Dallas Fort Worth Insurance Lawyer Blog

Notice To Insurance Company

April 5, 2012 | Mark S. Humphreys

People in Grand Prairie, Fort Worth, Mansfield, Crowley, Burleson, Benbrook, Joshua, and other places in Tarrant and Johnson County need to understand the importance of notifying the company quickly when a potential claim arises.

The Fort Worth Court of Appeals issued an opinion in 2007 dealing with “notice” to an insurance company about a claim. This one is a little unusual but still illustrates the importance of notifying the insurance company about potential claims as soon as possible. The style of the case is, Allstate Insurance Company and Allstate Texas Lloyd’s v. John Hunter and Wife, Carmen Hunter. Here are some facts.

In the summer of 2002, the Hunters noticed a strange smell in their home. The Hunter’s HO-B homeowner’s policy with the Allstate companies expired in October 2002, and the Hunters replace it with an HO-A homeowner’s policy. The strange smell persisted, and in December 2002, the Hunters hired a company to conduct air sampling testing in their home. The results revealed no elevated mold content in the air and offered no explanation for the smell. In February 2003, a general contractor inspected the Hunter’s home. When the contractor entered the crawlspace under the home, he saw water damage and mold. The Hunters testified that this was the first time they knew of the mold damage or that the source of the odor that they had been smelling was mold. They made a claim with Allstate two days later.

Insurance Attorney Helping To Recover Benefits

April 3, 2012 | Mark S. Humphreys

Residents of Grand Prairie, Fort Worth, Saginaw, Newark, Boyd, Haslet, Rhome, Roanoke, and other places across Texas who make an insurance claim will sometimes have to get the help of an experienced Insurance Law Attorney at some point. Here is a case that serves as an example of why.

The case is a 2007, opinion issued by the San Antonio Court of Appeals. It is styled, In re Terri Ann Garcia. Here are some relevant facts which get kinda legal in nature but are relevant.

Terri Ann Garcia, the plaintiff in the underlying breach of contract suit seeking underinsured (UM) motorist benefits. She sought a writ of mandamus to vacate the trial court’s order quashing the deposition of a State Farm representative. Her attorney argued that by preventing the deposition of a representative of State Farm, the trial court abused its discretion.

Flood Damage Claim

April 1, 2012 | Mark S. Humphreys

People in Weatherford, Aledo, Azle, Springtown, Hudson Oaks, Willow Park, Millsap, Brock, Mineral Wells, and other places in Parker County prone to flooding losses should be interested in a recent opinion issued by the United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.

The opinion was issued on March 6, 2012, and the style of the case is, Tom Worthen v. Fidelity National Property and Casualty Insurance Company. The case is an appeal by Fidelity National regarding a summary judgment in favor of their insured, Worthen. This appeals court reversed and rendered in favor of Fidelity National.

Here is some background information.

Life Insurance Proceeds – Who Gets Them?

March 31, 2012 | Mark S. Humphreys

Policy holders in Grand Prairie, Arlington, Fort Worth, Dallas, and other places in the Dallas – Fort Worth metroplex area may want to know the answer to the title of this article.

The Salt Lake Tribune printed an article on March 6, 2012, that dealt with this issue to a degree. The title of the article is, New Legal Battle Over Powell Insurance Policies. This article discusses what happened in the present case. At the end of this article, you will get the answer as it relates to Texas Insurance Law.

The article tells us that nine days after Josh Powell killed himself and his two sons in a horrific fire at his home in Washington state, two of his siblings filed claims on insurance policies worth $1.5 million — a move that has now prompted the insurer to ask a U.S. District Court to sort out who, if anyone, is entitled to the money.

Duty To Cooperate

March 29, 2012 | Mark S. Humphreys

Lots of people in Weatherford, Mineral Wells, Aledo, Azle, Willow Park, Hudson Oaks, Springtown, Millsap, Brock, and other places in the Parker County area and for that matter, other places in Texas may not realize that they have responsibility under their insurance policies to cooperate with their insurance company with any claim that is being made against the insurance policy.

This “duty to cooperate” can be confusing at times. There can sometimes be a fine line between what the insurance company has a responsibility for investigating and what the insured must do to help in that investigation.

The Texas Insurance Code, Section 541.060 provides a guideline for some of the things that can be done or asked for by an insurance company in its investigation. Section 541.060(a)(9), is one place where limits are placed on that investigation.

Insurance Lawyers Arguing The Case

March 27, 2012 | Mark S. Humphreys

Attorneys in Grand Prairie, Arlington, Fort Worth, and other places in the Dallas – Fort Worth area are paid to argue cases. Here is a case where the reasoning sounds pretty good.

The style of the case is Raymundo Salcedo v. Evanston Insurance Company. The opinion was issued on February 22, 2012, by the United States Court of Appeals, 5th Circuit. The appeal arises from the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of Evanston upon a conclusion that Evanston owed no coverage under its commercial general liability (CGL) insurance policy issued to Villegas & Sons, Incorporated (Villegas). Salcedo, the injured claimant, argued on appeal that the district court errred by construing the “auto” exclusion to preclude coverage for the judgment he obtained in state court against Villegas. Here are the facts.

Salcedo is a judgment creditor of Villegas pursuant to a final judgment entered by the 448th District Court of El Paso, Texas, for $1.1 million plus interest. Evanston denied coverage in the state court proceeding based on the “auto” exclusion in its CGL policy.

Insurance Lawyer And Policy Interpretation

March 25, 2012 | Mark S. Humphreys

Deer hunters in Grand Prairie, Arlington, Fort Worth, Hurst, Euless, Bedford, Mansfield, North Richland Hills, Saginaw, and other places in Tarrant County should find this case interesting. It shows how an experienced Insurance Law Attorney can help in making a recovery in an injury case.

The style of the case is, Farmers Insurance Exchange and Allstate County Mutual Insurance Company v Juan Rodriguez. The opinion in the case was issued on February 16, 2012, by the Houston Court of Appeals, 14th District. Here is some background.

Juan Rodriguez was injured while helping his neighbor Michael Woodling remove a deer stand from Woodling’s trailer. Rodriguez sued Woodling for negligence and, in the same case, Rodriguez’s automobile insurer, Allstate, seeking coverage under an uninsured/underinsured motorist (UIM) policy. Rodriguez later sued Woodling’s insurer, seeking liability coverage from Woodling under his homeowner’s policy. In a pre-trial partial summary judgment, the court declared the claims were covered by both insurance policies. At trial, the jury found Woodling negligent. The appeal was about the interpretation of the policies as it relates to this claim.

Uninsured Claim

March 24, 2012 | Mark S. Humphreys

Insureds in Grand Prairie, Fort Worth, Dallas, Cedar Hill, De Soto, Irving, Carrollton, Mesquite, Garland, and other places in Dallas and Tarrant Counties should find this case interesting. It deals with the definition of “uninsured motor vehicle” in an automobile insurance policy.

The case was decided on February 8, 2012. The opinion was issued by the Austin Court of Appeals. The style of the case is, “Nealey Michelle Malham v. Government Employees Insurance Company“.

Malham appealed her take-nothing judgment in her suit for uninsured motorist coverage against Government Employees Insurance Company (GEICO). This appeals court upheld the take-nothing judgment.

Life Insurance Beneficiary

March 22, 2012 | Mark S. Humphreys

Insurance policy holders in Grand Prairie, Fort Worth, Burleson, Benbrook, Crowley, Joshua, Lake Worth, Cleburne, and other places in Tarrant County and Texas may want to know about this case. It involves the naming of a life insurance beneficiary in a life insurance policy and Texas law.

This case was decided by the United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. The opinion was issued on February 9, 2012. The style of the case is, Provident Life And Accident Insurance Company v. Jill Cleveland, et. al. Here is the case.

This was an interpleader action filed to determine who should receive the proceeds of a life insurance policy. Shona Cleveland, the former wife of decedent Gerald Cleveland, appealed from the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of Jill Cleveland, who was Gerald’s wife at the time of his death.

Certificate Of Insurance

March 20, 2012 | Mark S. Humphreys

Business people in Grand Prairie, Fort Worth, Arlington, Saginaw, Roanoke, Grapevine, Hurst, Euless, Bedford, and other cities in the Dallas / Fort Worth metroplex area should pay attention to this recent case.

The United States District Court, Southern District, Houston Division, issued an opinion on January 24, 2012, in a case styled, Bender Square Partners v. Factory Mutual Insurance Company, d/b/a FM Global, and PNS Stores, Inc.

This case deals with the rights conferred by a Certificate of Insurance, or more accurately the rights that are not conferred.