Yearly Archives: 2022

Florida Begins New Era with Major Property Insurance Reforms

For the fourth time since 2019, the Florida Legislature has enacted property insurance reforms aimed towards stabilizing a beleaguered insurance market. The bill, S.B. 2-A, creates a reinsurance assistance program, establishes additional oversight for insurers with high volumes of hurricane claims, and reforms many aspects of the claims process, including the timing for paying and adjusting claims. The reforms further eliminate one-way attorney fee awards to policyholders and ban assignment-of-benefits agreements.  In this article, we will focus on the changes to the claim adjustment process and coverage and bad faith litigation. About The Authors

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Texas Court of Appeals Nixes Plaintiff’s Attorney’s Fees Award Because Offsets Preclude Prevailing Party Status

The First Court of Appeals in Houston affirmed an analysis that involved math and application of the Texas Insurance Code.  In Jones v. Allstate Vehicle & Property Insurance Company, 2022 Tex. App. LEXIS 8896 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] Dec. 6, 2022, no pet.), the policyholder appealed a take-nothing judgment in favor of the insurer in a dispute over a partial denial of a homeowners claim.  The policyholder sued her insurer for breach of contract, violation of the Texas Insurance Code, and breach of the duty of good faith and fair dealing.  At trial, the jury found that the insurer failed to comply with the policy, engaged in unfair and deceptive trade practices, and failed to comply with the duty of

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Fifth Circuit Resolves Split Over Chapter 542A Election of Liability for Agents

In Advanced Indicator & Manufacturing v. Acadia Insurance Company,[1] the Fifth Circuit resolved a thorny split in Texas federal district courts regarding Texas Insurance Code Chapter 542A by returning to a bedrock principle governing removal.  Now as long as the insurer has elected to accept the adjuster’s liability any time before removal – even when after suit is filed – there is no possibility of recovery against the adjuster and removal will be proper. About The Author

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Oklahoma Supreme Court Rejects “Loss of Use” Argument, Nixes COVID-19 Business Interruption Suit

There is a clear nationwide trend of federal courts disposing of COVID-19 business interruption suits.[1]  Insureds are not clearing their initial burden to establish direct physical loss or damage to property, or they are running afoul of virus and contamination exclusions.  Relatively few state supreme courts, however, have weighed in to resolve the issue, thereby providing guidance to their own lower courts and federal courts that must follow state law.[2]  Insurers and insureds alike have been watching to see which way the Oklahoma Supreme Court would hold.  In Cherokee Nation v. Lexington Ins. Co., 2022 OK 71, the Court joined the national mainstream and ruled against the insured.  About The Author

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Texas Court of Appeals Adds Confusion to Post-Appraisal Litigation Under the TPPCA

Ever since the Texas Supreme Court changed the landscape of Texas law regarding appraisal in Barbara Technologies Corp. v. State Farm Lloyds, 589 S.W.3d 806 (Tex. 2019) and Ortiz v. State Farm Lloyds, 589 S.W.3d 127 (Tex. 2019), practitioners and courts have been struggling to apply the Texas Supreme Court’s holdings.  Barbara Technologies and Ortiz answered some questions but raised others.  About The Authors

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Florida Appeals Court Reverses Appraisal Ordered In Storm Suit

On July 20, 2022, Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal reversed and remanded a trial court’s decision compelling the parties to proceed with appraisal and staying litigation until that appraisal was completed. Florida’s appellate court held that trial court erred in granting the motion to compel appraisal without first conducting an evidentiary hearing to determine compliance with post loss obligations. About The Authors

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Intentional Loss Exclusion Could Apply Even to Unintended Damage, Says the Tenth Circuit

The Tenth Circuit recently held that, under Kansas law, an intentional loss exclusion precludes coverage for damage caused by an intentionally set fire even if the actual resulting damage is unintended. In Taylor et al. v. LM Insurance Corp., Case No. 20-3166 (10th Cir. Jul. 11, 2022), the named insureds’ 18-year-old daughter (who was also an “insured” under the policy) was home alone and used a lighter to ignite her father’s side of her parents’ bedspread, intending to “make him mad.” Though she intended to, and believed she had, put out the fire, the fire spread and caused damage to the insureds’ home. About The Authors

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Missouri Takes A Stand On Depreciation

On June 28, the Missouri Court of Appeals upheld a lower court’s decision finding Lexington Insurance Company (“Lexington”) breached its policy with homeowner Cynthia Franklin. Franklin’s home has sustained damage in a May 2016 storm for which she submitted a claim with Lexington. Lexington utilizes a two-step adjusting process in which it first determines the ACV of a covered loss and issues an ACV payment. Then, if an insured requests additional reimbursement for repair and replacement costs over the amount previously paid, Lexington assesses the appropriateness of payment. In processing Franklin’s claim, Lexington withheld over $5,000 in actual cash value, citing to “depreciated labor costs.” Lexington, in a letter dated July 7, 2016, explained that Franklin could recover “applicable depreciation

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New Jersey Appellate Division Rules Insurers Not Obligated to Cover Certain Business COVID-19 Related Losses

A recent New Jersey Appellate Division ruling follows the general trend nationally in which courts are, by and large, rejecting insureds’ claims for coverage for business income losses due to government orders related to preventing the spread of Covid-19.  While there have been certain outliers, like the Louisiana Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal’s deeply divided plurality decision earlier this month in Cajun Conti LLC, et al. v. Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s, et al., the overwhelming majority of courts have ruled in favor of insurers.  Specifically, courts have consistently recognized that physical alteration or damage to covered property is a prerequisite for triggering business interruption coverage under a first-party insurance policy.    Further, courts have almost uniformly enforced virus exclusions.  In this

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Florida Property Insurance Reform Round Three Brings Big Changes

For the third time since 2019, the Florida Legislature has enacted broad property insurance reforms with the goal of stabilizing the insurance market and curbing litigation filed by unscrupulous contractors. The bill, S.B. 2D, creates a reinsurance program, amends certain prohibited advertisement practices for contractors, permits issuance of personal lines policies with separate roof deductibles, and reigns in property insurance bad faith litigation and litigation by assignees. In this article, we will focus on the statutory changes that affect the handling and litigation of property insurance claims. About The Authors

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About The Property Insurance Law Observer

For more than five decades, Cozen O’Connor has represented all types of property insurers in jurisdictions throughout the United States, and it is dedicated to keeping its clients abreast of developments that impact the insurance industry. The Property Insurance Law Observer will survey court decisions, enacted or proposed legislation, and regulatory activities from all 50 states. We will also include commentary on current issues and developing trends of interest to first-party insurers.

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