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Making Subrogation While the Hay Shines

Every year in North America insurers pay out tens of millions of claim dollars resulting from fires and feed damage caused by the spontaneous combustion and heating of hay mow – a pile of hay stored in or near a …

When an Insured Vehicle Becomes an Uninsured Motor Vehicle for Injuries Sustained While Riding in it

A prototypical uninsured motor vehicle insurance claim involves an uninsured third party vehicle injuring someone in a different car that has both liability and uninsured motorist (UM) coverages. What happens when the policyholder is injured while she is a passenger …

Where’s my Deductible?

A Survey of Laws Regarding Reimbursement of an Insured’s Deductible in all 50 States Most automobile insurance policies require their insured to pay a deductible when a claim is made. If the auto carrier is successful in subrogating a particular …

Insurance Policy ‘Escape’ Type ‘Other Insurance’ Clause Given Short Shrift by California Court

An insurer is ordinarily free to restrict the risks it will underwrite and is responsible only for losses within the coverage wording of its policies of insurance. (Fresno Economy Import Used Cars, Inc. v. United States Fid. & Guar. Co. …

If It Seems too Good to Be True: The Problem With Cut-Rate Subrogation Vendors

Litigation is rarely cheap, but it is often necessary. Nowhere is this truer than in the area of insurance subrogation, where those who resist paying subrogation claims assume that insurance companies are loath to pull the trigger and file suit …

Spirits Spirited Away Covered by Insurance Despite Policy Exclusions

Travelers insured Warehouse Wine & Spirits, Inc. against risks of direct physical loss, including theft, with certain exceptions. One James Ceseretti stole more than $1 million worth of wine and liquor while he ran a warehouse for Warehouse Wines, where …

Homeowners Policy Excludes Damage From Prolonged, Unattended Water Inundation

Based on standard homeowner policy water damage exclusions, the United States District Court in Utah found no coverage for extensive damage from water escaping over several months from a sink located in the lower level of a seasonal cabin in …

I Sue Dead People: When a Tortfeasor Dies, Your Subrogation Claim Doesn’t Need to Die too

The author, Franz Kafka, known for his dark situations which many people relate to, once wrote a very short story about omnipotent power floating just beyond our reach. You go to the city to see the law. Upon arrival outside …

Conflict Between Breadth of CGL AI Coverage And Subcontract Requiring it Doesn’t Create Policy Ambiguity

An intermediate Illinois state appellate court has rejected an additional insured’s argument that contradictions between a building subcontract and a CGL policy additional insured endorsement gave rise to ambiguity in the policy, but the insurer must defend the additional insured …

Sudden Medical Emergencies While Driving

When Driving Through Somebody’s Living Room Is Not Negligence Every day in America vehicles leave the roadway, travel across well-manicured lawns, smash through garden sheds, patio furniture, swing sets and plow through the walls of a home, coming to rest …

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