Appraisal Payments: Don’t be late for this very important date.
A recent opinion out of the Western District of Texas, Kezar v. State Farm Lloyds, 1:17-CV-389-RP, 2018 WL 2271380, at *1 (W.D. Tex. May 17, 2018), adds further support for post-appraisal summary judgments on extra-contractual claims, but also suggests a strict analysis of whether or not appraisal payments are timely. The Kezar plaintiffs filed their lawsuit against State Farm asserting causes of action for breach of the insurance policy, statutory and common law bad faith, unfair settlement practices, negligence and
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Plaintiff Cannot Checkmate Carrier With Pre-Suit Appraisal Reference
In the recent case of In re Allstate Vehicle & Prop. Ins. Co., 09-18-00024-CV, 2018 WL 1003794, (Tex. App.—Beaumont Feb. 22, 2018, no pet. h.), the Beaumont Court of Appeals confirmed per curiam that insurance carriers do not waive their right to appraisal in response to pre-suit demands by claimants. With the exception of an unusual reference to appraisal by the claimant, the facts of the case were relatively typical. After an initial inspection and payment on a claim for
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Cliché of the Day
In law practice, as in life, we run across a number of clichés . We highlight these commonplace sayings in this new semi-regular feature. Today, Todd Key discusses “splitting the baby.” The Biblical tale arises from Solomon’s attempt to distinguish between two women who both claimed to be the mother of an infant. Solomon’s order to split the baby was a personality test to differentiate between the real mother and an imposter. According to the tale, the imposter mother was
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Homeowner’s Recovery Limited to Direct Financial Loss
Under Texas law, property insurance policies are intended solely to indemnify the insured for its actual monetary loss. Maryland Cas. Co. v. Palestine Fashions, Inc., 402 S.W.2d 883, 888 (Tex. 1966). “Since a contract for insurance . . . is ordinarily a contract of indemnity . . . the insured is entitled to receive the sum necessary to indemnify him, or to be put, as far as practicable, in the same condition pecuniarily in which he would have been had
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Prejudgment Interest 101
Any complete evaluation of consumer insurance litigation should include an estimate of potential prejudgment interest. Typical homeowners and business auto policies explicitly include prejudgment interest in coverage. Questions about prejudgment interest are generally overlooked until the eve of trial, but they represent a quantifiable financial impact to every insurance claim. Under Texas law, prevailing parties generally receive prejudgment interest as matter of course, absent exceptional circumstances. Richter, S.A. v. Bank of America Nat. Trust and Sav. Ass’n, 939 F.2d 1176
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