In general, an insurance company has a duty to defend a policyholder when they are subject to litigation. However, as evidenced by a recent case in the Fifth Circuit, this duty is not unlimited. The policyholder must notify the insurance company of the lawsuit and specifically, request the insurance company defend them in the litigation….
In BITCO General Insurance Corp. v. Monroe Guaranty Insurance Co., the Texas Supreme Court recently announced a new rule that applies to insurance coverage disputes and an insurer’s duty to defend. The Court’s ruling allowed for extrinsic evidence to be used in a dispute about the duty to defend, provided that it met certain strict…
Texas law takes a restrictive view of what duties an insurance agent owes to policy purchasers, and claims for breach of fiduciary duty against an agent are not typically successful. In Texas, there is no formal fiduciary duty between an insurance agent and an insured. There is also no legal duty imposed upon an insurance…
The influx of the new coronavirus or COVID-19 has had a major impact on businesses across the nation and around the world. As such, many companies are now reviewing their insurance policies to determine how they can recover losses due to mandated closures from stay at home orders. These times are incredibly unique, as existing…
Insurance companies often deal with disputes over coverage. This often happens when the insured files a claim related to an incident not explicitly covered by the policy. In Wimberley, Texas, a man was recently denied coverage after being injured while moving construction materials off of another’s vehicle.