In March 2012, the Tennessee Supreme Court issued a landmark opinion concerning the liabilty of insurers and insurance agents in cases involving failure to procure and maintain appropriate insurance coverage.  The case is Allstate Ins. Co. v. Tarrant.  The case is a "must read" for insurance practitioners, and is full of good nuggets.  Today I’ll…

The Tennessee Court of Appeals rendered another decision yesterday concerning the limitations period that is applicable to lawsuits to enforce an insurance policy.  The court upheld the dismissal of the lawsuit, ruling that the lawsuit was filed outside the time period allowed in the insurance policy.  A copy of the case, Gagne v. State Farm. can be downloaded here…

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…

This is the third installment of my recent discussion of the Morrison v. Allen decision.  Assume these facts (a skeletal version of the facts in Morrison):  John Doe requests life insurance from his insurance agent in the amount of $1,000,000.  A policy is issued, but a claim by John’s wife, Jane, for benefits under…