Source: https://publicinsuranceadjuster.net/2020/
Timestamp: 2020-07-08 13:21:06
Document Index: 93085028

Matched Legal Cases: ['§4005', '§4043', '§4009', '§4005', '§4015', '§4005', '§4017', '§4023']

2020 - Public Insurance Adjuster
Public Insurance Adjuster > 2020
Posted by gmweb on June 8, 2020
https://video.foxnews.com/v/6162256469001#sp=show-clips
Posted by gmweb on April 13, 2020
A picture is worth a thousand words. But, this one video of President Donald Trump may prove to be worth hundreds of billions of dollars.
Donald Trump said he knows how to read insurance policies. He did not see any reference to anything about an exclusion for a “pandemic.”
He said that the insurance executives know what is fair and that they should Pay Up!
Trump said that we cannot let insurance companies off the hook after small businesses have been paying premiums all these years, and when they need the coverage, the insurance companies do not pay. He said: “We cannot let that happen.”
I wish I had been a fly on the wall at the Insurance Information Institute propaganda room this afternoon.
By Chip Merlin on April 10, 2020POSTED IN COMMERCIAL INSURANCE CLAIMS
https://www.propertyinsurancecoveragelaw.com/files/2020/04/rule40-cur-moratoriumonpolicy.pdf
By Chip Merlin on March 26, 2020POSTED IN COMMERCIAL INSURANCE CLAIMS, STATE LEGISLATION
New Jersey started the coronavirus business insurance legislation, but just like a virus, it is spreading to other jurisdictions. Ohio and Massachusetts filed very similar bills to what was filed in the New Jersey Assembly.
I blogged about the ex post facto issues of this legislation last night in Coronavirus Insurance Law Update March 25—New Jersey Anti-Virus Bill and Civil Ex Post Facto Laws. If you read these legislative bills very carefully, one can discern the strong public safety and public policy reasons for the legislation and the need for a retroactive remedy.
I am not a constitutional lawyer, but an insurance lawyer I have a lot of respect for is Barry Zalma. I did not get to see his scheduled presentation this week at the now-canceled First Party Claims West Conference. Zalma made the following comment to my prior post:
Don’t forget the Fifth Amendment, this is a taking without compensation.
I am not a Fifth Amendment Constitutional expert either.
Some insurance company attorneys will argue that this is more akin to a Robin Hood scenario. I get accused of acting like Robin Hood sometimes. But, I correct that because Robin Hood had nothing to do with King Arthur, Noble Knights of The Round Table, or a very special wizard.
source: https://www.propertyinsurancecoveragelaw.com/2020/03/articles/state-legislation/coronavirus-insurance-law-update-march-26-ohio-and-massachusetts-file-proposed-legislation-requiring-retroactive-removal-of-virus-exclusion-to-coronavirus-business-income-and-civil-authority-c/
Louisiana–COVID-19 Pandemic Relief: My Mortgage is Deferred, What about My Insurance Premiums?
By Deborah Trotter on April 7, 2020POSTED IN INSURANCE, REGULATION
This past weekend I was asked the question above. This is what I found in Louisiana. On March 26, 2020, by Proclamation No. JBE 2020-37, Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards transferred certain insurance matters to Commissioner of Insurance James J. Donelon. Commissioner Donelon quickly instituted reasonable emergency measures to address the growing concerns of Louisiana’s residents through Emergency Rule 40 – Moratorium on Policy Cancellations and Non-Renewals for Policyholders in Louisiana during the Outbreak of Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) (“Rule 40”).1
Rule 40 applies to any and all kinds of insurers and insurance, including all property and casualty insurers, all life insurers, and all other insurance-related entities licensed by the commissioner or doing business in Louisiana and their insureds, policyholders, members, subscribers, enrollees, and certificate holders.2 To specifically address the question posed, Louisiana has suspended the cancellation, nonrenewal or nonreinstatement of any insurance policy in force and effect on at 12:01 a.m. on March 12, 2020, until the earlier of 11:59 p.m. on May 12, 2020, or 11:59 p.m. on the date the governor lifts the state of emergency presently in effect, inclusive of any renewal.3 Rule 40 does provide that a policyholder may cancel a policy in writing or by written consent,4 and an insurer may cancel a policy for acts or practices constituting fraud or intentional misrepresentations of material fact.5
To address the issue regarding premiums, for all but Health insurance policies, Rule 40 provides that a premium owed from an insured may be offset from any claim payment made to the insured under the insurance policy.6 Rule 40 also provides that after the state of emergency is lifted, the insurer may provide notice of cancellation or non-renewal de novo in accordance with existing statutory requirements,7 which would address the issue of non-payment of premiums.
Further, Rule 40 clarifies that nothing in Rule 40 shall be construed to exempt or excuse an insured from the obligation to pay the premium otherwise due for actual insurance coverage provided.8 And further, Rule 40 makes it clear there is no intent to delay or defer the claims adjustment process for a pending or newly filed claim: “Emergency Rule 40 shall not relieve an insured who has a claim filed before or during the pendency of Emergency Rule 40 from compliance with the insured’s obligation to provide information and cooperate in the claim adjustment process relative to the claim.”9
This initial and fast-acting approach taken in Louisiana seems to be fair and reasonable for both the insurer and the insured given the extraordinary circumstances and events. If you have questions regarding this issue in another jurisdiction, check with both your state governor’s office and/or the Department of Insurance for updated guidance. We look forward to seeing these creative solutions to this issue as we all look forward to moving through this pandemic as quickly and smoothly as possible. All the best.
1 Title 37 Insurance Part XI. Rules Chapter 40. Emergency Rule 40—Moratorium on Policy Cancellations and Non-Renewals for Policyholders in Louisiana during the Outbreak of Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19).
2 Id. at §4005. Cancellation, Nonrenewal, and Nonreinstatement, (A).
3 Id. at §4043. Effective Date.
4 Id. at §4009. Written Request for Cancellation by Insured.
5 Id. at §4005. Cancellation, Nonrenewal, and Nonreinstatement, (D).
6 Id. at §4015. Premium Offset.
7 Id. at §4005. Cancellation, Nonrenewal, and Nonreinstatement, (A).
8 Id. at §4017. Obligation of Insured to Pay Premium.
9 Id. at §4023. Insureds Obligation to Cooperate in Claim Process.
source: https://www.propertyinsurancecoveragelaw.com/2020/04/articles/insurance/louisiana-covid-19-pandemic-relief-my-mortgage-is-deferred-what-about-my-insurance-premiums/
Posted by gmweb on March 9, 2020
The Consumer Federation of America and New York’s Law School’s Center For Justice and Democracy issued a study today, How the Cash Rich Insurance Industry Fakes Crises and Invents Social Inflation. I would suggest readers read this study and also consider my post from last week, How Playing the Float, Taking Depreciation on Labor or Tear Out Is Needed Cheating For Many Insurance Companies, where I had a long quote from Warren Buffet about how insurance companies make big money on the float.
The study noted what we see in legislatures across the country where insurance lobbyists and their publicists try to portray a crisis to get what they want:
Today, this overcapitalized industry is already charging many businesses far too much in premiums while threatening even greater increases, all while attempting to create the perception that it is too financially troubled to pay claims. Yet this is an industry that has stored away so much excess profit that it now sits on more surplus than at any time in history – a record level of well over $800 billion.
For most Americans who do not pay close attention to insurance markets, it is easy to be misled by this industry when it tries to justify rate hikes after years of stable or decreasing premiums. This is exactly the situation in which some businesses find themselves today.
Insurance companies have never been forthcoming about why ups and downs in insurance premiums happen. In these cyclical hard markets, they have internally admitted that the cause is the industry’s own self-made boom and bust economic cycle. But publicly they have attempted to cover up their mismanaged underwriting and accounting practices by blaming lawyers, juries, and the legal system. Today they are making such claims even though both litigation data and the industry’s own loss data show that claims are not spiking and ‘tort costs’ are stable.
In previous crises, the industry pointedly blamed the legal system, but that old attack has been exposed as incorrect in each of the three previous hard market periods. So, in the current run-up to a new hard market, the insurance industry needed a new public relations term to make the case for higher rates. It has settled on a new name to describe its current interest in raising prices: ‘social inflation.’ Over the last several months, insurance industry representatives have begun a seemingly coordinated effort to market the idea that ‘social inflation’ (i.e., lawsuits by injured, harmed, and defrauded consumers and policyholders) are hurting insurers financially.
This study will take time to digest, but I encourage those concerned about the insurance industry and how it operates to fully read this newly published report.
Source: https://www.propertyinsurancecoveragelaw.com/2020/03/articles/consumer-protection/do-insurance-carriers-create-a-crisis-to-obtain-rate-increase-and-anti-consumer-changes-to-insurance-laws/