Texas, like many states, purports to employ a complaint allegation or “eight corners” rule. Under this “rule,” a duty to defend is determined by comparing the four corners of the petition to the four corners of the policy: if the …
This is the tale of what the Court of Appeals of Maryland—the state’s highest court—called a modified insurance “Ponzi scheme.” The case, decided earlier this year, is Insurance Company of North America v. Miller. It is important to note that …
For a generation, or so, courts around the country have thought that contract law was insufficient to regulate the claims conduct of insurance companies. Consequently, the common law of insurer bad faith has been created. As will happen from time-to-time, …
Insurance intermediaries, whether they are brokers or agents, have fiduciary duties. Often these duties run to policyholders or prospective policyholders. Often they run to insurers. Sometimes, they can run to both at the same time. I. Duties to Policyholder On …
Insurance agents are in a tough spot. They compete for business against nearly everybody: each other, banks, financial analysts, annuity companies, and—yes!—even insurers. Often, it seems that insurance agents have to compete against the very companies they represent. If they …
On March 29, 2001, the Supreme Court of Texas decided a consolidated case of enormous importance to insurance intermediaries. In Lawrence v. CDB Services Inc., the high court said by a vote of 6-2, that employees could waive participating in …
In 1989 the Legislature jettisoned the generations-old Texas hybrid system and substituted a new workers’ comp system. In the mid-19th century it dawned on European social designers that the cost of goods sold should be the total amount it takes …
Insurance covers accidents. In the legal world, we call these “fortuities”, but it all boils down to accidental happenings. First-party insurance, for example property insurance, covers financial losses sustained by insureds as the result of damage to their property. Of …
The Western world is haunted by the specter of the German government killing millions upon millions of Jews (and others) in concentration camps. I couldn’t sleep when I first saw the pictures in the 1950s. My children couldn’t sleep when …
In specifying, arranging for and renewing insurance policies, it is customary in the industry for agents to use a kind of shorthand. It is also customary for agents to rely upon manuals provided to them by insurers. A case decided …
