that resulted after the 2008 Hurricane Ike storm hit the Texas Gulf Coast.

Homeowners Claim Denial

July 31, 2011 | Mark S. Humphreys

Here is an example for insured’s in Weatherford, Mineral Wells, Aledo, Hudson Oaks, Willow Park, Millsap, Brock, Peaster, Cool, Springtown, and other parts of Parker County and Texas to pay attention to.

As has been mentioned before on this blog, insurance companies will almost always attempt to have a case moved from State Court to Federal Court. One reason is that Federal Courts seem to look for reasons to throw cases out of court or to strike down pleading by the plaintiff. This is a reason to always get an experienced Insurance Law Attorney when dealing with an insurance company. The attorneys for the insured in the following case are good attorneys but still the Federal Court ruled in favor of the insurance company in striking down some of the pleading of the plaintiff.

Here is some background.

Fire Loss

July 24, 2011 | Mark S. Humphreys

Whether you live in Weatherford, Aledo, Azle, Willow Park, Hudson Oaks, Mineral Wells, Millsap, Brock, Peaster, Springtown, Poolville, Cool, or anywhere else in Parker County, a fire loss to your home can be a devastating loss. It is compounded when your insurance company refuses to pay for the loss. It is compounded further when they accuse you of arson.

The Texas Supreme Court issued an opinion in a case in 1998, styled “State Farm Fire & Casualty Company v. James and Cynthia Simmons.” The legal issue presented to the court was whether there was sufficient evidence to support a jury finding that State Farm breached its duty of good faith and fair dealing and whether there was some evidence to support a punitive damages award. We will go over the good faith and fair dealing only point due to technicalities surrounding the punitive damages award.

Background information:

Accused Of Arson

June 26, 2011 | Mark S. Humphreys

Homeowners in Grand Prairie, Arlington, Irving, Duncanville, De Soto, Cedar Hill, Dalworthington Gardens, Fort Worth, Dallas, and other places in Texas might be interested in this story. It has to do with insurance and arson.

The story is from knoxnews.com and was written by Jamie Satterfield. The article was published on May 27, 2011, and is titled “Vonore couple accused of arson: Insurance firm sues, claiming pair blamed neighbor as cover-up.”

The article tell us that the insurance company, American National Property and Casualty Company, a Missouri based insurance company, is accusing a lesbian couple of being arsonists who burned down their own home to receive the insurance proceeds. The couple say they are victims of hate crime.

Insurance Company Denies Claim

June 23, 2011 | Mark S. Humphreys

Someone in Grand Prairie, Arlington, Grapevine, Colleyville, Hurst, Euless, Bedford, Keller, Flower Mound, Roanoke, Haslet, Saginaw, and other places in the state of Texas would naturally be upset if their claim were denied. But next, they would want to hire an experienced Insurance Law Attorney and pursue a lawsuit against their insurance company to make them pay.

Here is a case where an attorney tried to get the insurance company to pay but most of the lawsuit was almost thrown out of court. The style of the case is, Rosa Garcia and Augustin Garcia v. Nationwide Property and Casualty Insurance Company. The opinion in this case was issued on May 16, 2011, by the United States District Court, S. D. Texas, Houston Division.

Here is what is going on in this situation:

Claim Denied – Policy Interpretation

June 5, 2011 | Mark S. Humphreys

Here is one for residents of Weatherford, Mineral Wells, Aledo, Azle, Springtown, Hudson Oaks, Willow Park, Brock, Millsap, Poolville, and other places in Parker County and Palo Pinto County. This case is unusual.

The Texas Court of Appeals, San Antonio, issued an opinion on May 11, 2011, in a case appealed from the 73rd Judicial District Court. The style of the case is, Dora Gulley v. State Farm Lloyds.

A little legal information first. This is an agreed interlocutory appeal pursuant to Texas Civil Practices & Remedies Code, Section 51.014(d). It is arising out of an insurance case where in both sides in the case filed motions for Summary Judgment asking the court to rule in their favor as a matter of law. The Judge denied both parties motions and allowed them to pursue an appeal pursuant to the above statute. So this case was essentially being given to the appeals court to make a decision / ruling.

Homeowners Insurance Policies

May 12, 2011 | Mark S. Humphreys

People who own homes in Weatherford, Aledo, Azle, Poolville, Brock, Hudson Oaks, Willow Park, Peaster, Mineral Wells, Cool, Millsap, and other areas of Parker and Palo Pinto counties might want to pay attention this story.

The Court of Appeals, Beaumont, issued an opinion on March 10, 2011, that gives some insight into how the courts will look at appraisal clauses in homeowners insurance policies. The style of the case is, In Re Southern Insurance Company.

In this case the homeowner, Michelle Neisen, suffered a loss that she alleges was the result of hurricane damage. Southern sought to have an appraisal process to determine the amount of the disputed loss. Neison claimed that Southern waived its right to appraisal because Southern claimed it was not responsible for the loss. The trial court refused to order participation in the appraisal process which Southern was requesting and Southern appealed that decision.

Insurance And Homeowners Policy

May 10, 2011 | Mark S. Humphreys

Any homeowner is Grand Prairie, Arlington, Irving, Mesquite, Garland, Richardson, Mansfield, Dallas, Fort Worth, or any other place in Texas who thinks they know a lot about their insurance policy, probably is still not sure how an arbitration clause in the policy works.

The Texas Court of Appeals, Beaumont, issued an opinion on March 24, 2011. The style of the case is, In re Ranchers & Farmers Mutual Insurance Company. This case is being appealed by way of a “writ of mandamus” and is normally referred to as a mandamus proceeding.

The name of a writ, the principle work of which when the proceedings were in Latin, was mandamus, meaning we command. It is a command issuing in the name of the sovereign authority from a superior court having jurisdiction, and is directed to some person, corporation, or inferior court, requiring them to do some particular thing therein specified, which appertains to their office and duty, and which the superior court has previously determined, or at least supposes to be consonant to right and justice.