Dallas Fort Worth Insurance Lawyer Blog

Deceptive Trade Practices Acts

December 2, 2010 | Mark S. Humphreys

Buyers in Dallas, Fort Worth, Grand Prairie, Arlington, Irving, Garland, DeSoto, Cedar Hill, Burleson, North Richland Hills, Hurst, Euless, Bedford, and any other place in Texas can find themselves being taken advantage of by a company they have purchased a product or service from. It appears that even a well known and respected company like Dell Computers will cheat a consumer and do it in a calculated way when they think they can get away with doing it.

This is illustrated in an article published in The New York Times. The article was published on November 18, 2010, and was written by Ashlee Vance. The title of the article is, “An Unsealed Lawsuit Indicates Dell Hid Faults of Computers.”

The article starts out; “Documents unsealed Thursday in a three-year-old lawsuit against Dell have raised more questions about how the company handled an unprecedented number of faulty computers sold to governments, schools, and corporations from 2003 to 2005.”

Life Insurance – Denial Of Benefits

November 30, 2010 | Mark S. Humphreys

Someone in Dallas, Fort Worth, Grand Prairie, Mesquite, Arlington, Cleburne, Aledo, Weatherford, or anywhere else in Texas, purchases a life insurance policy. They expect the policy benefits to be paid when the insured passes away. But that does not always happen.

The Los Angeles Times ran an article on November 21, 2010, titled “Flaws Can Cancel Life Insurance – After Death.” The article is written by Lisa Girion and Sandra Poindexter.

This article has tells of three examples where someone takes out a life insurance policy and then when a claim for benefits is turned in to the insurance company the company cancels the policy without paying the benefits.

Life Insurance Policies – Insurable Interests

November 28, 2010 | Mark S. Humphreys

Most people living in Arlington, Grand Prairie, Dallas, Fort Worth, Mansfield, Irving, DeSoto, Cleburne, Weatherford, and all the other places in Texas, will have some form of life insurance on their lives. It may be a policy from work, or a policy thru their bank, or a policy they have purchased through their insurance agent. The question becomes; Who can you take a life insurance policy out on and who can be named as a beneficiary in the policy? When a spouse is the person who is insured or the person who is the beneficiary under the life insurance policy there is not usually a problem. But what if it is someone else?

An insurable interest is what is required. Or an expectation of a pecuniary benefit. So, who has an insurable interest or an expectation of a pecuniary benefit?

The Texas Supreme Court in 1942, in the case, Drane v. Jefferson Standard Life Insurance Company, stated; “A person that has a reasonable expectation of pecuniary benefit or advantage from the insured’s continued life has an insurable interest.”

Life Insurance Beneficiaries

November 25, 2010 | Mark S. Humphreys

People living in Grand Prairie, Dallas, Fort Worth, Arlington, Carrollton, Burleson, Aledo, or anywhere else in Texas who have life insurance are usually going to have a place in the life insurance policy where they name a beneficiary. Things will happen after naming the beneficiary to make the insured want to change the beneficiary.

The person named as a beneficiary in a life insurance policy is the person who receives the benefits of the policy upon the death of the person insured by the policy. The named beneficiary is often times a spouse of the named insured or the children of the named insured. Other times it is a creditor or an estate. Sometimes it is a business partner.

It is well settled law that a life insurance beneficiary must have an insurable interest in the insured’s life. This was stated as early as 1894 by the Texas Supreme Court in the case, Cheeves v. Anders. It was restated in 1998 by the Houston Court of Appeals [14th Dist.] in Tamez v. Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s, London International Acc. Facilities, and again in 1998 by the Tyler Court of Appeals in Stillwagoner v. Travelers Insurance Co.

Bad Faith Insurance

November 23, 2010 | Mark S. Humphreys

An insured in Dallas, Fort Worth, Grand Prairie, Arlington, Mansfield, Garland, Richardson, Weatherford, or anywhere else in Texas may not know if they are being treated in bad faith by their insurance company when it is happening. Here is something to think about – if it doesn’t seem right it probably isn’t. To be sure, the best thing to do is to consult with an experienced Insurance Law Attorney.

One of the first cases from the Texas Supreme Court making clear that an insured has a cause of action against his insurance company for bad faith insurance was decided in 1987. The style of the case is, Glen Arnold v. National County Mutual Fire Insurance Company.

Here are some of the facts in this case:

Duty Of Good Faith And Fair Dealing

November 21, 2010 | Mark S. Humphreys

What if someone in Dallas, Fort Worth, Grand Prairie, Arlington, Irving, Richardson, Hurst, Euless, Bedford, or somewhere else in Texas, thinks the insurance company is denying their claim for insurance benefits for the wrong reason? Can anything be done? As with so many legal answers – it depends.

The Texas Supreme Court issued an opinion in 1993, in the case styled, Golda A. Lyons v. The Millers Casualty Insurance Company of Texas, that helps with the above question. As the court stated, “This case presents us with the opportunity to clarify the method by which Texas courts should conduct legal sufficiency review of factfindings of bad faith against an insurer.”

Here are the facts:

Delay In Paying The Claim

November 20, 2010 | Mark S. Humphreys

How long can an insurance company take to pay a claim to an insured in Dallas, Fort Worth, Arlington, Grand Prairie, Mesquite, Richardson, or anywhere else in Texas. The answer is – as long as they want – and even if they have good reason for the delay – it is going to cost them.

A 1997 case decided by the United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit, is a good example of what can happen when an insurance company doesn’t pay a claim in a prompt manner. The style of the case is, John Higginbotham v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company.

Here are some facts in the case:

Delay In Paying Life Insurance Claim In Texas

November 18, 2010 | Mark S. Humphreys

If someone in Dallas, Fort Worth, Grand Prairie, Arlington, Carrollton, Garland, Mesquite, Grapevine, Duncanville, Burleson, or anywhere else in Texas, has a life insurance policy, how long does the life insurance company have before it has to pay the benefits to the beneficiary? The answer is, it depends. But the Texas Prompt Payment of Claims Act still applies.

There is a Waco Court of Appeals case decided in August of 2005, that explains how the Prompt Payment of Claims Act can apply in a life insurance situation. The style of the case is, State Farm Life Insurance Company and Lisa Martinez Paul v. Toni Wasson.

This is a case where the insurance company, State Farm Life Insurance Company, confused itself about who it was suppose to pay policy proceeds to. It is not that unusual for an insurance company to have some doubt about who the rightful beneficiary is under a policy of life insurance. When there is confusion the life insurance company will usually file an “interpleader action” in a local court and then let the court decide who should receive the proceeds of the life insurance policy.

Delay In Paying Claim In Texas

November 16, 2010 | Mark S. Humphreys

Someone in Dallas, Fort Worth, Grand Prairie, Arlington, Mansfield, Mesquite, Garland, Plano, Weatherford, or anywhere else in Texas, may experience a delay in being paid when making a claim against their insurance company. Is that ok? The answer is no, according to the Texas Prompt Payment of Claims Act.

The Texas Supreme Court decided a case in 2004, wherein the topic had to do with how the Texas Prompt Payment of Claims Act impacted the decision in the case. The style of the case is, Republic Underwriters Insurance Company v. Mex-Tex, Inc. The court phrased the issue this way: We must decide whether the commercial property insurer in this case breached its policy obligation to replace a damaged roof with one of “like kind and quality”, and if so, whether the insurer’s tender of partial payment of the claim avoided, on that amount, the 18% per annum delay penalty imposed by the Prompt Payment of Claims Act of the Texas Insurance Code.

Following a May 25, 1999 hail storm in Amarillo declared by the Texas Department of Insurance to be a weather-related “catastrophe for the purposes of claims processing”, Mex-Tex, Inc. notified its property insurer, Republic Underwriters Insurance Co., of damage to the roof of Signature Mall, a retail shopping center that Mex-Tex owned. Mex-Tex claimed that the roof had been destroyed and should be replaced. Republic immediately investigated the claim but disputed the amount of damage attibutable to hail.

Insurance Policy Appraisal Clause

November 14, 2010 | Mark S. Humphreys

If you have an insurance policy in Dallas, Fort Worth, Grand Prairie, Arlington, Mansfield, or anywhere else in Texas, you should look at it closely. It probably has an “appraisal clause” in it.

The United States Western District of Texas, Austin Division, decided a case on October 27, 2010. The style of the case is Orleans Harbor Homeowners Association, Inc. v. Public Service Mutual Insurance Company. The main issue in the case dealt with the appraisal clause in the insurance policy between Orleans Harbor Homeowners Association, Inc. (Orleans) and Public Service Mutual Insurance Company (Public).

Here is some background: