Articles by William Rabb

US High Court Declines Appeal, Upholds Coverage Ruling on Treated Wood

Insurance carriers may want to examine policy language – and what information they request from insureds – after the U.S. Supreme Court let stand a lower court’s ruling which could force Argo Group to cover claims that a wood-treating company …

KBRA Says Florida Insurers Will Weather Helene and Milton; Cat Fund Can Handle Payouts

Florida’s Hurricane Catastrophe Fund, a state-created layer of reinsurance, expects to pay out about $4.6 billion to help cover insurers’ losses in Hurricanes Helene and Milton. But that won’t trigger a surcharge on premiums. And a number of Florida property …

Insurer Not Liable if Bank Improperly Cashes Insurance Check, Appeals Court Finds

Insurance carriers are not responsible if a bank improperly cashes a check made out to two insureds and gives the proceeds to only one of them, a federal appeals court decided this week. The U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals …

Tennessee Eyes Claims Denials, Florida Offers to Check Contracts with Adjusters in Wake of Hurricanes

Officials in two Southeastern states have taken steps to hold insurers or recipients of insurance funds accountable after Hurricanes Helene and Milton spurred thousands of insurance claims. The Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance reminded insurance carriers that they must …

Universal, AmCoastal Report Some Costs from Helene, Milton for Q3

One of Florida’s largest property insurers and one of its smaller carriers reported losses at least partly related to Hurricane Helene, which landed just before the third quarter closed, and from Hurricane Milton, which struck less than two weeks later. …

Florida’s Heritage Insurance Reports 5,400 Claims, $57M in Cat Losses From Milton

More loss and claims estimates are trickling in from carriers after Hurricane Milton caused widespread wind and flood damage in Florida this month. Tampa-based Heritage Insurance Holdings said in a preliminary statement that about two weeks after Milton made landfall …

Appeals Court Says Experts Must Show Causal Relationship in BP Oil Workers’ Suits

A federal appeals court has underscored the high bar that expert witnesses must meet before a court can connect the dots between exposure and illness, a ruling that could have an impact on insurance claims and toxic tort litigation. In …

People’s Trust Managed Repair Clause Survives Another Florida Legal Challenge

After at least three appeals court decisions in the last four years, homeowner lawsuits that take issue with a Florida insurance carrier’s managed repair program may finally have run their course. “It really should” be a nail in the coffin …

Milton’s 152,180 Claims So Far to Mean New Pressure on Reinsurance, Rate Hikes

Property Insurance claims from Hurricane Milton had topped more than 152,180 by Monday, with some $1.9 billion in estimated insured losses. That’s already more than the claims and losses reported for Helene, which made landfall in Florida two weeks earlier, …

Florida CFO Bars Insurers From Altering Adjusters’ Reports Without Explanation

Almost two years after a group of independent claims adjusters alleged that insurers had deceptively altered their damage estimates and low-balled policyholders, Florida’s chief financial officer has issued an emergency rule barring similar actions in Hurricane Milton claims. “Any move …