Dallas Fort Worth Insurance Lawyer Blog

Life Insurance And Bad Faith

December 28, 2011 | Mark S. Humphreys

Insured persons with life insurance in Grand Prairie, Fort Worth, Arlington, Dallas, Mesquite, Richardson, Carrollton, Farmers Branch, and other places in the DFW metroplex area will find this case informative.

In 2006, the Texas Supreme Court issued an opinion in the case styled, Minnesota Life Insurance Company v. Vasquez. Here are some of the facts.

Minnesota Life issued a Mortgage Accidental Death Insurance policy to the Vasquezs’, promising to pay their home mortgage in the event either died due to an accident. The insured husband later apparently fell, hit his head, and died. The insured wife filed a claim with Minnesota Life requesting payment of the balance due on the mortgage and submitted copies of the death certificate and autopsy report. Minnesota Life took six months to pay the claim because the death certificate made coverage unclear and the hospital was slow to produce the remaining medical records that had been requested. Ms. Vasquez filed a lawsuit alleging that Minnesota Life had knowingly engaged in an unfair and deceptive act, in violation of the Texas Insurance Code. The jury found that Minnesota Life knowingly violated the Insurance Code and that Ms. Vasquez was entitled to $60,000 for mental anguish, $250,000 in additional damages, and $37,000 in attorney fees. The court of appeals affirmed and Minnesota Life appealed to the Texas Supreme Court.

Insurance And Mental Anguish Claims

December 27, 2011 | Mark S. Humphreys

When someone in Weatherford, Mineral Wells, Aledo, Willow Park, Hudson Oaks, Azle, Springtown, Millsap, Brock, or anywhere else in Texas really gets mistreated in an insurance case, that person will probably have a claim for mental anguish. So, how does that work?

A 2004, Corpus Christi Court of Appeals case gives some insight on the answer. The style of the case is, Minnesota Life Insurance Company v. Elia L. Vasquez. Here is some background.

Elia Vasquez alleged that Minnesota Life Insurance Company unreasonably delayed payment of the proceeds of an accidental death policy that insured the life of her deceased husband. As part of the lawsuit, Vasquez sued for mental anguish damages. The jury awarded her $60,000 in mental anguish damages. There were other issues in the case which are not discussed here.

Insurance Policy Cancellation

December 25, 2011 | Mark S. Humphreys

Insured persons in Weatherford, Mineral Wells, Aledo, Azle, Springtown, Hudson Oaks, Willow Park, Brock, Millsap, and other places in Parker County may have a situation arise where a policy of insurance they have is cancelled. A natural question at times may be – How does that work?

To find out about the procedures for policy cancellation, a person can seek several sources for an answer.

1) Get the insurance agent who sold the policy to explain. The problem with this answer is that sometimes the agent may have made a mistake or may have reasons to not be completely honest with his answers or explanations.

Underinsured Insurance And The Law

December 24, 2011 | Mark S. Humphreys

Most insureds in Grand Prairie, Arlington, Fort Worth, Dallas, and other places in the Dallas – Fort Worth metroplex do not have much understanding how Underinsured Motorist (UIM) protection works. Here is a case that helps to explain a little of it.

The case is styled, Salvador Olivas v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company and Dan McDowell. The opinion was issued in 1993, by the El Paso Court of Appeals. Here is some background.

Salvador Olivas, while driving an automobile belonging to Dan McDowell, had an accident with a vehicle driven by Alex Harrison IV. Harrison’s liability insurance policy had coverage limits of $25,000 for one person. Olivas settled his tort claim against Harrison for $15,000. This lawsuit was then filed in which it was alleged that Olivas’s damages exceeded $25,000 and recovery was sought on McDowells’ and Olivas’s UIM policies, both of which were issued by State Farm.

Uninsured Motorists And Consent To Settle

December 22, 2011 | Mark S. Humphreys

Most insureds in Grand Prairie, Fort Worth, Dallas, Mansfield, Arlington, and other areas in the Dallas – Fort Worth metroplex have no idea how the uninsured motorist protection coverage on their automobile policies works. All they know is that their insurance agent told them that they should have it in case they have a wreck with someone who does not have insurance.

The Texas Insurance Code, Section 1952.101 requires that all automobile policies issued in the State of Texas contain uninsured motorist UM protection unless the UM protection is rejected in writing. Section 1952.108, allows for the insurance carrier to pursue the uninsured driver for any amounts paid out by the insurance company. As a result of Section 1952.108, allowing the insurance company to pursue the uninsured driver, almost all insurance policies require that their insured obtain written permission from their insurance company before reaching a settlement with the uninsured driver. Most people do not realize this. As a result, what happens if permission to settle is not obtained before settlement with the uninsured driver?

The answer to the above question is partially answered in the 1977, Texas Supreme Court case, Robert William Ford, Jr., et al. v State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company. The principle question in this case was whether State Farm’s unconditional denial of liability constituted a waiver of its right to consent before its insured subsequently settled with another insurance carrier.

Making an Underinsured Motorist Claim

December 20, 2011 | Mark S. Humphreys

People in Grand Prairie, Fort Worth, Arlington, Irving, Dallas, and other places in Texas, who have underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage will hope they never have to use that coverage. But what if they do have to use it? What are the rules?

One rule focused on here, is that in order to make the UIM claim, the claimant must first get written permission from their UIM insurance carrier to settle the case with the underinsured driver who caused injuries. If there is a settlement with the underinsured driver without getting written permission from the UIM carrier, the UIM carrier can refuse benefits. Here is a case where this played out.

The case is a Texas Supreme Court case decided in 1994. The style of the case is Ruben and Anita Hernandez v. Gulf Group Lloyd’s.

Permission To Settle Claim

December 18, 2011 | Mark S. Humphreys

People in Grand Prairie, Arlington, Mansfield, Fort Worth, Dallas, or anywhere else in Texas will often times try to settle a claim they have without the assistance of an experienced Insurance Law Attorney. The problem with doing this is that there are multiple ways a person can be making a big mistake. Here is just one of them.

The Dallas Court of Appeals, decided a case in 1992, styled, “Rochelle Traylor v. Cascade Insurance Company, Formerly Known as Bonneville Texas Insurance Company, Successor in Interest to Victoria Lloyds Insurance Company.”

Here is some factual background:

Attorney Needed For Disability Claim

December 17, 2011 | Mark S. Humphreys

Whether you live in Grand Prairie, Fort Worth, Dallas, Weatherford, Arlington, Mansfield, Irving, or anywhere else in the state of Texas, too many times when making a claim for insurance benefits, you are forced to hire an attorney. An experienced Insurance Law Attorney is valuable for recovering monies due under an insurance policy and a disability insurance policy in particular.

An example of the above in noted in a 1966 case that was decided by the Houston Court of Appeals. The style of the case is Continental Casualty Company v. Walter Earl Vaughn. Here are a lot of facts in this case.

The evidence showed that on April 10, 1962, Vaughn wrote Continental a letter stating he had sustained a back injury on March 30, 1962, and that he was in Leggett Memorial Hospital, and did not know how long he would be hospitalized or unable to work. Vaughn returned a standard claim form he had been sent, reporting that he had “a back injury in the nature of a ruptured disc that occurred on March 30, 1962 while loading a load of tubing on a truck in Houston.” The same report contained a statement by Vaughn’s doctor saying Vaughn had a ruptured intervertebral disc between Lumbar 4 and Lumbar 5; that the accident occurred on March 30, 1962; that Vaughn first consulted the doctor on April 1, 1962; and that Vaughn was to have a spinal fusion. Continental sent a one month’s indemnity and a thirty days’ hospital indemnity. The indemnity continued for another month after another claim form was filed.

Attorney Bad Faith Issues To Know

December 17, 2011 | Mark S. Humphreys

Bad Faith attorneys in Grand Prairie, Grapevine, Colleyville, Keller, Saginaw, Newark, Southlake, Roanoke, and other places in the DFW metroplex might find this case worth knowing.

The United States District Court, Southern District of Texas, Houston Division, issued an opinion in November 2011, in the case styled “839 East 19th Street, LP v. Lexington Insurance Company, et al.” This is a case wherein a motion for summary judgment filed by one of the defendants, Unified Building Sciences, Inc. (UBS), was granted.

Here is some background:

Attorneys And Insurance Law

December 15, 2011 | Mark S. Humphreys

Attorneys in Weatherford, Grand Prairie, Fort Worth, Mineral Wells, or anywhere else in Texas have to have an understanding of insurance law to handle insurance disputes effectively for clients.

There are different ways of recovering when insurance disputes arise. Many of these theories of recovery have common elements.

Insurance transactions tend to resemble one another, so disputes arising from them tend to resemble one another. There are only so many ways that an insurance company and their customer can get crossways. Most situations present recurring problems that can be grouped into categories. Insurance law is even more precedent-driven than other areas of law, as courts try to construe similar policy language consistently. It is not surprising that many cases start to look alike.