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Public Adjuster Kermith Sonnier Passes

Chip Merlin — Fri, 31 May 2024 10:00:37 +0000

Have you ever wished you had done just one more thing with a close friend or relative before they passed? Kermith Sonnier promised and invited me to watch him cook and taste his gumbo. When a true Cajun makes such an invite, don’t miss the treat. Many understandably thought of Kermith Sonnier with bewilderment. How …

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Who Has a Right to Sue the Insurance Company? A Recent Case Suggests Standing Requires a Policyholder or the Holder of a Valid Assignment

Derek Chaiken — Thu, 01 Jun 2023 14:33:18 +0000

The Merlin Law Group is often approached by individuals wishing to make insurance claims on policies where they are not the named insured. These are typically shareholders or members of a corporate insured seeking to make claims for bad faith or emotional damages due to an insurer’s denial of benefits. A recent unpublished case from …

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Adjusters’ Safety During Inspections—Whose Responsibility is it?

Merlin Law Group — Thu, 07 May 2020 10:00:23 +0000

Mississippi has an answer. On April 16, 2020, the Mississippi Supreme Court recently ruled that an adjuster’s safety was not the homeowner’s responsibility, as the homeowner exercised no control over the adjuster.1 As a result of a storm, Mr. Peak’s home sustained damage to the roof. Mr. Peak filed a claim with his insurance carrier, …

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Contractors Versus the Insurance industry—AOB’s Are Under Attack

Chip Merlin — Mon, 03 Dec 2018 05:15:00 +0000

The National Association of Public Insurance Adjusters held its mid-year meeting last week and the topic of assignment of benefits, commonly referred to as AOB’s, was on the agenda. Lisa Miller, an insurance lobbyist and regulator I have come across for over twenty-five years was the speaker on the topic. Miller is a very bright …

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An AOB? Can we do that? – Assignment of Benefits in North Carolina

Merlin Law Group — Thu, 27 Sep 2018 04:13:09 +0000

The widespread devastation of Hurricane Florence brought to a recent discussion the question of whether assignment of benefits contracts for property insurance proceeds are enforceable in North Carolina. This is a great question. In a general setting, vendors, services providers and contractors begin their work with a down payment and receive additional payments as work …

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Appellate Court Disagrees with Sister Court on Assignment of Benefits

Merlin Law Group — Sun, 09 Sep 2018 13:14:10 +0000

In December of last year, my colleague Ashley Harris discussed Security First Insurance Co. v. Florida Office of Insurance Regulation,1 where the Florida Fifth District Court of Appeal (Fifth DCA) upheld the Office of Insurance Regulation (“OIR”) prohibition of proposed language in an insurance policy that would require “all insureds, all additional insureds and all …

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Prompt Notice of Hail Damage—What is It? Why Do Insurers Fetch Their Lawyers to Claim Non-Compliance? Should Insurers Expect Their Insureds To Dangerously Climb Roofs When OSHA Regulations Prevent Their Own Adjusters From Doing the Same?

Chip Merlin — Wed, 27 Jun 2018 12:40:43 +0000

One of the most offensive examples of insurance company claims managers losing their ethical way is when they demand that their insureds risk life and limb to immediately investigate their roofs after a hail storm. Most insurance policies require “prompt notice” of loss. But, does the insurance company ever warn its customers they must risk …

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Assignment of Claim Post Loss is Valid Despite Disputed Value

Chip Merlin — Wed, 27 Jun 2018 01:05:19 +0000

Claim assignments post loss are generally valid despite policy language preventing the same. This is true even if the amount of the claim owed is disputed.1 In a very recent opinion, the facts indicated that the insureds signed a “Work Order Agreement to Perform Emergency Services, Direct Pay Authorization & Assignment of Benefits” agreement with …

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Can Post-Loss Benefits be Assigned to a Mitigation/Restoration Vendor if the Policy Contains an Anti-Assignment Provision? Can the Vendor then Sue the Insurance Company?

Merlin Law Group — Thu, 14 Jun 2018 04:20:38 +0000

The Arizona Court of Appeals in a recent opinion said, Yes to both. In Farmers Insurance Exchange v. Udall,1 four homeowners insured by Farmers Insurance Exchange (“Farmers”) sustained separate losses, which required water damage mitigation and restoration services. The homeowners hired a vendor to perform the mitigation and restoration services. In each case, the insureds …

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Court Says Claims for Unreasonable Delay or Denial of Insurance Benefits Can Be Filed Beyond One Year

Jonathan Bukowski — Tue, 12 Jun 2018 04:10:42 +0000

As discussed in a previous post, Colorado allows policyholders—even repair vendors such as contractors or roofers where there has been an assignment of insurance benefits—to bring a cause of action for bad faith where an insurance company unreasonably delays or denies the payment of covered insurance benefits.1 This law allows the potential recovery of two …

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Attempt to Bar Post-Loss Assignment of Benefits Denied

Ashley Harris — Wed, 20 Dec 2017 05:10:16 +0000

Assignment of benefits is one of the hottest topics in Florida first party property insurance and it’s no secret that insurance carriers are not in favor of AOBs. Some insurance carriers, like Security First Insurance Company, tried to take matters into their own hands and add language into their homeowners, condominium unit owners and “dwelling …

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Post-loss Assignment of Claims in California

Merlin Law Group — Fri, 17 Nov 2017 05:10:24 +0000

In a prior blog, I discussed the California Supreme Court’s decision in Fluor Corporation v. Superior Court,1 regarding the post-loss assignment of insurance benefits. In Fluor, the California Supreme Court held that section 520 of California’s Insurance Code prohibits insurance companies from refusing to honor post-loss assignments of benefits, regardless of whether the assigned benefits …

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