Dallas Fort Worth Insurance Lawyer Blog
The above title is a good question. Here is my good answer. See an attorney who handles Insurance Law issues.
A Dallas County case decided in 2008, confronted this issue when trying to decide what “replacement” meant in an insurance policy issued by three underwriters on some apartments. On July 2, 2004, fire damaged the property in dispute. A claim was made under the insurance policy for the loss, and the underwriters paid the insureds almost $300,000 as the actual cash value of the property. The apartments were eventually demolished, and the lots remained vacant.
On March 14, 2006, the insureds purchased an interest in an industrial property located in Houston. The insureds notified the underwriters that they were now “replacing” their previous loss and because the insurance policy provided for more money in “replacement” costs, the insureds sought to recover a little over $200,000 more.
The court in this case went into a discussion of various policy terms and the meaning of those terms. A lot of the discussion was favorable to the insureds but eventually the court decided that replacement meant something more similar to what originally existed. In this case it was apartments that were destroyed and the insured did not have to rebuild or replace on the same lot some more apartments. But replacing the apartments with an industrial building in Houston was too much of a stretch.
These cases can be difficult to analyze. Giving good advice to a client who wants to know all their advantages and benefits under a policy of insurance can be difficult for even an experienced insurance attorney. The thing to know is that an attorney who practices law in this area is most familiar with the way the courts analyze these issues.
If you are in the Dallas Fort Worth area or any of the surrounding communities and you believe you may be entitled to benefits under your policy of insurance that you are not receiving, call Insurance Law Attorney Mark Humphreys.