Dallas Fort Worth Insurance Lawyer Blog

Insurance Policy Exclusion

June 16, 2012 | Mark S. Humphreys

Grand Prairie insurance attorneys and those in Dallas, Fort Worth, Arlington, Mansfield, Grapevine, and other places in the Dallas – Fort Worth metroplex need to be aware of the exclusions in insurance policies and how to interpret them. Here is a case that deals with an exclusion in an automobile policy.

The style of the case is, “Carl Calvin Futrell v. Indiana Lumbermens Mutual Insurance Company. This is a 1971, opinion issued by the Houston Court of Appeals. Here is some background.

The case is a suit on medical payment benefits under an automobile insurance policy. The insured sued for medical expenses incurred by his minor son, who was injured while riding a motorbike when it collided with a motorcycle. Futrell contended that the trial court erred in concluding that a motorcycle is not an automobile within the meaning of that term as it is used in the medical payments coverage of the Texas family combination automobile insurance policy.

Life Insurance Law

June 14, 2012 | Mark S. Humphreys

Grand Prairie life insurance lawyers and those in Fort Worth, Dallas, Irving, Arlington, Richardson, Mesquite, and other areas in the metroplex area need to be aware of the existence of this case.

The opinion was issued in 1981, by the El Paso Court of Appeals. The style of the case is Doris R. Young v. Members Life Insurance Company. This is an older case and presents a point of view that this writer has not seen in later cases. But one that needs to be noted, just in case.

This is an appeal from a take-nothing judgment in a suit brought by Doris R. Young, to collect the benefits of an insurance policy on the life of her deceased husband, Edwin Young. The judgement is based upon jury findings that the application for insurance contained false representations concerning the health of Edwin.

Life Insurance Denial

June 12, 2012 | Mark S. Humphreys

Grand Prairie lawyers who handle insurance cases and attorneys in Dallas, Fort Worth, Benbrook, Burleson, Cedar Hill, Duncanville, De Soto, Mansfield, and other places in Texas need to know about this insurance case.

The case is from the Houston, 1st District, Court of Appeals. The style of the case is, Republic-Vanguard Life Insurance Company v. Beth Walters. Here is some of the relevant background.

Beth Walters sued on a life insurance policy covering her deceased husband. Republic denied the claim based on misrepresentations in the policy application. A jury decided in favor of Walters, finding that Republic knew facts that would have caused a prudent person to inquire about and discover material facts intentionally omitted by the decedent in his application for the policy.

Life Insurance / Suicide

June 10, 2012 | Mark S. Humphreys

Grand Prairie insurance lawyers, and those in Dallas, Fort Worth, Richardson, Mesquite, Garland, Irving, Arlington, and other places in the North Texas area who deal with life insurance cases involving a suicide would want to be aware of this case.

The case is an opinion issued by the Amarillo Court of Appeals in 1986. The style of the case is, Southern Farm Bureau Life Insurance Co. v. Steven M. Dettle, et al. Here is some background.

Southern Farm Bureau appealed from a trial court’s judgment rendered in favor of Steven M. Dettle and Phillip D. Dettle, as administrators of the estate of Douglas Dee Dettle, deceased. The controversy arose from Farm Bureau’s failure to pay benefits on a policy insuring Douglas Dee Dettle. The deceased – insured was found dead in his apartment in Stratford, Texas. He died as the result of a single shotgun wound to his lower abdomen and genital area. Farm Bureau defended on a suicide exclusion in the policy and certain alleged misrepresentations in the deceased’s application for insurance. (Here, we will discuss only the suicide issue). In response to special issues, the jury determined that the deceased’s death was not a suicide and that the deceased’s “no” answer to the question in the application, “Have you in the past 5 years used alcoholic beverages to excess or intoxication?” was false.

Life Insurance, Intent To Deceive

June 9, 2012 | Mark S. Humphreys

Life Insurance Attorneys in Weatherford, Mineral Wells, Peaster, Springtown, Aledo, Azle, Brock, Millsap, Cool, Hudson Oaks, Willow Park, and other places in Parker County would want to read this case.

The case is an appeal in the Corpus Christ Court of Appeals that was issued in 1988. The style of the case is, Lilly Sharp v. Lincoln American Life Insurance Company. Here is some easily understood background.

Lincoln defended the case on the grounds of there being misrepresentations in the policy application. The trial was to the Judge without a jury. A take nothing judgment was entered in favor of Lincoln. Findings of fact and conclusions of law were properly requested and filed.

Life Insurance Denial

June 7, 2012 | Mark S. Humphreys

Insurance lawyers in Grand Prairie, Arlington, Fort Worth, Haslet, Roanoke, Newark, Saginaw, and other places in Tarrant County would want to be aware of this case.

The case opinion was issued in 1980, by the Texas Supreme Court. The style of the case is, Mattie Emmaline Mayes v. Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company. It is one of those cases that Insurance Law Attorneys need to be aware of.

Rather than being decided on a motion for summary judgment, the way many insurance cases are decided, this case went to trial and there was a finding for Mayes. The intermediate appeals court reversed the trial court and then the Texas Supreme Court reversed the intermediate court and sent the case back to the trial court for further findings.

Misrepresentation In Purchase Of Insurance Policy

June 5, 2012 | Mark S. Humphreys

Weatherford attorneys and those in Mineral Wells, Aledo, Azle, Springtown, Peaster, Millsap, Brock, Hudson Oaks, Willow Park, and other places in Parker County would want to read the case decided in July 2011, by the San Antonio Court of Appeals. The case is styled, Texas Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Co. v. Shannan Rogers and Cristen Bazan et al. Here is some background.

In 2008, Cynthia Bazan purchased a house in Kerr County with a mortgage from Regency Solutions, which required her to obtain insurance on the house. Bazan purchased a policy from Farm Bureau. On January 14, 2009, a fire completely destroyed her house and all of its contents. She made a claim and Farm Bureau began a criminal background check of Bazan and the cause of the fire. The fire was determined to be of “undetermined” origin. Bazan, in her interview admitted to a criminal history. However, she had denied the criminal history in her application for insurance. In fact, she had a lengthy criminal history. Farm Bureau made a decision to rescind the policy, thus denying Bazan policy benefits for the fire loss.

The specific policy language relied on by Farm Bureau read:

Dog Bite Claims / Cases

June 3, 2012 | Mark S. Humphreys

Weatherford lawyers, and those in Mineral Wells, Springtown, Aledo, Azle, Peaster, Hudson Oaks, Willow Park, Millsap, Brock, and other parts of Parker County might be surprised to learn this about dog bite claims. How many there are and how much they cost insurance companies in claims.

An article posted on Yahoo News on May 17th might be a little surprising.

The article tells us that most stories about a dog biting someone does not get a lot of attention in the news, but it costs insurance companies hundreds of millions in claims every year.

Appraisals

June 2, 2012 | Mark S. Humphreys

Insurance attorneys in Grand Prairie, Fort Worth, Dallas, and other areas in Texas will have clients who need advice regarding the appraisal process when homeowners make insurance claims.

Generally speaking, an appraisal is appropriate in cases where the insurance company acknowledges that a loss has occurred, but there is a dispute as to the value or extent of the loss. The easiest example to understand is a situation where someone has a valuable antique stolen. The insured makes a claim and the insurance company investigates, the thief is caught, but he has destroyed the antique. So, there is no suspicion regarding the insured and the insured claims the antique is worth $10,000. But, the insurance company says it is only worth $4,000.

To settle the dispute, either side, the insurance company or the insured, can invoke the appraisal clause in the insurance contract.

Insurance Company Playing Games – Get An Insurance Attorney

May 31, 2012 | Mark S. Humphreys

Insurance Attorneys in Weatherford, Mineral Wells, Aledo, Springtown, Azle, Brock, Millsap, Willow Park, Hudson Oaks, and other places in Parker County need to understand the games insurance companies play on their insureds.

Any attorney who has been practicing for very long has heard stories that are disgusting. Insurance companies consider insurance a bet, and guess what, … it is. The insurance company is betting you will not have a loss they have to pay for. You are betting that you might have a loss and want protection in case it happens. When an insured makes a claim, the insurance company is losing its bet. Insurance companies do not like losing their bets. As a result, they will find any way they can to keep from paying the claim or to reduce the amount of money they have to pay on the claim.

The consumer protection group, Texas Watch, published an article recently titled, “Insurance Myth #2: Insurance Companies Always Pay Claims Fully And Promptly.” Well, not exactly!