Steven Plitt is the current successor author to Couch on Insurance, 3d. He maintains a national coverage practice with The Cavanagh Law Firm. He has been listed continuously as one of Arizona's 50 lawyers by Southwest Super Lawyers. He can be reached splitt@cavanaghlaw.com. To read additional articles by Steven Plitt, go to www.insuranceexpertplitt.com. Generally there is a split among the jurisdictions as to whether negligent misrepresentation generally constitutes an “occurrence.” Steven Plitt and Jordan R. Plitt, Practical Tools for Handling Insurance Cases, § 13:2(B)(4), pp. 13-28 through 13-30 (Thomson Reuters) (2011 and 2013 …
The question of whether a coinsurance penalty in a commercial property policy was based upon ACV or RCV was recently addressed by the United States Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals in Buddy Bean Lumber Co. v. Axis Surplus Ins. Co., …
The Florida Supreme Court in Trinidad v. Florida Peninsula Ins. Co., 2013 WL 3333823 (Fla. July 3, 2013) held that replacement cost coverage was required to include overhead and profit in cases where the insured was reasonably likely to need …
In Washington National Ins. Corp. v. Ruderman, 117 So.3d 943 (Fla. 2013) the Eleventh Circuit United States Court of Appeals certified a question to the Florida Supreme Court asking the following question: “If an ambiguity exists in [an] insurance policy …
Most jurisdictions recognize a cause of action for negligent infliction of emotional distress (NIED). Under this type of cause of action there can be a monetary award of emotional distress damages without a direct physical injury to the victim. Is …
Standard uninsured motorist policies provide coverage for hit and run accidents. However, the specific language utilized by various insurers may differ somewhat in using the term “strikes” or “hits” to set up coverage. As an example, State Farm’s policy provides …
In the insurance defense context involving commercial insureds, it is not uncommon for an insurer to defend the employer as well as the employee under a reservation of rights (ROR) when coverage issues exist. In some cases, the employee disappears …
Texas Supreme Court Puts an Exclamation Point on its Prior Case Two recent decisions from the Texas Supreme Court establish that there is no common law bad faith in Texas regarding workers’ compensation claims. The Texas Supreme Court in Texas …
Insurance policies assign several duties to the insured in the event of an occurrence that may result in a claim. For example, insureds must notify the insurer of any occurrence that may result in a claim and provide details of …
Georgia Supreme Court Says Insurer Can’t Have its Cake and Eat it too Insurance companies were historically faced with a Hobbesian’s choice in deciding to defend their insureds in personal injury actions where there was doubt as to whether the …