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.
With developments in technology, new forms of fraud have arisen that are leading to more business insurance claims. Coverage disputes for losses caused by fraud are becoming more complicated, and courts have differed when defining what exactly constitutes a “direct loss.” To best protect themselves, insurance companies and their insurance lawyers need to take a look at the policy language and the types of technology that contribute to fraud.