Articles by Jim Sams

Sams is editor of ClaimsJournal.com, the online resource and daily newsletter for property/casualty insurance claims professionals. ClaimsJournal is a member of the Wells Media Group. Sams can be reached at jsams@wellsmedia.com

Insurance Industry Is Being Dragged Into Subsidizing Illegal Marijuana Grow Houses

GARDEN GROVE, Calif. — While California has a $1.4 billion legal marijuana market, a black market of perhaps equal size is thriving. Some enterprising growers are working on ways to get home insurers to cover their capital costs. A presentation …

Bills in Congress, States Seek to Curb Litigation Funding

Lawmakers in three states and in Congress have introduced bills to impose more controls on litigation funding companies, which insurers contend are one of the factors leading to an increase in “nuclear verdicts” that have pushed up claims costs and …

‘Powerful Predictiveness’ May Be Key to Reversing Commercial Auto Losses

The future cannot come too soon for commercial auto. Despite growing premiums, the commercial auto line hasn’t turned an underwriting profit for the past nine years as both the number and cost of claims exceeded expectations. Tech companies are pitching …

Judge Rejects Argument That Insurer Acted in Bad Faith by Using Automated Bill Pay

For the second time in a year, a federal judge rejected a plaintiff attorney’s argument that an insurance carrier acted in bad faith by using the Mitchell Decision Point program when calculating the value of a Colorado policyholder’s underinsured motorist …

Collapsed Cave Not a Covered ‘Building’ Under Policy, Appeals Court Says

Interstate Underground Warehouse & Storage operates more than 3 million square feet of storage space inside a cave that was once a limestone mine just outside of Kansas City, Mo. The company’s website touts the constant 60-degree temperature inside its …

Judge Finds Ransomware Damage to Computer a ‘Direct Physical Loss’

State Auto Property and Casualty Insurance Co. is liable for the cost of replacing a computer server that was damaged and perhaps permanently compromised by a ransomware attack despite the carrier’s argument that the business owner did not suffer a …

Why It’s Not So Easy Getting Insurers to Defend in Sexual Harassment Cases

While Harvey Weinstein’s insurers have reportedly agreed to pay $47 million to settle civil suits against the movie producer, most policyholders should prepare for an epic legal battle just to get their insurers to defend them against accusations of sexual …

Accident Reports Now Ready Minutes After Crash on Smartphone, Says Telematics Firm

The company that helped make driver safety monitoring ubiquitous among auto insurers is now offering a product that can write accident reports within minutes of a crash. Cambridge Mobile Telematics (CMT) announced the launch of Claims Studio, an accident reporting …

Court Upholds Insurers’ Auto Body Repair Networks Against Racketeering Claim

A federal appellate court affirmed a decision to throw out a racketeering lawsuit brought by a group of 126 auto body collision repair shops against seven of the largest U.S. insurers. The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta agreed …

It’s Not Easy Getting Insurers to Defend in Sexual Harassment Cases

While Harvey Weinstein’s insurers have reportedly agreed to pay $47 million to settle civil suits against the movie producer, most policyholders should prepare for an epic legal battle just to get their insurers to defend them against accusations of sexual …