Dallas Fort Worth Insurance Lawyer Blog

The Contact Rule For Uninsured Motorist Coverage

July 27, 2013 | Mark S. Humphreys

Dallas insurance lawyers should be aware of the “contact rule” as it relates to uninsured motorist coverage on an automobile. A 1972 case styled, Latham v. Mountain States Mutual Fire Insurance Co is a good example of how the “contact rule” works. This case comes from the Houston Court of Appeals [1st Dist].

As a premise for the case, it is important to start with the statute governing this rule. The statute is found in the Texas Insurance Code, Section 1952.104. It says that for there to be coverage under the uninsured motorist portion of a policy that “…, actual physical contact must have occurred between the motor vehicle owned or operated by the unknown person and the person or property of the insured.”

Here is some of the relevant information in Latham:

Under What Circumstances Does Uninsured Motorist Pay?

July 25, 2013 | Mark S. Humphreys

Dallas insurance lawyers need to be able to discuss this question with clients.

The Texas Insurance Code, Section 1952.104(3) says:

…..

Texas Insurance Code And The Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act

July 23, 2013 | Mark S. Humphreys

Here is some information that all Dallas and Fort Worth insurance lawyers should know.

The Texas Insurance Code sections and Deceptive Trade Practices Act(DTPA) were adopted together by the Texas Legislature in the 1970’s as part of a reform legislation package. They are interrelated and incorporate each other.

Texas Insurance Code, Section 541.008 tells us the provisions of the Code are to be liberally construed and applied to promote its underlying purposes to define and prohibit unfair and deceptive practices in the business of insurance.

Insurance Company Trying To Be In Federal Court

July 21, 2013 | Mark S. Humphreys

Dallas insurance lawyers will want to know the ways that help to keep a case out of Federal Court. The United States District Court, Southern District, Houston Division, issued an opinion that provides one way of staying out of Federal Court. The style of the case is, Jorrie Williams v. Companion Property & Casualty Insurance Co.

Here is relevant information to be known.

Williams filed a state-court suit asserting claims. (This was the second of two lawsuits) The petition included a stipulation that damages were less than $75,000. Defendant had the case removed to this court on the basis of diversity jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a). Williams moved to remand based on the damages stipulation and lack of diversity of citizenship.

Attorney Fees In Insurance Cases

July 20, 2013 | Mark S. Humphreys

Fort Worth insurance lawyers need to know about this Beaumont Court of Appeals case. It is styled, Joe Ware v. United Fire Lloyds.

It is an appeal by Ware wherein he is disputing the trial court’s award of attorney fees in a property insurance dispute. He was awarded $3,133.20 in the case but he felt like he proved attorney fees of $133,497.00.

Ware owned two commercial properties in Orange County at the time of Hurricane Rita in 2005 and Hurricane Ike in 2008. After Hurricane Rita, but before Hurricane Ike, Ware filed a lawsuit on an insurance claim for damage to the properties. He was paid $146,170.85. After Hurricane Ike, Ware filed a claim for damage to the same properties. Ware made a written pre-suit demand of $187,121.51. Lloyds paid Ware $12,197.81 on the Ike claim.

Insurance Company Trying To Recover Payments

July 18, 2013 | Mark S. Humphreys

Here is a story all attorneys need to know and be able to tell their clients about.

The story is from The Southeast Texas Legal Journal. The title of the story is “Insurance Company Seeking Reimbursement For Money Paid Following Collision.”

The article tells us that an insurance company has filed suit against a Beaumont woman after it doled out more than $6,000 to one of its clients following a collision.

Weird Auto Insurance

July 16, 2013 | Mark S. Humphreys

Dallas attorneys dealing with used car lot situations would want to know about this recent opinion from the Austin Court of Appeals. The case is styled, SideCars, Inc. v Texas Department of Insurance, et al.

Here is some background information.

This was a summary judgment case wherein the trial court ruled in favor of the Texas Department of Insurance against SideCars and SideCars appealed.

Life Insurance Denial

July 14, 2013 | Mark S. Humphreys

Fort Worth life insurance attorneys will want to ready this Dallas case. The case is styled, Bich Ngoc Nguyen v. Allstate Insurance Company and Lincoln Benefit Life Insurance Company. The opinion is from the Dallas Court of Appeals and was issued on May 29, 2013.

Here is some relevant information from this summary judgement case:

On May 12, 2008, Bich’s mother, Anh Nguyen (Ahn), contacted Suong Truong, an insurance agent, about purchasing life insurance. Anh did not speak, read, or write English and discussed the purchase with Truong in Vietnamese. Truong completed the application for life insurance in English, and Anh signed the application. In the application, Anh answered “no” to questions about any existing health conditions, including whether, in the past ten years, she had been treated for, had any sign or symptom of, or been told that she had a lung disorder. She also denied that she had seen a doctor or been hospitalized during the five years preceding the application. Truong submitted the application for life insurance to Lincoln.

What Can Happen When Insurance Company Refuses To Pay

July 13, 2013 | Mark S. Humphreys

Fort Worth Insurance lawyers will like telling clients about a case that went to trial in Jefferson County, Texas, in May 2013.

This blog tells one story after another about situations involving insurance and claims. The Southeast Texas Record, a Legal Journal ran a story titled, “Hurrican Ike Trial: Jurors Hit National Lloyds With $915K Verdict.” Here is what the article tells us:

A Jefferson County jury recently found National Lloyds Insurance committed deceptive trade practices in the handling of a policy claim following Hurricane Ike, awarding the plaintiff nearly a million dollars in damages.

Insurance Misrepresentation

July 11, 2013 | Mark S. Humphreys

Dallas insurance lawyers need to know insurance misrepresentation when they see it. The Texas Insurance Code Section 541.061(2) makes it illegal for an insurance company to fail to disclose relevant information. The Texas DTPA does the same thing in Section 17.46(b)(24). There are several sections of the insurance code that make misrepresentation illegal, most of which is found in Chapter 541.

Section 541 prohibits making any statement, whether it is oral or in writing, misrepresenting the terms of a policy, the benefits, advantages, or dividends of a policy, among other things. The purpose of the statute of in preventing one insurer to make misrepresentations in efforts to induce a policyholder from changing to another company.

Section 541.052 prohibits making any advertisement or statement containing any assertion, representation, or statement with respect to the business of insurance or with respect to any person in the conduct of his insurance business that is untrue, deceptive, or misleading, whether it be oral or in writing.