Missouri courts have long held that a broker or agent who undertakes to procure insurance for another for compensation owes a duty of reasonable skill, care, and diligence in obtaining the requested insurance.<\/strong><\/em>
. . . .
An agent or broker who unjustifiably and through his fault or neglect fails to obtain the requested insurance will be held liable<\/strong><\/em> for any damages resulting from such failure.
. . . .
Moreover, an agent or broker who undertakes to procure insurance in accordance with instructions impliedly undertakes to give notice to the client in the event of his failure to procure such insurance.
. . . .
Failure to provide this notice will render the agent or broker liable to the client for damages, and the client may sue in tort for negligent breach of the agent’s or broker’s duty to timely notify the client that the requested insurance was not obtained.^{1<\/sup><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n}

If Agent Is On Notice Of A Particular Condition Of The Property, The Knowledge Of The Agent Is Considered To Also Be The Knowledge Of The Insurance Company<\/strong><\/p>\n

Many policies contain provisions which declare that if the condition is present at the property, the condition will negate coverage. An example of this is vacancy<\/strong>. Many property policies contain a vacancy provision which states that if the property is left vacant for 60 days prior to the loss, the policy will provide no coverage for property damage.<\/p>\n

The question arises: if the agent knew the property was vacant at the time he\/she sold the insurance to the policyholder, can the insurance company still enforce the vacancy provision?<\/p>\n

Missouri case law declares that where an agent knows of the vacancy and that the vacancy is likely to continue, the policy vacancy provision is waived.^{2<\/sup><\/p>\n}

Under Missouri law, issuance of an insurance policy constitutes waiver of a known ground of invalidity.^{3<\/sup> Consistent with this law, “[a]n insurer is bound by the information acquired by its agent in taking an application, and is presumed to have at least constructive notice of what the agent knows.”4<\/sup> “Where the agent knows that the insured building is not currently occupied, or is not likely to be occupied within the prescribed time, and issues a policy containing a vacancy provision, the insurer waives compliance with the provision.”5<\/sup> If the insurance agent knew of the vacancy when the policy was sold, then the insurance company waives the vacancy provision. Most states’ divisions of insurance have determined that an insurer cannot take a policyholder’s money\/premiums in exchange for illusory coverage.<\/p>\n}