Javier Delgado worked his way through law school as an independent insurance claims adjuster with Merlin Law Group attorney Etienne Font as his boss. Javier has had great success with our firm after joining us shortly after Hurricane Ike in Texas where he represented hundreds of slabbed clients on the Bolivar peninsula. He has testified to the Texas legislature, taught judges and federal mediators in New Jersey and New York following Superstorm Sandy, and last week testified in front of the Florida legislature.

As a result of his hard work and dedication, Javier has represented numerous governmental entities including school boards with hurricane claims, municipalities with hail damage claims, and even a governmental entity with a significant earthquake claim caused by fracking. He is currently representing numerous governmental entities in the Virgin Islands.
Javier testified in front of the Florida legislature last week and here is his testimony:

When I asked about his experience, he told me this:

My issue was not as exciting and frankly, …

The surplus lines market has been inserting onerous language in the insurance policies removing the insurance claims from the state where the property is located and forcing insureds in Florida and Texas to arbitrate their case in New York. New York has a one year statute of limitations from the date of loss to file suit or start the arbitration. The arbitration provision inserted into the policy does not even mention the one-year time frame. Many miss this and lose their case even before it begins. This is a ”Catch-22” that surplus lines insurers are using to leverage smaller settlements or deny claims altogether. I am aware of at least one Texas attorney that took over several commercial claims from another attorney after a few years whose clients’ claims were denied altogether because the applicable law was New York law. It’s these little changes of the law that appear to be insignificant, but significantly impact consumers.

I truly enjoyed the experience working with those with the Florida Justice Association (FJA). I came home and told my wife and kids about participating in American democracy. It felt good working with the FJA folks and being part of the team and appreciate you and Amy Boggs heading the property insurance division. We should consider a way to encourage other attorneys to become part of FJA…

Javier Delgado is a true champion of policyholders and I am very proud of his efforts and being an important part of the Merlin Law Group team.

Thought For The Day

On account of being a democracy and run by the people, we are the only nation in the world that has to keep a government four years, no matter what it does.
—Will Rogers