Dallas Fort Worth Insurance Lawyer Blog

Who Is Entitled To Recover Insurance Proceeds

October 13, 2018 | Mark S. Humphreys

Insurance attorneys always have to answer the above question when looking at an insurance policy case. This issue is discussed in the 1972 case from the Texarkana Court of Appeals styled, Doss v. Roberts.

This suit involves the division of monies received from the sale of land found not to be subject to partition in kind. Roberts brought suit to partition 22 acres of land jointly owned with James B. Doss. The jury found that the land was not subject to partition in kind, and the court ordered the land sold and monies divided. The parties each owned an undivided one-half interest in the property. The land was subject to a V.A. loan and lien. Doss purchased insurance on his interest in the dwelling located on the land in the amount of $10,000.00 and named the V.A. as loss payee. The improvements were destroyed. Doss paid the remaining balance due the V.A. in the sum of $8,964.87, and thereafter collected the insurance proceeds of $10,000.00. Roberts contended she was entitled to one-half of the insurance monies because the house was not rebuilt.

The main issue in this case is whether Roberts was entitled to one half of the proceeds from the insurance.

Liability On Insurance Policy

October 11, 2018 | Mark S. Humphreys

Seeing if there is liability on the insurance policy is one of the first things an insurance attorney needs to do when meeting with a prospective client.

In 1996, the Texas Supreme Court stated in Liberty Nat’l Fire Ins. Co. v. Akin, that insurance coverage claims and bad faith claims are by their nature independent. But, in most circumstances, an insured may not prevail on a bad faith claim without first showing that the insurer breached the contract.

In 1998, the Texas Supreme Court stated in Vail v. Texas Farm Bur. Mut. Ins. Co. that contractual liability is not essential to establish extracontractual liability, but it helps. For example, an insurer that owes policy benefits under the contract may also be found to have acted unfairly in refusing to pay those benefits.

Disability Policy Claim Denial

October 9, 2018 | Mark S. Humphreys

For lawyers who handle claims related to the denial of disability policies, there is some law that they have to know to effectively represent their clients.

Probably 90 percent of disability policies involve payments spread out over a period of time. When a claim for disability benefits is denied it can be anticipated that all future benefits are denied also.

When a insurance company who is obligated by contract to make monthly payments of money to another absolutely repudiates the obligation without just excuse, the obligee is “entitled to maintain his action in damages at once for the entire breach, and is entitled in one suit to receive in damages the present value of all that he would have received if the contract had been performed, and he is not compelled to resort to repeated suits to recover the monthly payments. This was discussed as early as the 1937, Texas Supreme Court opinion styled, Universal Life & Accident Insurance Company v. Sanders. As seen in the 1981, Dallas Court of Appeals opinion, Group Life and Health Insurance Company v. Turner, Repudiation is conduct that shows a fixed intention to abandon, renounce, and refuse to perform the contract.

Oral Insurance Contract

October 7, 2018 | Mark S. Humphreys

Whether you are an insurance lawyer in Grand Prairie, or Dallas, or Fort Worth, or anywhere else in Texas, Texas insurance law is the same. And one good part of that law is that there are situations where an oral insurance contract is enforceable.

This is seen in the 1949, Texas Supreme Court opinion, Pacific Fire Ins. Co. v. Donald.

Paul Donald sued four insurance companies to recover for the loss of 5500 bales of hay which were destroyed by fire while stored in a building situated in Bowie, Texas. Donald’s claim was that there was an oral contract between himself and Henry Moore, the insurance agent of the companies. A jury trial resulted in a verdict in favor of Donald and this appeal followed.

Bad Faith Insurance And Breach Of Contract

October 6, 2018 | Mark S. Humphreys

One very important aspect of suing an insurance company for bad faith in their claims handling process is that first, with extremely rare exception, you have to prove a breach of the insurance contract.

Insurance policies are contracts, and as such are subject to rules applicable to contracts generally.

A plaintiff seeking to recover on an insurance contract must prove that the contract was in force at the time of the loss. Also, a party who claims under a policy is required to produce the insurance contract upon which he sues or to prove its terms. This was made clear in the 1975, Tyler Court of Appeals opinion, Hartford Acc. & Indem. Co. v. Spain. And, as illustrated in the 1992, Dallas Court of Appeals opinion, St. Paul Ins. Co. v. Rakkar, to prove a breach of contract, the insured has to establish:

Misrepresentations By Insurance Companies

October 4, 2018 | Mark S. Humphreys

Here is something almost any insurance law attorney can tell you:

One of the most common bases for an insurance dispute is the complaint that someone misrepresented something. After a claim arises, the insured may feel that the coverage accepted by the insurer is less than the coverage promised at the time of sale. Depending on the facts of the case, a representation by the insurer or its agent may lead to liability for breach of contract, unfair insurance practices, deceptive trade practices, negligence, or fraud.

In the 2003, 14th Court of Appeals opinion, Vecellio Insurance Agency, Inc. v. Vanguard Underwriters Ins. Co., an insurer had an indemnity cause of action against one of its agents if the agent’s conduct resulted in vicarious liability for the insurer. Further, in the 2002, 14th Court of Appeals opinion, Omni Metals, Inc. v. Poe & Brown of Texas, Inc., it was found by the court that an agent may be held liable for misrepresentation in the case of a bailee liability policy even where the insured failed to read the coverage, where the jury could find that the insurer and the agent misrepresented the extent of coverage under the policy. The 2003, Austin Court of Appeals opinion, New York Life Ins. Co. v. Miller, sets out what constitutes negligent misrepresentation.

State Farm Insurance Tricks

October 2, 2018 | Mark S. Humphreys

It’s probably not right to pick only on State Farm. Most if not all, of the insurance companies or their individual employees will break the rules for their own gain. This is illustrated in a Chicago Tribune story titled, State Farm Pays $250 Million, Ducks Trial Over Allegations It Tried To Rig Illinois Justice System.

The story tells us State Farm agreed to pay $250 million on the brink of a trial to customers who claimed the company tried to rig Illinois justice system to wipe out a $1 billion jury verdict from 19 years ago.

The customers were seeking as much as $8.5 billion in damages in a civil racketeering trial that was set to start Tuesday in federal court in East St. Louis, Illinois. A judge granted preliminary approval to the accord and set a final fairness hearing for December.

Disability Policy Coverage Issues

September 30, 2018 | Mark S. Humphreys

Insurance lawyers who handle disability cases need to know these coverage issues.

Disability policies normally require that any claimed disability occur while the policy is in effect or within a specified time after any claimed accident or injury. As an example, the policy may provide coverage for an illness or injury that “totally and continuously disables the insured within 30 days of the date of the accident so as to prevent him from performing each and every duty pertaining to his occupation.”

Disability insurance policies usually distinguish between disabilities caused by illness and those resulting from accidental injury. This is seen in the 1978, Beaumont Court of Appeals opinion, Lone Star Life Ins. Co. v. Griffin. In this case the policy provided that the insurer would pay the insured $1,000 per month for 60 months for an accidental injury resulting in total disability and that it would pay $1,000 per month for 24 months for total disability resulting from sickness.

Liability Of Insurance Adjusters

September 29, 2018 | Mark S. Humphreys

Insurance attorneys representing the insureds would prefer to fight cases in State Court. One way of doing this is to successfully plead a case against the insurance adjuster. Insurance companies would prefer to fight in Federal Court.

Here is a case wherein the case was filed in State Court against the insurer and the adjuster and removed to Federal Court by the insurance company. The insurance company successfully kept the case in Federal court but expressly allowed the insured to replead the case against the adjuster.

The case was replead and now the insured is seeking to have the case remanded to the State Court. This 2018, opinion is from the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division and is styled, William W. Caruth, III, et al. v. Chubb Lloyd’s Insurance Company of Texas, et al.

Worker’s Comp. And Subrogation

September 28, 2018 | Mark S. Humphreys

The 14th Court of Appeals issued an opinion recently dealing with Texas Workers Compensation law and subrogation. The opinion is styled, Liberty Mutual Insurance Company v. Buddy J. Trahan.

When as in this case, a person suffers an injury due to the actions of a third party and the injured person is on a job that is covered by Texas Workers Compensation benefits and those benefits as paid, as a general rule the workers compensation carrier has subrogation interests in any recovery made by the injured employee against the responsible third party.

It is important that these subrogation interests are handled properly to keep the injured employee and others from being sued by the workers compensation carrier for monies recovered from the third party.