Almost all homeowners policies will require the insured to use “reasonable care” to protect their property from damages. Here is a 2025 opinion from the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division, that deals with that issue. The opinion is styled, Dorcas Giwa v. State Farm Lloyds. This is a summary…
Interpreting an insurance policy is a cause for many lawsuits. This is illustrated in a January 2025 opinion from the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. The opinion is styled, Andre Huizar v. Benchmark Insurance Company. On summary judgment, the district court dismissed Huizar’s breach of contract…
This 2024 opinion is from the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. The opinion is styled, Johnetta Askey Hunt v. Meridian Security Insurance Company. This is a case that had resulted in a summary judgment for the insurance company Meridian. On June 16, 2020, Johnetta Askew Hunt…
Here is a policy interpretation case from the United States Fifth Circuit. The opinion was issued on June 2, 2022, and is styled, Kiolbassa Provision Company, Incorporated v. Travelers Property Casualty Company of America. Kiolbassa ran out of storage space in its warehouse and loaded 49,016 pounds of organic beef…
Here is an interesting claim denial. The case is a 2022, from the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division. It is styled, Sergio and Maria Weitzman v. Allstate Vehicle and Property Insurance Company. The Weitzman’s bottle wine in Argentina and sell it, for money, to and through their Texas company,…
Reading the life insurance policy all the way through is vital to understanding the coverage therein. This is illustrated in a 2022 opinion from the U.S. 5th Circuit. The style of the opinion is Landmark American Insurance Company v. SCE Memorial Place II, L.L.C. This case is about whether an…
Life Insurance claims attorneys need to understand the important distinction between statements by the insured that are considered to be representations and those considered to be conditions precedent. If the insured’s statement is considered a representation, a false statement alone will not let the insurer avoid coverage. Each of the…
Life insurance lawyers, disability lawyers, auto policy lawyers, homeowners policy lawyers, and any other type of insurance lawyer needs to be able to read an insurance policy and know how the Courts interpret policies. A principle that has particular impact is the rule that insurance policies are strictly construed in…
Insurance lawyers need to know how insurance contracts are interpreted by the Courts. The 1984, Texas Supreme Court opinion styled, Puckett v. U.S. Fire Ins. Co., says that the rule for insurance policies is that they are strictly construed in favor of the insured to avoid excluding coverage. Exceptions or…
Bad faith insurance lawyers always want to see the policy a potential client has when a claim is denied. The words in the policy compared with the facts of the case will often determine whether or not the attorney can be helpful. When a policy has words or wording that…