Home Owners Policies

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.

A Must Read For Texas HomeOwners

April 17, 2010 | Mark S. Humphreys

There are lots of older homes in Grand Prairie, Arlington, Fort Worth, Weatherford, and all through Texas. These homes need homeowners insurance coverage. That insurance coverage needs to be have proper limits in case a loss is suffered. The following is an example of what might happen it there are not proper limits.

The Texas Court of Appeals, Third District, handed down a decision on April 1, 2010, affirming a judgment against a homeowner and in favor of the homeowners insurance company. The style of the case is, William D. Bryce and Sarah R. Bryce v. Unitrin Preferred Insurance Company and Evans, Ewan & Brady Insurance Agency, Inc.

The Bryces’ home was built in 1889 and is located in a registered historic district. The Bryces purchased the house in 1983 for $210,000 and immediately invested approximately $242,000 in renovations, bringing the total purchase and renovation cost to approximately $452,000. In April 2006, a fire destroyed the Bryces’ home. As a result of the fire, Unitrin Preferred Insurance Company (Unitrin) paid the Bryces their full policy limits of $474,000 for the dwelling and $284,400 for the contents of the home. The problem here is that the home replacement value cost was approximately $1.7 million and the contents approximately $864,000. From the time of the purchase until some time after the fire, the Bryces used Evans, Ewan & Brady Insurance Agency, Inc. (EEB) as their insurance agent.

Texas Homeowners Policy’s

March 17, 2010 | Mark S. Humphreys

Homeowners in Grand Prairie, Arlington, Weatherford, Fort Worth, Mansfield, Dallas, and the rest of the State of Texas, need to have a basis understanding of homeowners policies when it comes to buying homeowners insurance. There a several different types of homeowners policies available for the Texas consumer.

Because of “form deregulation”, insurance companies now may offer approved alternative policies. There are differences in coverage, which may be significant. These different forms have been the source of much confusion for consumers looking to purchase a homeowners policy. A tool for comparing coverage is provided by the Office of Public Insurance Counsel. This a good resource for consumers to look and compare the various policies being offered by insurance companies. It is a good way to make sure apples are being compared with apples and not with oranges.

The most common policy is the Texas Homeowners Policy — Form B (HOB). This article is briefly discussing only the HOB.

Succesful Claim Against Home Builder In Texas

March 10, 2010 | Mark S. Humphreys

The topic of this piece is a case that arose out of Mansfield, Texas. The case could have just as easily arisen in Arlington, Grand Prairie, Fort Worth, Dallas, or out in Weatherford.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram published a story about a claim against a home builder for the builders faulty construction work.

Even when a claim is against a home builder for mistakes in the construction of the home, often times the same claim can be made against the insurance company that insures the home. The advantage of claiming against the home owners insurance is to, hopefully, get the matter resolved quickly rather than get involved in an extensive and long drawn-out court battle with the builder. Of course, sometimes it is just the opposite.