Dallas Fort Worth Insurance Lawyer Blog

Auto Insurance And Excluded Drivers

September 12, 2010 | Mark S. Humphreys

A question that may be asked by a resident of Grand Prairie, Arlington, Dallas, Mansfield, Irving, Mesquite, Garland, Fort Worth, Duncanville, or other places in Texas might be; What is an “excluded driver?”

An excluded driver is essentially someone who is driving a car without insurance because that person is excluded from coverage by the insurance policy. This usually happens with teenage drivers who the parents have excluded from coverage on the insurance policy to avoid having to pay the higher premiums the teenage driver would cause by being on the policy.

An excluded driver case was decided by the Court of Appeals of Texas, Houston (14th Dist.), on August 12, 2010. The case is styled, Jose A. Perez and Nancy C. Perez v. Old American County Mutual Fire Insurance Company. The courts’ opinion was issued by Justice, Tracy Christopher.

Automobile Insurance Policy

September 11, 2010 | Mark S. Humphreys

Oops! That’s what someone from Aledo, Hurst, Euless, Bedford, De Soto, Dallas, Fort Worth, Grand Prairie, Arlington, and other cities might say when they wait too long to consult with an experienced Insurance Law Attorney. When a claim is denied it is vital that the person who has that claim denied contact an attorney asap.

The Court of Appeals of Texas, El Paso, rendered a decision on August 24, 2010, where it appears the claimant waited too long to make their claim. The style of this case is, Sonia Caballero de Rangel and Eliazar Rangel v. Progressive County Mutual Insurance Company. The opinion is written by Justice, Ann Crawford McClure.

Here are some facts. On October 20, 2001, the Rangels purchased a vehicle. On the same day they obtained insurance coverage from Progressive for the vehicle. On June 3, 2006, the Rangels drove the vehicle to Juarez, Mexico, and it was stolen. Ms Rangel told a claims adjuster that she drove the vehicle to Juarez on a daily basis because her mother cared for her children. When the adjuster asked if she had driven it thirty times to Juarez in the month, Ms Rangel stated, “No, approximately 20 times per month … I would estimate.” Progressive denied the Rangels theft claim based on a provision in the policy excluding coverage if the vehicle was driven into Mexico more than ten times in the thirty day period leading up to the actual date of loss.

Insurance Law / Policies & Exemplary Damages

September 8, 2010 | Mark S. Humphreys

Here is information for people living in Grand Prairie, Arlington, Mansfield, Burleson, Benbrook, Dallas, Fort Worth, and other places in Texas. If has to do with “exemplary damages.”

Exemplary damages, often called punative damages, are damages awarded in a lawsuit when the defendant’s willful acts were malicious, violent, oppressive, fraudulent, wanton, or grossly reckless.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled in a case on August 27, 2010, that dealt with a exemplary damages and insurance policies. Judge Haynes issued the opinion of the Court. The style of the case is, Darrell D. Minter, As Receiver, v. Great American Insurance Company of New York.

“Total Loss” In An Insurance Policy

September 5, 2010 | Mark S. Humphreys

Unfortunately, at some point a person in Grand Prairie, Arlington, Weatherford, Dallas, Fort Worth, Crowley, Aledo, Benbrook, and other places in Texas will experience a property loss. This loss may be to their home or their car or some other piece of property. The question will then be; Is the property a “total loss” or is it repairable?

BusinessDirectory.com defines total loss as: Destruction of an asset or property to the extent that nothing of value is left, and the item cannot be repaired or rebuilt to its pre-destruction state. It then says, “some types insurance policies pay the maximum covered amount only in case of total loss.” What is important here is how total loss is determined regarding an insurance policy.

A case decided in 1995 is worth looking at to help understand how a “total loss” is determined. The case was decided by the Texas Supreme Court and is styled, State Farm Fire & Casualty Company and State Farm Lloyds v. Ronald and Marilyn Mower.

“Family Member” In Auto Policy

September 2, 2010 | Mark S. Humphreys

If you live in Mansfield, Arlington, Dallas, Fort Worth, Grand Prairie, Hurst, Euless, Bedford, Grapevine, Keller, Colleyville, or anywhere else in Texas, how is “family member” defined in a Texas Insurance Policy?

The answer would seem to be simple on its face, but it is not. If you are having to decide this based on the definition in an automobile insurance policy, here is a “standard” definition in most auto policies:

Family member means a person who is a resident of your household and related to you by blood, marriage or adoption. This definition includes a ward or foster child who is a resident of your household, and also includes your spouse even when not a resident of your household during a period of separation in contemplation of divorce.

Is Personal Injury Protection (PIP) Required?

September 1, 2010 | Mark S. Humphreys

Drivers in Arlington, Grand Prairie, Mansfield, Duncanville, De Soto, Flower Mound, Haslet, Benbrook, Saginaw, Newark, Crowley, Dallas, Fort Worth, and other places may ask the above question. Like most questions that are legal in nature, the answer is: It depends? Look at this case for guidance.

In 2003, the Austin Court of Appeals decided the case Taylor v. State Farm Lloyds, Inc. Here are the relevant facts in this case. Taylor purchased multi-peril insurance for her business from State Farm in 1993. At that time, multi-peril insurance policies were promulgated by the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI). Within that policy, State Farm offered limited non-owned auto liability insurance. Taylor purchased hired auto liability insurance as an endorsement to her multi-peril policy. In 1996, TDI allowed State Farm to write its own multi-peril auto policy subject to TDI’s approval. At that time, State Farm issued hired and non-owned auto liability coverage as an endorsement to Taylor’s multi-peril policy. None of the hired and non-owned auto liability coverage State Farm issued included PIP or UM/UIM coverage. Taylor contends that State Farm was required to issue PIP and UM/UIM coverage. State Farm rejoins that TDI has the authority to regulate certain auto insurance by other provisions of the insurance code when TDI determines that it is appropriate. State Farm further asserts that TDI has chosen to regulate hired and non-owned auto coverage under the multi-peril subchapter of the insurance code rather than the auto liability subchapter, and therefore, PIP and UM/UIM coverages are not mandatory with regard to the hired and non-owned auto liability insurance that forms a limited part of the multi-peril insurance Taylor purchased for her business.

The issue for the court was whether PIP and UM/UIM coverage is mandatory when an endorsement for hired and non-owned auto liability is added to a business’s multi-peril insurance policy.

Insurance Policy Declarations Page

August 31, 2010 | Mark S. Humphreys

Someone from Dallas, Fort Worth, Mansfield, Arlington, Grand Prairie, Benbrook, Aledo, Burleson, or anywhere else in Texas might ask. What is the declarations page?

One web-site describes the “declarations page”, otherwise known as the “dec page”, very simply as “this page contains the basic terms of coverage. It is an outline of who and what is covered.”

Insurance policies normally contain a declarations page or pages. This page sets forth the identity of the insured, the policy limits, and the duration of coverage, and it identifies the attached policy forms. The main function of the declarations page is to customize the policy for the particular insured and the specific risks covered by the policy. This is set out in the 14th Houston Court of Appeals case, Frazier v. Wallis, decided in 1998. And the San Antonio Court of Appeals case, Ortiz v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, in 1997.

Home Owners Claims Being Denied

August 29, 2010 | Mark S. Humphreys

Home owners in Benbrook, Arlington, Grand Prairie, Mansfield, Dallas, Fort Worth, Azle, Aledo, and other places in Texas need to know about what is happening with home owner insurance claims across the nation. Being informed helps you keep your “guard up” when dealing with a home owners claim.

The Washington Post ran an article on August 17, 2010, dealing with policyholders having their home damage claims being denied. The author of the article is Greg Risling and the title of the article is “Suit: Farmers Hasn’t Paid California Wildfire Claims.”

The lawsuit that this article is about was filed in Los Angeles. In the lawsuit it is alleged that Farmers Group Inc. is refusing to pay claims to policyholders whose homes were damaged in last summer’s massive Station Fire.

Insurance Refusing To Pay In A Car Wreck

August 28, 2010 | Mark S. Humphreys

It will probably happen to most people at one time or another. Including residents of Dallas, Arlington, Grand Prairie, Mansfield, Burleson, Crowley, De Soto, Mesquite, Weatherford, and lots of other towns and cities in North Texas. An insurance company will refuse a reasonable offer from you or your attorney to settle a claim you have against the insured of an insurance company. If it happens – what can be done?

This article will focus on one aspect of the above. That aspect is when a third party claimant has his demand for a settlement refused by the other person’s insurance company. This happens in lots of scenarios but the most common is a car wreck. The most common situation is where the third party causes a wreck wherein the claimant has damages that exceed the insurance policy limits of the third party who caused the damages. Example – The third party has insurance coverage for the state’s required minimum as of this date, $25,000. The person injured has medical bills exceeding $40,000 plus another $10,000 in lost wages, plus he is entitled to compensation for his impairment, and pain and suffering.

Next, the injured person through his attorney demands that the insurance company for the person who caused the wreck to pay $120,000 to settle the claim or policy limits, which ever is less. The insurance company refuses to pay. The injured person sues the person who caused the wreck and gets a judgment for $120,000. The insurance pays only the $25,000 that they insured and now the injured person has a judgment against the responsible person for the balance. Of course, most of the time the only money this person has is the money he is insured for.

Life Insurance Claims And Payments

August 26, 2010 | Mark S. Humphreys

Life insurance is something most people in Arlington, Dallas, Fort Worth, Grand Prairie, Mansfield, Weatherford, and other places in Texas pay for each month. Of course, the reason it is purchased is to help in a financial way those left behind. Those left behind are spouses and children nine times out of ten.

The amount of money tied up in life insurance policies nationwide is staggering. Insurance companies make lots of money on the premiums paid to them for the policies and most people understand and accept that. What bothers people is when the life insurance companies continue making money after a claim is made and that money is made at the expense of the beneficiaries of the life insurance policies.

Bloomberg ran an article on this topic on August 16, 2010. The authors are David Evans and Hui-yong Yu. The title of the article is, “U.S. Insurance Regulators Issue Consumer Alert on Death Benefits.”The article tells us that State insurance regulators, under pressure to improve disclosure of death benefit payment options, issued a consumer alert about the industry practice of retaining funds rather than paying them in a lump sum.