A general contractor hired a company to place a dumpster at a job site. However, the company put the dumpster in the street and a motorist struck it, damaging his vehicle. Of course, he has no physical damage coverage, the …
About three years ago, I published a book of 1,500 of my favorite quotations. As I was working on an updated edition recently, I came across a quote by 19th century British philosopher John Ruskin that I believe has significant …
Most agent errors and omissions (E&O) policies cover claims that arise from “professional services.” This term is usually defined in the E&O policy to be something like “activities as an insurance agent or insurance broker” or “services rendered as a …
The first time I can recall asking this question was in 2010 and it involved a claim denial under personal auto uninsured motorists and medical payments coverages for someone who was hit by a car while sitting on a snowmobile …
I initiated this column in 2019 with a 12-month series of articles summarizing the key points in my book “When Words Collide: Resolving Insurance Coverage and Claims Disputes.” In my June 2019 column, I wrote about what claim declinations should …
Anyone who has read this column for the past four years, or earlier articles of mine, knows that I am passionate about my disdain for the proliferation of price-focused industry advertising. I believe it creates or fuels the perception in …
Last month, insurance educator Chris Kendall, CPCU, ARM, et al., posted some results of a survey of 2,000 U.S. homeowners on LinkedIn. Conducted or commissioned by Goosehead Insurance Inc., one of the most revealing statistics was that 65% of policyholders …
I’ve discussed or mentioned water damage claims in several columns this year, from plumbing leaks to widespread geographical flooding. As plumbing systems age, increasingly the number one cause of homeowners claims unrelated to weather involve water leaks. These potential losses …
A number of years ago, I worked with an agency that specialized in insuring residential condominiums. Their personal lines department focused on insuring unit owners, including homeowners who owned condos as secondary homes. Their commercial lines department insured many dozens …
Ambiguity and incomprehensibility seem to be the favorite tools of the insurance trade in drafting policies. Most are a virtually impenetrable thicket of incomprehensible verbosity. It seems that insurers generally are attempting to convince the customer when selling the policy …
