Dallas Fort Worth Insurance Lawyer Blog

Definition Of “Motor Vehicle Accident”

July 21, 2012 | Mark S. Humphreys

Fort Worth Insurance Lawyers and those in Saginaw, Grapevine, Benbrook, Burleson, and other places around Tarrant County need to grasp how courts interpret the different words and phrases in an insurance contract.

The meaning of “motor vehicle accident” may seem to be an easy to understand phrase but the phrase was the subject of a lawsuit that went all the way to the Texas Supreme Court. This 2004, case is titled, “Texas Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Company v. Jeff A. Sturrock.” Here is some background.

Jeff Sturrock drove his truck to work, parked, and turned off the engine. While exiting the truck, he entangled his left foot on the raised portion of the truck’s facing. Sturrock injured his neck and shoulder in his attempt to prevent himself from falling from the vehicle. Sturrock filed a claim for Personal Injury Protection (PIP) benefits under his vehicle’s insurance policy, issued by Texas Farm Bureau.

When Are You “Occupying” A Vehicle?

July 19, 2012 | Mark S. Humphreys

Weatherford Insurance Lawyers and those in Mineral Wells, Springtown, Aledo, Azle, Millsap, Cool, Brock, Willow Park, Hudson Oaks, and other places in the Parker County area need to know how to read an insurance policy.

One thing that attorneys need to have a good understanding about is how to interpret insurance policy definitions. Understanding how the courts interpret the language in the policy assists the attorney in advising a client in a proper course of action.

The Waco Court of Appeals issued an opinion in 1963, that is helpful in the determining when a vehicle is “occupied.”

What Is “Use” Of An Automobile

July 17, 2012 | Mark S. Humphreys

Grand Prairie Insurance Law Attorneys and those in Dallas, Fort Worth, Richardson, Mesquite, De Soto, Duncanville, North Richland Hills, and other places in the DFW area need to have an understanding how the courts interpret insurance policies.

The United States 5th Circuit Court of Appeals issued an opinion in 2012, that dealt with policy interpretation of the word “use” in the context of the insurance policy.

The Federal Court applied in some detail, Texas policy interpretation rules for determining the insurance companies duty to defend with respect to the facts of the case. The style of the case is National Casualty Company v. Western World Insurance Company.

Homeowners Policies

July 15, 2012 | Mark S. Humphreys

Grand Prairie Insurance Lawyers and those in Dallas, Fort Worth, Grapevine, Carrollton, Farmers Branch, Benbrook, and other places over the DFW area should always be aware of the tactics and procedures insurance companies are using that relate to the policies sold to consumers. The Austin American Statesman published an article that provides some important information. Here is what it says.

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott is locked in a fight with the state’s largest insurer over the company’s decision not to renew 11,000 residential and commercial property insurance policies along the Gulf coast.

Abbott’s office requested documents last month from State Farm to make sure the insurer lawfully terminated the contracts, Tom Kelley, a spokesman for Abbott, said in an email.

Insurance Companies Want Tp Be Nice Guys

July 14, 2012 | Mark S. Humphreys

Weatherford Insurance Attorneys and those in Mineral Wells, Aledo, Willow Park, Azle, Springtown, Millsap, Brock, Hudson Oaks, and other places in Parker County should be able to get a laugh of this article that ran in the New York Times. Here is essentially what the article says:

As the country waits to see how the Supreme Court will rule on the Affordable Care Act, health insurance companies are taking matters into their own hands.

Over the past year, many of the largest insurance companies in the country, including Aetna, Cigna and Humana, have introduced elaborate marketing campaigns to reposition themselves as consumer-friendly health care companies, not just insurance providers. The insurers have been preparing for the possibility that the court may uphold the most controversial provision in the legislation — the individual mandate that would require people to buy health insurance or face a fine.

Insurance Appraisal Process

July 12, 2012 | Mark S. Humphreys

Grand Prairie insurance attorneys and those in Fort Worth, Hurst, Euless, Bedford, Grapevine, Colleyville, Saginaw, and other places in Tarrant County would need to have some understanding of the appraisal process and issues that arise from that process. The United States District Court, Southern District, Galveston Division, issued an opinion on May 25, 2012, that should be of some interest.

The style of the case is, KLM Resources, LLC d/b/a Jan-Pro Houston v. Ohio Casualty Company. Here is some background.

KLM filed suit against its insurer, Ohio Casualty Company, seeking to recover its loss of business income as a result of losses suffered by its franchisees following Hurricane Ike. Ohio Casualty invoked its right to an appraisal as provided in the insurance policy. Harold Asher, who had been retained by KLM as an expert on damages, was also appointed by KLM as its appraiser. Ohio Casualty selected Edward Hoffman, a forensic accountant, as its appraiser. Asher and Hoffman agreed to the appointment of Howard Zandman as umpire. Ultimately, Zandman and Hoffman agreed to an award of approximately $5,000. Asher, who estimated KLM’s loss at approximately $92,000, disagreed and refused to sign the award. Since the award was less that the $10,000 advance that had already been paid to KLM, no additional payment was due. Following the award, and facing a motion for summary judgment as to all of its claims, KLM filed a “Motion to Reopen the Appraisal Process.”

Suing The Other Insurance Company

July 10, 2012 | Mark S. Humphreys

Grand Prairie insurance lawyers and those in Fort Worth, Dallas, Hurst, Euless, Bedford, and other places in Tarrant County would normally know when the other guy’s insurance company can be sued directly. Most people do not realize that when someone causes harm to another, such as when a person drives their car into the back of someone else’s car, that the claim is against the driver of the car, not the insurance company of the person driving the car. If you think about it – the insurance company did not do anything wrong – it was the driver who did something wrong, i.e., wasn’t paying attention to where they were going. So the claim is against the driver. The driver though, hopefully, has a contract with an insurance company that essentially says, “driver if you do something wrong while driving your car, we, the insurance company, will pay for that wrong.”

However, there are exceptions to being able to sue the insurance company directly rather than suing the driver.

The Tyler Court of Appeals issued an opinion in a case on May 23, 2012, wherein the injured party was trying to make one of the exceptions. The style of the case is, Brian W. Haygood v. Hawkeye Insurance Services, Inc. Here is some background.

Living In The Same Household Defined

July 8, 2012 | Mark S. Humphreys

Grand Prairie Insurance Attorneys and those in Fort Worth, Dallas, Carrollton, Farmers Branch, Richardson, Plano, Rowlett, Mesquite, and other places in the Dallas / Fort Worth area would want to be able to understand how insurance companies look at the members of a household when interpreting an insurance policy.

The Waco Court of Appeals issued an opinion in 1977, in the case, Southern Farm Bureau Casualty Insurance Company v. Kenneth C. Kimball et al. that is still good law. Here is some background:

Kenneth is the named insured in a family insurance automobile policy issued by Southern Farm Bureau. Kenneth’s wife, Connie, was killed in an automobile accident with an uninsured motorist when the policy was in force. At the time of her death, she and Kenneth were separated, living in separate residences, and a divorce action filed by her was pending. Southern Farm Bureau brought suit seeking a declaratory judgment as to its responsibilities under the policy for uninsured motorist protection.

Where Is A Child A Resident

July 7, 2012 | Mark S. Humphreys

Grand Prairie insurance lawyers and those in Fort Worth, Dallas, Mesquite, Garland, Carrollton, Richardson, Rowlett, Farmers Branch, and other places in Dallas County need to be able to answer this question properly when handling insurance cases.

The Texarkana Court of Appeals answered this question in a 1978 opinion. The style of the case is, Hartford Casualty Insurance Company v. Phillips.

Here is some background:

How To Determine Residency

July 5, 2012 | Mark S. Humphreys

Weatherford lawyers and those in Mineral Wells, Aledo, Springtown, Willow Park, Millsap, Brock, Hudson Oaks, Azle, and other places in Parker County need to know how to determine residency in an insurance policy.

The Houston Court of Appeals, 1st District, decided a case in 1996, that provides guidance on this issue. The style of the case is, State Farm Mutual Automobile Ins. Co. v. Nguyen. Here is some background.

The court had to decide whether the family member exclusion in Nguyen’ automobile liability insurance policy applied and, therefore, limited the amount of their recovery. The court had to also decide whether their child, whose entire six-day life was spent in a hospital, was a “resident” of Nguyens’ “household.” The court held that the child was a resident of the household and that the family member exclusion limited Nguyens’ recovery to $20,000.