Home Owners Policies

Homeowners Insurance – Insurer At It Again

July 17, 2010 | Mark S. Humphreys

No matter where you live – Grand Prairie, Dallas, Fort Worth, Arlington, Mansfield, De Soto, Duncanville, or anywhere else in Texas, you have to keep your eye on insurance companies. If you don’t, they will cheat and try to get away with doing people wrong.

A few weeks ago on this blog there was an article talking about the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association. Well, they are back in the news.

One of our favorite reporters, Purva Patel, with the Houston Chronicle, did a follow up story on the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association. This article was published on July 7, 2010, and is titled, “State criticizes windstorm insurer.” Purva Patel has had a number of articles describing wrongs committed by insurance companies. In the article published on July 7, about the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association, he writes about poor record keeping procedures that Texas Winstorm evidently does not have. Of course, this is wrong. The Texas Insurance Code, Section 542.005(b), says:

Homeowners Claim Denial And Lawsuit In Texas

July 7, 2010 | Mark S. Humphreys

If someone in Hurst, Euless, Bedford, Fort Worth, Cedar Hill, Crowley, Burleson, Irving, Grand Prairie, Arlington, Mansfield, or anywhere else in Texas, has to file a lawsuit because their homeowners insurance company is denying their claim, one thing they want for sure is a successful outcome. The best outcome is usually going to occur in a State or County court, not in a Federal Court. As a result of this knowledge among insurance company attorneys, they will always try to get a case moved to Federal court if there is any way possible of doing so.

This was attempted in the case styled, James N. Wofford, et al v. Allstate Texas Lloyd’s and Randy Paul Johnson. The opinion in this case was signed on June 9, 2010, By Federal Judge, Kenneth M. Hoyt, a Judge in the United States District Court, S. D. Texas, Houston Division.

In this case, the homeowner, James Wofford, had a policy of insurance with Allstate Texas Lloyd’s. Wofford’s home was damaged by Hurricane Ike. Wofford filed a claim with Allstate and Allstate assigned adjuster Randy Paul Johnson, to handle the claim. Johnson was named as one of the defendants in the lawsuit. This case was filed in the 11th Judicial District Court of Harris County, Texas, and Allstate immediately filed papers to have the case removed to federal court.

Homeowners And Mold Claims In Texas

July 6, 2010 | Mark S. Humphreys

Most homeowners in Cedar Hill, Grand Prairie, Arlington, Mansfield, Benbrook, Burleson, Haslet, Saginaw, Fort Worth, or any other city in Texas is not going to have a mold problem with their home. But the ones who do will wonder: What now? Will my insurance cover the costs the mold problem is causing?

Unfortunately, there is no easy answer to these questions.

The quick answer is: It depends on what your homeowners insurance policy says.

Homeowners, Windstorms, & Insurance

July 5, 2010 | Mark S. Humphreys

Homeowners in Flower Mound, Haslet, Saginaw, Newark, Benbrook, Crowley, Cedar Hill, Hutchins, Grand Prairie, Arlington, Mansfield, Weatherford, or anywhere else in Texas will have insurance on their homes. Most, if not all are concerned about the cost of their insurance and the coverages provided by their policy if they suffer a loss.

Even though it is not often a problem for homeowners in the towns and cities listed above, homeowners along the gulf coast areas of Texas, will many times have problems getting coverage for wind damage to their homes. When they can get their standard insurance carrier such as State Farm, Allstate, Farmers, or one of the other standard companies to provide coverage, it is at an expensive cost. So what can they do to get coverage and get it at a cost they can afford?

The answer is to get coverage through the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA). Homeowners along the gulf coast still have to pay premiums that exceed thousands of dollars for coverage through TWIA. In spite of these already expensive rates, the TWIA has asked the Insurance Commissioner, Mike Geeslin, to allow a rate increase of 5 percent starting next year.

Home Owners Win Victory

June 29, 2010 | Mark S. Humphreys

Home owners in Grand Prairie, Arlington, Mansfield, Colleyville, Keller, Aledo, Bedford, and all through the State of Texas should be comforted about a recent case. This case was in Florida, but will help home owners all over the United States, including Texas.

On June 19, 2010, The Miami Herald reported on a story concerning a lawsuit over the Chinese drywall that has been in the news the last few years. The author of the story is Nirvi Shah. The reporter tells us that after two and a half years, a Miami couple was awarded $2.5 million in damages and expenses, after blaming odors and corrosion problems on defective Chinese drywall.

The article, the title of which is, “Chinese drywall verdict is in: $2.5 million,” tells us that Armin and Lisa Seifart sued Miami-based Banner Supply after the drywall that the company provided corroded copper pipes and fixtures, ruined their air conditioner and other appliances and made their home stink.

Homeowners Claim And Winning In Court

May 18, 2010 | Mark S. Humphreys

How do I know I’ll win if I sue? Whether you live in Grand Prairie, Weatherford, Arlington, Mansfield, Newark, Keller, Irving, or any other place in Texas, that would be a good question. The first part of answering that question would be to find out whether your case is in State Court or Federal Court. Whenever an individual is sueing an insurance company, an experienced Insurance Law Attorney will tell you that your best chance for success is to be in State Court.

In the case, Sharman McGilbert v. Safeco Insurance Company of Indiana, Odette Goer, and Gary Waddell, McGilbert sued in State Court and Safeco Insurance Company of Indiana immediately tried to have the case removed to Federal Court. Safeco failed in their effort.

This case was decided on April 22, 2010, in the United States District Court, Southern District Texas, Houston Division, by District Judge Gray H. Miller. The case was originally filed in the 11th Judicial District Court of Harris County, Texas. Judge Miller remanded the case back to the 11th after Safeco’s unsuccessful attempt to have it removed.

Bad Faith Insurance And Fire Claims

May 15, 2010 | Mark S. Humphreys

When a house burns in Grand Prairie, Arlington, Colleyville, Keller, Mansfield, Fort Worth, Azle, Aledo, or Weatherford, or anywhere else in Texas; What happens when the house catches on fire? Will the insurance company pay for the damages?

In, State Farm Fire & Casualty Insurance Company v. Simmons, the answer was no until the case went to court. At that point, State Farm Fire & Casualty Company (State Farm) was eventually ordered to pay the damages. This is a 1998, Texas Supreme Court case. In this case, the Simmons had moved into a new home and spent monies improving the property and buying items for the inside of the house. Their house had been burglarized in the middle of the day and later those responsible were located.

Mr. Simmons, a construction supervisor, had experienced down time from work and the Simmons had missed house payments. They later refinanced the house. They continued to experience problems with vandalism and other strange occurrances around the house.

Bad Faith And Homeowners Insurance

May 13, 2010 | Mark S. Humphreys

There are homeowners in Grand Prairie, Arlington, Mansfield, Weatherford, Aledo, Fort Worth, and everywhere else in Texas. 95% of those homeowners have insurance. So how do you know if your insurance company is violating the “bad faith” laws in Texas?

Here is a 1997, Texas Supreme Court case to read to give some insight into the above question. The case is, State Farm Lloyd’s v. Ioan and Liana Nicolau.

In the insurance claim giving rise to this dispute, the Nicolau sought coverage for extensive foundation damage to their home. The homeowners policy, issued by State Farm Lloyds, (State Farm) generally excludes losses caused by “inherent vice,” or by “settling, cracking, bulging, shrinkage, or expansion of foundations.” Under an express exception, however, these exclusions do not apply to losses caused by an “accidental discharge, leakage or overflow of water” from within a plumbing system.

Texas Homeowners Policy And Running A Business From Home

April 28, 2010 | Mark S. Humphreys

Pretend a couple in Grand Prairie, Fort Worth, Arlington, Dallas, Weatherford, or anywhere else in Texas is running a business out of their home and someone gets injured as a result of that business activity. Does a normal Texas homeowners insurance policy cover any claim that may be made?

As a general rule the answer is no. The normal Texas howeowners policy includes a “business pursuits exclusion.” This means that incidents arising out the course of that business are excluded from coverage under the insurance policy. There are exceptions to this general rule mainly because the Texas Department of Insurance, several years ago started letting insurance companies write their own policies. Prior to this the policys were standard and followed recommendations from the state. Now, each company writes their own policy and so, there are differences between one policy and the other that now exist. Plus, homeowners can buy endorsements to cover their business pursuits that they are pursueing from their home.

The normal / typical homeowners policy excludes coverage for “bodily injury or property damage arising out of or in connection with a business engaged in by an insured.” This is articulated in the case, State Farm Fire & Casualty Company v. Vaughan. This case was decided by the Texas Supreme Court in 1998, and is still good law. Here, State Farm Fire & Casualty Company challenged a claim being made by Vaughan and the court ruled in favor of State Farm, on this business exclusion policy language.

Insurance Appraisal Clauses In Texas

April 22, 2010 | Mark S. Humphreys

Lightning strikes a home in Grand Prairie, or Arlington, Fort Worth, Dallas, or out in Weatherford. The lightning damages electronic equipment. The homeowner calls his insurance company to make a claim. Then the insurance company invokes an appraisal clause in the insurance contract. What does this mean?

This is what happened in the case, Steven Woodward, et al, v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Company. This case was decided by the United States District Court, N.D. Texas, Dallas Division on March 26, 2010. The Judge was the Honorable, A. Joe Fish. In this lawsuit, Liberty Mutual Insurance Company (Liberty) filed papers with the Court for an order to be issued to compel appraisal and to stay the Court actions in this matter pending the completion of appraisal. Judge Fish granted the motion and ordered the parties to complete the appraisal process.

In this case, the appraisal clause required each side to select a competent, independent appraiser, notify the other side who had been chosen and if the appraisers did not agree to choose an umpire to settle the matter.