Legal insights on insurance litigation in the State of Tennessee
In the past ten (10) years, we have seen much litigation arise concerning the proper scope of the appraisal clause. Although different policies have different provisions, the “gist” of an appraisal clause can be seen in the following policy provision:
Appraisal
If we and you disagree on the amount of loss, either may make written …
Thanks to a reader who submitted this question – what types of misrepresentations are material in that the insurer would be entitled to deny coverage if these misrepresentations were made? I presume the question was posed because of provisions existing in most insurance policies which indicate the policy is void “if you or any …
On April 29, 2011, the Tennessee legislature adopted House Bill 1189 was enacted into law and signed by Governor Haslam. Public Chapter No. 130 will be codified in Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 56, Chapter 8, Part 1. The signed law is available by clicking here.
The law amends Title 56 related to insurance business acts…
I write today to explain why insurance companies include the name of contractors on insurance payment drafts, sometimes to the chagrin of policyholders. Unfortunately, in many instances, the homeowner and his/her contractor have come to a disagreement by the time the insurance company is ready to issue the final dwelling payment, usually an amount of recoverable …
Two of our readers from Minnesota, Gregory M. Duhl (Associate Professor of Law at William Mitchell College of Law) and Jaclyn Millner (of Fitch, Johnson, Larson & Held, P.A.) have recently posted a draft of an article (to be published in the Pace Law Review) on the use of social networking evidence in insurance …
In Shelby County Health Care Corporation d/b/a Regional Medical Center v. Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, the Tennessee Supreme Court held that the statutory hospital lien act does not attach to medical payment benefits paid pursuant to an insurance policy. In this case, the “Med” attempted to recover the full amount of its medical treatment…
One of the most commented upon topics presented by this Blog has been the question of co-insurance, or insurance to value, and where liability lies when there in an improper valuation. Although not specifically dealing with co-insurance, I commend to your reading the case of English Mountain Retreat, LLC. et. al. v. Suzanne Crustenberry-Greg, et.
We have had some excellent comments and questions on the topic of co-insurance, and specifically whether there can be any “iron-clad” or “black and white” rules as to who is responsible for any undervaluation. Obviously, the readers are concerned as to who, between the applicant/insured and the agent or company, should be held responsible for …
The U.S. Supreme Court has apparently approved changes to the rules governing expert discovery in federal court. These changes are set to take effect December 1, 2010. The most interesting, and the one drawing attention at this time, is the Supreme Court‘s exempting of drafts of expert reports from discovery. The Committee on Rules of Practice and …
Brandon has written a couple of excellent posts on the recent Tennessee Court of Appeals opinion of Tuturea v. Tennessee Farmers Mutual Insurance Company and whether the opinion calls the ability of an insurer to “end-around” (as he puts it) the innocent spouse or innocent co-insured doctrine.
I think we must look to …
