Articles Posted in Home Owners Policies

Stephenville homeowner lawyers need to read this opinion from the United States 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.  The opinion is styled, State Farm Fire & Casualty v. Cedric Flowers.

This is a appeal from a summary judgment granted in favor of State Farm in a declaratory judgement action.

In 2008, Cedric and Renee Flowers purchased a plot of land and asked Ricky and Jennifer Scott to build a house for them on the property.  The Flower’s were unable to get financing, so they quit claimed the property to the Scotts, who then obtained a construction loan under their own names, using the property as collateral.  The property was to be conveyed back to the Flowers after the house was built.  The Scotts eventually defaulted on the loan amid disputes with the Flower’s and a lawsuit resulted over the property.

House fire claims being denied is a regular part of doing for insurance law lawyers.  “The Tribune” published a story in March titled, Tracking Phones: Insurers Deny Claims Based On Doubtful Data.  Here is what the story tells us.

It took Jaclyn Bentley nearly three years to prove she didn’t burn her house down for the insurance money, allegations she and her lawyer say were born of the junk practice of analyzing cellphone tower data.

She was camping with her husband and co-workers at least 17 miles from her Iowa home in May 2014 when it burned down, she says.  An investigator for State Farm Fire said cell tower data showed Bentley’s phone was 5 to 12 miles from the campsite in the direction of her home just after the fire was reported – the suggestion being she could have been heading back to camp after starting the blaze.

Coastal Texans – you have to know your flood insurance policies.  This is perfectly illustrated in a 2016, Southern District, Galveston Division, opinion.  It is styled, Lobeck v. Licatino, et al.

The case was decided on a summary judgment.

In a nutshell, Lobeck bought property that, unknown to her, was located within the boundaries of the Coastal Barrier Resources System (CBRS).  Lobeck’s mortgage loan required her to maintain flood insurance on the property so she innocently procured an NFIP through the Defendants in this case.  The policy was subsequently reissued and then renewed the following year.  During the renewal year Hurricane Ike completely destroyed the building on the property and only then was Lobeck informed that her policy was void and had never afforded overage.  She received nothing for her property damage.  Consequently, Lobeck filed suit alleging that the Defendants knew or should have known that the property was ineligible for flood insurance under the NFIP, that the policy was void when issued, and that the policy offered absolutely no coverage.  According to Lobeck, the express and implicit misrepresentations of the Defendants, upon which she ignorantly, but reasonably relied, caused her losses.

Lawyers in Mason Texas who handle insurance claims know that many accidents are covered by a persons’ homeowners insurance.  But, intentional acts are not covered.  The Claims Journal published an article discussing this issue in January 2017.  The title of the article is, No Homeowner Liability Coverage For an Insured’s Negligent Assault, Even If Insured Was Intoxicated.

Nicholas Fiocchi sued Ronald Zatyco for assaulting him after a verbal argument between them at a bar earlier the same evening.  Fiocchi’s complaint attempted by artful pleading to capture Zatyco’s parents’ homeowners coverage, alleging that the assault was made “negligently” and “without provocation,” but offering no other factual detail.  In fact, the complaint was limited to just four paragraphs and, significantly, did not allege that Zatyco consumed any alcohol, was intoxicated or in any way cognitively impaired at the time of the assault.

Zatyco asked his parents’ homeowners insurer, Nationwide Property & Casualty, to defend and indemnify him against Fiocchi’s claim.  Nationwide defended Zatyco under a reservation of rights but refused to agree to indemnify him.  Instead, Nationwide brought its own lawsuit against Zatyco federal court to support a denial of all coverage for the claim.

The Insurance Journal has published an article that insurance lawyers and anybody who has property insurance needs to pay attention to.  The article is titled, Battle Over Property Claims And Litigation In Texas Set To Continue In 2017.

If a Dec. 1, 2016, hearing is any indication, Texas lawmakers will be encouraged in the coming leg­islative session to take up what the property/casualty insurance industry claims to be a problematic trend following sever weather-related events in the state: increased attorney and public adjuster involvement in residential property damage claims.

The Texas House of Representatives, Insurance Committee heard testimony from invited speakers about the preliminary results of a Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) study aimed at gathering information on residential property claims and any resulting litigation.  The legislature had asked TDI to study whether the data showed a trend of increased public adjuster or increased attorney involvement and, if so, to identify what impact such a trend might have on the property insurance market in the state.  This writer would argue that whether or not there is such a trend, it would be important to know what is the cause of the trend, i.e., impropriety on the part of the insurance companies or on the part of public adjusters or on the part of attorneys.