Dallas Fort Worth Insurance Lawyer Blog

Insurance Policy Interpretation

January 8, 2012 | Mark S. Humphreys

Customers in Grand Prairie, Arlington, Mansfield, Fort Worth, Hurst, Euless, Bedford, Saginaw, Haslet, Rhome, and other places in Texas would have a hard time trying to read and interpret an insurance policy. This is when the advice of an experienced Insurance Law Attorney is most helpful.

The United States District Court, Southern District of Texas, Houston Division, issued an opinion on October 5, 2011. This opinion deals with policy interpretation. The case arises from a declaratory judgement lawsuit filed by the insurance company, RLI Insurance Company, and the partial motion for summary judgment filed by the insured, Willbros Construction (U.S.) LLC, et al.

The court ruled in favor of the insureds. Her is some factual background.

Insurance Delaying Paying Claim

January 7, 2012 | Mark S. Humphreys

People in Grand Prairie, Arlington, Fort Worth, Dallas, Colleyville, Lake Worth, Keller, Roanoke, Saginaw, North Richland Hills, and other places in Texas will get very frustrated when their insurance company delays in paying a claim. Here is some general information about this happening.

Most insurance companies will pass off claims delays as fluke occurrences. What is important to realize is that these actions, or lack thereof, are actually routine and intentional conduct. A lot of this is the result of the McKinsey system, set up by McKinsey & Company. This system for “lowballing” claims payments is driven by the claims performance management and pay systems from the top to the bottom of the organization.

A Rutgers law professor who has studied this, has suggested that the deck is stacked against individuals who make claims. He says, “You have an accident or a fire in your house. You call up the insurance company. You describe the circumstances. Maybe they send an adjuster out, and they say it’s not covered, or it’s covered but here’s the dollar amount that we’re obligated to pay you .” Most people do not have the expertise “to know whether or not that’s right.”

Insurance Company Delays Payment Of Claim

January 5, 2012 | Mark S. Humphreys

When someone in Grand Prairie, Hurst, Euless, Bedford, Fort Worth, Dallas, Irving, Carrollton, or anywhere else in Texas makes a claim with their insurance company, they expect the claim to be paid promptly.

Here is something to get you upset.

According to an unpublished Harris Interactive Poll conducted in September, 16 percent of surveyed adults have experienced financial hardship while waiting for an insurance claim to be settled or know someone who has. The same poll found that 59 percent of adults believe that most insurers intentionally delay claims — and those with an income of $35,000 or less were more likely to agree.

Bad Faith Insurance And Forced To Hire Attorney

January 3, 2012 | Mark S. Humphreys

Few people in Weatherford, Mineral Wells, Aledo, Willow Park, Hudson Oaks, Azle, Springtown, Millsap, Cool, Brock, or anywhere else in Parker County wants to be forced to hire an attorney to submit an insurance claim. But, like it or not, that is what most people have to do to get fair treatment.

A recent article on insurance singles out Allstate Insurance Company, but this same story could be told about many of the insurance companies. Here is what some of the article said:

Unlike may other businesses, the insurance industry is bound by law to act in good faith with its customers. Because of their protective role in the lives of ordinary citizens, insurance companies have long operated as semi-public trusts. But since the mid 1990’s, a new profit hungry model, combined with weak regulation, has upended that ancient contract. In Texas, the Texas Department of Insurance is the agency that is suppose to be providing oversight on the insurance industry.

Lawyer Needed For Disability Claim

January 1, 2012 | Mark S. Humphreys

Insureds in Grand Prairie, Arlington, Weatherford, Fort Worth, Mansfield, Dallas, and other places in Texas, who have some form of disability insurance will too often, have to seek the assistance of an experienced Insurance Law Attorney when they make a claim. This is because insurance companies that issue disability policies are reluctant to pay these types of claims.

A case decided in 1978 serves as a good example. This is a Beaumont Court of Appeals case. The style of the case is, Lone Star Life Insurance Company v. Joseph B. Griffin. Here is some background.

Griffin testified that as he was returning to his home from his farm, he passed by his drugstore. As was his custom, he entered the store to see if everything was normal (having been burglarized several times in the past). He smelled smoke which he found to be coming from the rear of his building. He testified that he emptied his fire extinguisher but his efforts were futile; that he was trying to get out of the building when an aerosol can exploded in his face; that he lost consciousness while upon the floor of the store near a door, and regained consciousness later in a hospital.

Attorney And Disability Policy And Renunciation

December 29, 2011 | Mark S. Humphreys

A lot of people in Grand Prairie, Arlington, Irving, Fort worth, Dallas, and other areas in Texas will have a disability policy. Sometimes these policies are from work and other times a person will purchase one for themselves. But what happens if the insurance company refuses to pay benefits under one of these policies when a person becomes eligible for benefits.

What happened in one case is discussed by the Houston Court of Appeals, in a 1976 case styled, Republic Bankers Life Insurance Company v. B.L. Jaeger.

This lawsuit concerned a disability insurance contract. B.L. Jaeger sued Republic Bankers Life Insurance Company to recover accrued and unaccrued disability benefits for an accidental injury.

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.