Dallas Fort Worth Insurance Lawyer Blog

A Bad Faith Insurance Claim

April 7, 2011 | Mark S. Humphreys

Here is one for the insured in Grand Prairie, Fort Worth, Arlington, Dallas, Mansfield, Lancaster, De Soto, Duncanville, Cedar Hill, Pantego, or any other city and town in Texas.

What happens when you are in an accident that is your fault, the other person, who is injured makes a claim against your insurance company for an amount of money that is within your policy limits, the insurance company refuses to pay, the injured person sues you and gets a judgment in excess of your policy limits; Are you liable for the amount of money above what the insurance policy pays?

Answer: It depends! Don’t you just hate it.

Title Insurance Policy Rights

April 5, 2011 | Mark S. Humphreys

Title insurance policy holders in Grand Prairie, Arlington, Fort Worth, Dallas, Weatherford, Garland, Mesquite, Richardson, Irving, Grapevine, Colleyville, and other places in Texas know very little about the laws dealing with title insurance policies.

The United States Court of Apeals for the Firth Circuit issued an opinion on March 23, 2011, that dealt with title insurance policies and one of the laws that deal with those policies. The style of the case is, Emma Benavides, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated v. Chicago Title Insurance Co.

The primary reason this case was in the court of appeals was because the district court had refused to allow the case to go forward as a class action lawsuit. The court spends a good amount of time discussing the class action laws but that is not the purpose of this article. The basis of the lawsuit is what is kinda interesting.

Insurance And Hospital Liens

April 3, 2011 | Mark S. Humphreys

Here is one for people in Weatherford, Grand Prairie, Fort Worth, Dallas, Aledo, Richardson, Garland, Mesquite, Irving, and anywhere else in Texas to know. It regards insurance settlements and hospital liens.

This is an opnion issued on March 17, 2011, by the Texas Court of Appeals, First District, Houston. The style of the case is, Memorial Hermann Hospital System v. Progressive County Mutual Insurance Company.

In this case, Progressive settled a claim brought against one of its insureds arising out of injuries in a car accident. Memorial filed a hospital lien for the cost of medical treatment to the injured person half an hour before Progressive issued the settlement check. Under the Texas Hospital Lien Law, a hospital “has a lien on a cause of action or claim of an individual who receives hospital services for injuries caused by an accident that is attibuted to the negligence of another person.” Texas Property Coce, Section 55.002. To secure the lien, Section 55.005 requires the hospital file notice with the county clerk before payments to the entitled party. The statute also declares that the county clerk “shall index the record in the name of the injured individual.”

Title Insurance Policies

April 2, 2011 | Mark S. Humphreys

Someone in Grand Prairie, Weatherford, Dallas, Fort Worth, or anywhere else in the metroplex area who has a title insurance policy may be interested in the following case.

The Texas Fourteenth Court of Appeals, Houston, issued an opinion on March 17, 2011, where a lawsuit was filed concerning issues that dealt with title policies.

The style of the case is, Windsor Village, Ltd. and Jackob Elbaz v. Stewart Title Insurance Company. This is an appeal from the 113th District Court, Harris County, Texas.

Insurance And Business Owners

March 31, 2011 | Mark S. Humphreys

Business owners in Grand Prairie, Fort Worth, Dallas, Arlington, Cedar Hill, Irving, De Soto, Duncanville, Mesquite, Garland, Carrollton, Farmers Branch, Richardson, and other places in Texas might be interested in the following case if they find themselves in a position where they are buying or selling a business.

The style of the case is, Ford Bacon & Davis, L.L.C. v. Travelers Insurance Co., et al. This case was decided on March 14, 2011, by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. This is a case where one company purchased the assets of another company.

A 1996 Asset Purchase Agreement (the agreement) was between Ford, Bacon & Davis, L.L.C. (FBD LLC) and Ford, Bacon & Davis, Inc. (FBC Inc.) The agreement explicity excluded coverage relevant to this lawsuit, which is “asbestos related lawsuits.”

Home Owners Claims

March 29, 2011 | Mark S. Humphreys

Home owners in Grand Prairie, Arlington, Pantego, Fort Worth, Lake Worth, Dallas, Mansfield, De Soto, Duncanville, and other places in Texas would naturally wonder at times about exactly what types of coverages they have on their homeowners policies. Of course the answer is a lawerly “it depends.”

One case to look for in guidance for part of the answer is found in the case, Gomez v. Allstate Texas Lloyds Insurance Company. This is a 2007, Fort Worth Court of Appeals case. This is a liability insurance dispute concerning coverage under a homeowner’s policy for bodily injury arising out of a “four-wheeler” all terrain vehicle. One of the issues was the trial court’s interpretation of the scope of the policy’s recreational vehicle exception to the motor vehicle exclusion. Another issue was whether or not Allstate had a duty to defend the lawsuit that had been filed.

The Gomezes sued Jamy and Lara Johnson for injuries alleged to have occurred when Austin Gomez (6 years old) was a guest at the Johnson’s home, and Jamy placed Austin on a four-wheeler with no protective gear and allowed him to operate the vehicle. The lawsuit papers allege that Austin lost control and “went over an embankment.” The lawsuit alleges several things that the Johnson’s did wrong in contributing to the cause of this accident.

Insurance Claims Denial

March 27, 2011 | Mark S. Humphreys

If someone in Grand Prairie, Arlington, Fort Worth, Dallas, Mansfield, Duncanville, Cedar Hill, De Soto, Irving, Grapevine, or any other place in Texas gets an insurance claim denied they should not simply give up and go away. That is exactly what the insurance company wants you to do.

Depending on the type of claim that you have the process for what should be done next will vary. One thing that should not vary is the first thing you should do. That is to call an experienced Insurance Law Attorney for a consultation.

The Washington Post ran a positive news article related to this subject on March 16, 2011. The title of the article, which was released by the Associated Press is, “GAO report illustrates success rates for appealing denials of health insurance claims.”

Bad Faith Claims

March 26, 2011 | Mark S. Humphreys

Someone in Grand Prairie, Arlington, Mansfield, Hurst, Euless, Bedford, Fort Worth, Dallas, Irving, Mesquite, Garland, Carrollton, Farmers Branch, or anywhere else in Texas may use the term “bad faith” when talking about insurance, but very few people can actually define it. And those who can define it will still have a hard time, in a legal sense, applying that term or definition to a particular fact situation.

The United States District Court, Southern District of Texas, Houston Division, had a case recently dealing, in part, with this issue. The opinion in the case was issued on February 28, 2011, and is styled, C. K. Lee v. Catlin Specialty Insurance Company, Justin Carroll, and Engle Martin & Associates, Inc.

Here are some of the underlying facts:

A Ruling In An Appraisal Case

March 24, 2011 | Mark S. Humphreys

For someone in Grand Prairie, Arlington, Mansfield, Fort Worth, Dalworthington Gardens, Cedar Hill, Duncanville, De Soto, Crowley, or anywhere else in Texas, the issue of “appraisal clauses” in insurance contracts will occassionally come up. How these clauses in an insurance contract work can be confusing to the normal insured, to experienced Insurance Law Attorneys, insurance adjusters, and the courts.

For the most part, the appraisal clause in an insurance policy comes into play when the insured and the insurance company disagree on the value of a claim. In other words the insurance company agrees they owe money on the claim, but the amount of money they owe may be in dispute. This is common when agreeing to the value of items like, jewelry, antiques, and rare collections. But this dispute can also come up in more common claims such as hail damage claims to roofs.

The Court of Appeals in Beaumont, Texas, issued an opinion on March 10, 2011, that is controversial and is an issue that will play out further in other cases in the future if not in a further appeal in this case. The style of the case is, In Re Southern Insurance Company.

Insurance Lawsuits

March 22, 2011 | Mark S. Humphreys

When someone in Weatherford, Aledo, Hudson Oaks, Peaster, Springtown, Azle, Millsap, Cool, Poolville, Whitt, or out in Mineral Wells, finds themselves in a situation where they have to hire a lawyer and file a lawsuit against an insurance company, they want to win the case. The best chance of doing that is making sure the lawsuit is in a State Court rather than a Federal Court. There are many reasons why a State Court is preferable to Federal Court. All someone really needs to know is that every time an insurance company lawyer can get a case removed from State Court into a Federal Court, they are going to do so. The other thing they need to know is to seek the advice of an experienced Insurance Law Attorney. He will know the best strategies for keeping a case in a State Court.

On January 24, 2011, the United States District Court, Southern District of Texas, Houston Division, issued an opinion in a case where the issue was discussing, in which court the lawsuit should be litigated. The style of the case is, Scott Browning v. Sentinel Insurance Company and Cavalry Construction Co.

Browning had filed the lawsuit in the 11th Judicial District Court of Harris County, Texas, alleging that Calvary, violated provisions of the Texas Insurance Code.