Home Owners Policies

Title Insurance In Texas

February 15, 2010 | Mark S. Humphreys

If a Grand Prairie resident buys a new home, 95% of the time he is also going to be required to purchase a title insurance policy. This would be the same for a resident of Arlington, Dallas, Fort Worth, or Weatherford.

The Texas Supreme Court decided a case in 1994 that is relavent to home buyers and purchasers of title insurance policies. The case is styled, Chicago Title Insurance Company v. Jerry E. McDaniel and Christina W. McDaniel.

This case involves a claim against Chicago Title Insurance Company for violations of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act (DTPA). The McDaniels purchased a title insurance policy issued by Chicago Title. The policy guaranteed the McDaniels had good and indefeasible title to the estate or interest in land described in the policy, which was the home they had purchased. This was in 1983.

Intentional Acts Not Covered In Insurance Policy

February 14, 2010 | Mark S. Humphreys

Insurance policies have different forms of coverage depending on what it is that the policyholder purchases. In Texas, a homeowners policy purchased in Grand Praire, Arlington, Dallas, Fort Worth, or Weatherford, is going to have the same basic coverage. Parts of this coverage is for losses such as water damage, hail, fire, wind, and others. But most homeowners insurance policies also have liability coverage.

Liability coverage is coverage that protects and pays on behalf of the policyholder for injuries to others caused by the negligent acts of the policyholder. The normal homeowners policy is not going to pay or protect from acts that are voluntary or committed on purpose.

A lawsuit litigating this issue was decided by a Texas Appeals Court in Houston. The name on the case is State Farm Lloyds v. Henderson, et al. In this case, the underlying facts were that Henderson, after drinking a large amount of alcohol, punched a guy named Burnley in the face causing severe bruises and cuts and the loss of one of Burnley’s teeth. Henderson was sued by Burnley. State Farm Lloyds was obligated to defend if the injuries sustained by Burnley were the result of an accident. If the injuries to Burnley were intentionally or voluntarily caused by Henderson, then State Farm did not have an obligation to defend Henderson, or to pay for any of the damages suffered by Burnley.

Another Chinese Drywall Case

January 30, 2010 | Mark S. Humphreys

Lucky for the homeowners in the Dallas, Fort Worth, Arlington, Grand Prairie, Weatherford, and surrounding areas, the Chinese drywall cases are a non-issue. But for many of the people along the Texas Gulf Coast and other Gulf Coast areas, it is a major and expensive problem.
WCI Communities is a homebuilder in the Southeastern United States. They had to file bankruptcy in 2009 because of issues related to Chinese drywall. This situation is discussed in the Insurance Journal. The article in the Insurance Journal is titled “WCI Chinese Drywall Trust Files Suit Against 14 Insurers”. The WCI Drywall Trust was formed in July 2009, after the bankruptcy of the homebuilder WCI Communities and its subsidiaries. Its purpose is to assume liability for claims alleging harm from Chinese drywall installed in homes built by WCI. More than 700 homeowners may seek recovery through the Trust.
The Trust filed suit against 14 insurance companies in the United States District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana, seeking indemnification for losses arising from claims for the development and sale of homes allegedly containing defective Chinese manufactured drywall.

More News On Katrina And Homeowners Insurance Claims

January 21, 2010 | Mark S. Humphreys

Residents of Dallas, Fort Worth, Arlington, Grand Prairie, and surrounding areas are fortunate in that they are not having to deal with the difficulties being faced by homeowners in the Gulf Coast areas of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. The damages following hurricanes Ike, Katrina, and others are causing nightmares for homeowners who are trying to get their insurance companies to properly and promptly pay the claims for damages to their homes.

The Sun Herald ran an article on December 21, 2009, that addresses more of the continueing problems these Gulf Coast residents are having with their insurance companies. The title of the article, “State Farm pays up, but argues award was in error”, doesn’t tell the whole story.

State Farm Fire & Casualty Company, recently paid a couple $179,100.31 for Katrina damage, but the check came to late to save the home of Henry and June Kuehn. The now years old claim of the Kuehn’s, was ordered to be paid by a U.S. District Judge, back in August of 2009. This ordered payment was based on an appraisal award reached by an appraiser for each side, State Farm and the Kuehn’s, and an umpire, who said the amount they considered was only for damage above the second-story water line in the house.

Drywall Cases Probably Do Not Affect Dallas Or Fort Worth Texas

January 17, 2010 | Mark S. Humphreys

The Chinese drywall cases that have been in the news the last year or so, are primarily affecting home owners along the Gulf Coast. If you live in Texas you are not likely to be affected by the claims resulting from these defective drywalls. Especially if you live in the crowded Dallas and Fort Worth areas. However if you live in areas such as Louisiana and Mississippi, these cases are attracting a lot of attention.

The Times-Picayune recently ran a story that addressed the drywall cases that have been causing problems since the hurricanes in recent years. This story informs its readers that New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton is the lead plaintiff in a 591-page class action Chinese drywall suit. The company being sued is Knauf Plasterboard Tainjin Co. Ltd., a Chinese company manufacturing company producing the drywall.

The drywall at issue in this case is supposedly causing homes to corrode and making people sick. In the context of homeowners insurance, a lot of insurance companies are refusing coverage for the losses caused by this drywall being installed in the homes.

Insurance Debate

December 11, 2009 | Mark S. Humphreys

This blog does not try to spend time on the health care debate occurring on the National scene. Rather the focus here is to make people aware of their rights as they relate to their dealings with insurance companies and why they need an experience Insurance Law Attorney when faced with a problem when dealing with an insurance company. The occassional news item is thrown in when it relates to a large number of people, some of whom may be in Texas.

Recent articles on the Chinese drywall, sold by Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin, affecting many residents along the Gulf Coast pointed out that new construction and remodeling done after hurricanes hit the areas on the Gulf Coast have left many homeowners in rough financial situations. This is because many insurance companies refuse to cover the losses resulting from using this drywall.

One recent article points out that the deadline for involvement in a national class action lawsuit against Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin expired on December 2. This lawsuit involves about 35,000 Florida homes where about 30 percent of the installations of this drywall are believed to have occurred.

Texas Windstorm Insurance Association Crying “Help”

November 22, 2009 | Mark S. Humphreys

The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association, has found itself in an unfortunate position. The position is a creation of their own actions. Those actions were actions whereby they refused to pay proper claims to policyholders who suffered damages because of the hurricanes, Ike, Dolly, and Rita.

TWIA is crying “help” because they are afraid they are going to be punished for not properly paying claims to their policyholders. They are asking that they be immune from paying penalties, policyholder attorneys’ fees, and other expenses coming out of litigation that resulted from their conduct.

The windstorm association is a state-created insurer and is claiming that because they are an instrument of government that they should have immunity. Lawyers for the policyholders say that TWIA is effectively a private company, and that immunity would effect the over 900 lawsuits pending against TWIA.

Jury Says No To Punitive Damages

November 21, 2009 | Mark S. Humphreys

The previous post to this blog talked about penalties Texas insurance companies face when they do not properly handle a claim that is presented to them by one of their insureds. Recently an insurance case was tried in Federal Court in Mississippi. The case arose out of a lose suffered by Reginald Bossier for damages resulting from Hurricane Katrina. In the case, the jury declined to award any amount of monies for punitive damages.

The insurance company being sued was State Farm. Notice also, that this case was in Federal Court. Earlier posts on this blog have pointed out that the insurance company would always prefer to be in Federal Court, rather than State Court. In this case, the jury compensated Bossier $52,300 for damages to an outbuilding destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. However, the jury refused to punish State Farm for any amount of punitive damages. State Farm had paid for some home damage resulting from the high winds but was refusing to pay for damages caused by water.

The attorney for Bossier had asked the jury to award Bossier $2 million to punish State Farm. That anything less than $2 million would not get State Farm’s attention. The attorney also pointed out that “State Farm would rather pay its lawyers than its insureds.” She also told the jury that if State Farm were not punished then they would continue to deny claims.

Small $$$ Insurance Claims And Staying Out Of Federal Court

November 16, 2009 | Mark S. Humphreys

It is not unusual for an attorney to wish he could land a case worth millions of dollars. Every person who gets taken advantage of by an insurance company wishes they could sue the company and be compensated for millions of dollars. But the reality of everyday wrongs in the area of insurance law involve sums of money totaling much smaller amounts than millions of dollars.

What most people do not realize is the costs sometimes involved in fighting insurance claims. Most of the time an insurance company is not all that concerned about the cost. Their goal is to discourage people from challenging their decisions on claims. A lawsuit in State Court may cost an insurance company anywhere from $100 per hour to $300 per hour. That same case in Federal Court may cost $300 to $600 per hour with more hours being spent.

So why do insurance companies try to get lawsuits that are filed in State Court, removed to Federal Court? Because their chances of winning is usually better or if they lose, the dollar amount they lose is generally less when in Federal Court.

Under-Payment Of Texas Insurance Claims

November 14, 2009 | Mark S. Humphreys

Can it be a surprise? Insurance companies appear to be getting caught in under paying on claims. The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) seems to be caught in some controversy regarding its claims handling along the Texas Gulf Coast. Keep in mind the problems being experienced could just as easily be happening in Fort Worth, Dallas, Grand Prairie, Arlington, or even a small town like Weatherford out in Parker County.

This problem is written about in an article in the Houston Chronicle titled “Lawsuit Says Windstorm Insurer Rigged Process”. The article discusses TWIA using prices lower than market rates to estimate materials and repair costs. TWIA is said to also be unfairly limiting costs on roof repairs and discouraging the reopening of closed claims.

In a lawsuit resulting from some of the abuses by TWIA, documents and software is said to have been discovered that supports the claims that the abuses are being committed. One example of the abuse was discovered when one adjusting firm reported the market rate for roof repairs to be $230 to $255 per 100 square feet, but TWIA’s price was $182. In another situation it is said that they suggested using shingles off one house that were not in too bad shape, to put on another house. This does not sound right to most people but may actually be allowed depending on the language in the insurance policy.