Dallas Fort Worth Insurance Lawyer Blog

Use Of An Automobile In An Insurance Policy

June 4, 2013 | Mark S. Humphreys

Weatherford insurance attorneys need to know about this recent case out of the Houston (14th) Court of Appeals. The style of the case is Farmers Insurance Exchange and Allstate County Mutual Insurance Company v. Juan Rodriguez. The opinion was issued in 2012.

The following facts are undisputed. Using a trailer hitched to his pickup truck, Woodling transported a deer stand from his deer lease to his residence. He pulled into his driveway and attempted to remove the deer stand from the trailer. He pushed the deer stand out of the trailer until the legs on the stand touched the driveway. He left the stand resting at a 30-degree angle against the trailer. He then attached a come-along 2 to a fence post and to the stand and attempted to raise the stand upright. Realizing he could not accomplish the task alone, he requested assistance from his neighbor, Rodriguez. Rodriguez and Woodling decided to lift the stand manually by walking forward out of the trailer and onto the driveway. They began in the trailer, each using both hands to push the stand upward. Then they stepped onto the driveway and took “one or two” more steps. When the stand was no longer touching the trailer, Woodling realized it was too heavy and yelled, “Juan, I can’t hold it. Jump.” Woodling then jumped away, leaving Rodriguez alone to hold the stand, which weighed approximately 350 pounds. The stand fell, and Rodriguez was injured.

The liability provisions of the Farmers homeowners policy contain the following exclusion for bodily injury claims: “arising out of the ownership, maintenance, operation, use, loading or unloading of … trailers [or] semi-trailers” except for “trailers or semitrailers while not being towed by or carried on a motor vehicle.”

Insurance Company Breaking The Law

June 2, 2013 | Mark S. Humphreys

Dallas lawyers need to be aware of insurance companies that are breaking the laws so that they can scrutinize new cases with an awareness of the wrongs these companies have a history of performing.

The Virginia Times Dispatch ran an article on April 10, 2013, titled, Texas Insurance Firm Accused of Defrauding Tech Students. The article tells us a Texas company that provided health insurance to Virginia Tech students fraudulently overstated claims by more than $9 million to boost its profits, according to a 57-count federal indictment unsealed Tuesday.

The grand jury indictment in U.S. District Court in Abingdon charges GM-Southwest Inc. and its former owner, John Paul Gutschlag Sr., with racketeering, conspiracy, money laundering and fraud.

Title Insurance Information

June 1, 2013 | Mark S. Humphreys

Dallas insurance attorneys need to know a few of the regulations regarding title insurance policies.

The title insurance business in Texas is almost completely regulated by the Texas Department of Insurance, and policies may not be issued except as provided by Title 11 of the Texas Insurance Code. This section of the Texas Insurance Code is also known as the “Texas Title Insurance Act.”

Any person, business, corporation, whether in Texas or outside of Texas, which engages in providing title insurance, and their agents, must operate under the control and supervision of the rules promulgated by the Commissioner of the Texas Department of Insurance. This rule is found in Section 2703.001.

Title Insurance

May 30, 2013 | Mark S. Humphreys

Dallas insurance lawyers also need to know about “title insurance.”

When purchasing land or anything that sits on land, the buyer will want to verify that the seller of the land is the true owner of the land and has good title to the land. If the buyer has a lender involved, the lender will usually require title insurance as a condition of the loan. There are many interests that land could be subject to. These interests include liens, mineral interests, easements, rights of way, etc. The purchaser of title insurance is seeking to avoid the necessity and responsibility of checking, examining and analyzing public records to determine the title to the land. Thus, a title company is sought to do this research and issue title insurance. A title insurance company is to:

1) check the status of the title to the property; and

Disability Insurance Policies

May 28, 2013 | Mark S. Humphreys

Arlington lawyers need to have understanding of disability insurance policies to properly advise a prospective client.

Regarding the commencement of coverage, disability policies normally require that any claimed disability occur while the policy is in effect or within a specified time after the claimed accident or injury. Here is an example. A 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 or her from performing each and every duty pertaining to his or her occupation.”

Most disability insurance policies will distinguish between disabilities caused by illness and those resulting from accidental injury. The Beaumont Court of Appeals issued an opinion in 1978, in the case Lone Star Life Insurance Company v. Griffin, wherein a policy provided that the insurance company 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.

Disability Insurance Issues

May 26, 2013 | Mark S. Humphreys

Arlington insurance attorneys need to know the issues presented in policies of disability insurance.

Disability income policies typically specify an amount that will be paid in the event of a disability, as that disability is defined in the policy, and a maximum length of time for which such benefits will be paid. An example would be $1,000 a month for 180 months.

Something to be aware of is that the policy holder does not always have to prove that they actually lost the amount of earnings protected. Most the time, the benefits are payable even if the policy holder is unemployed at the time of the disability.

Test For Disability Coverage

May 25, 2013 | Mark S. Humphreys

Fort Worth insurance attorneys who handle disability insurance claims need to know about this case. It is styled Occidental Life Insurance Co. v. Duncan. The opinion was issued by the San Antonio Court of Appeals in 1966.

Here is some relevant information.

Duncan was engaged in the selling of labels as an independent contractor on a commission basis. The company he represents manufactures labels and Duncan sells them, generally to canners. He has been in the label selling business for some twenty years. He was in an airplane accident on October 25, 1957, and was rather severely injured, Occidental paid him for total disability from the time of his accident until September, 1963, when it stopped payment. This suit by Duncan followed.

Knowledge Of Insurance Misrepresentations

May 23, 2013 | Mark S. Humphreys

Fort Worth Insurance Attorneys need to know an important statute in the Texas Insurance Code.

That statute is Section 705.105.

The 1969, San Antonio Court of Appeals case, Prudential Insurance Company of America v. Torres, does a good job of explaining the statute. Here are some relevant parts of that case:

Life Insurance Lawyer And Incontestability Clause

May 21, 2013 | Mark S. Humphreys

Dallas life insurance attorneys need to know about the incontestability clause in life insurance contracts.

What most people don’t know is that life insurance policies must contain an incontestability clause. This is a paragraph that says the policy will be incontestable after it has been in force during the lifetime of the insured for two years from its date, except for nonpayment of premiums. This is found in a few places in the Texas Insurance Code. Sections 1131.104, and 705.101 through 705.105. The effect of these clauses is to limit the various defenses that insurance companies will write into their policies so that they apply only during the first and second years of the policy. Insurance is a risk and without these laws regulating the policies, the insurance companies would write the policies in such a manner as to take out all the risk for them and leave their customer with only the illusion of insurance coverage.

The purpose of the incontestability clause in protecting the insured is further discussed in the 1972, Texas Supreme Court case, Minnesota Mutual Life Insurance Company v. Morse.

Life Insurance Attorney – Suicide

May 19, 2013 | Mark S. Humphreys

Dallas life insurance attorneys need to read and know this 1986, Amarillo Court of Appeals case. It is styled, Southern Farm Bureau Life Insurance Co v. Dettle. Here is some relevant information:

Southern Farm is appealing from a trial court finding in favor or Dettle. The controversy arose from the Southern Farm’s failure to pay death benefits on a policy insuring the life of Douglas Dee Dettle. The deceased-insured was found dead in his apartment. He died as the result of a single shotgun wound to his lower abdomen and genital area. Southern Farm defended on a suicide exclusion in the policy. In response to special issues, the jury determined that the deceased’s death was not a suicide.

Southern Farm argued “the trial court’s definition of the term ‘suicide’ erroneously included the element of intent, thereby placing upon Southern Farm a greater burden of proof than that required under either its contractual language or Texas law.”