Property Insurance Coverage Law Blog
The Policyholder's Advocate®
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Latest posts
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Jane Kim Wins: What Will California’s New Insurance Commissioner Mean for Policyholders?
I publicly supported Ben Allen for California Insurance Commissioner. With Jane Kim’s victory, I suppose Ben could be forgiven for wondering whether my endorsement was his “kiss of death.” My election forecasting services remain available, although demand may have softened…
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More Fire Science from the California Wildfires
A house can survive the flames and still leave its owners with serious questions about what survived inside. What entered through the windows, doors, and ventilation system? What settled on the furniture and belongings? What must be done before the family can return with…
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California Cuts Insurance Education Requirements and Leaves Consumer Competence Questions Unanswered
I subscribe to the Academy of Insurance and find its webinars on insurance coverage enlightening. Patrick Wraight, director of Insurance Journal’s Academy of Insurance, recently asked the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors a question about how supporting…
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State Farm Wants the Oklahoma Judge Removed: Is Judicial Frustration the Same as Judicial Bias?
State Farm wants Oklahoma Judge Amy Palumbo removed from the hail claims lawsuit. After reading State Farm’s October 29, 2026, motion to disqualify and its supporting exhibits, 1 I find myself thinking about something that has troubled me throughout my career representing…
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Did Oklahoma Insurance Examiners Request Internal State Farm Records Before They Became Public in Litigation?
I have been thinking about the internal State Farm documents I highlighted in The Internal State Farm Documents Every Roofer, Public Adjuster, and Policyholder Should Read. These documents recently became public in the Oklahoma hail litigation, particularly the executive…
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Kentucky Public Adjusters Lose in Court: Who Really Wins?
Kentucky public adjusters have suffered a devastating legal defeat, and so have the policyholders who want to hire them. In Brandi Dawn Carroll, et al. v. Russell Coleman, Jefferson Circuit Court Judge Jessica E. Green dismissed a constitutional challenge to Kentucky House Bill…
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The Internal State Farm Documents Every Roofer, Public Adjuster, and Policyholder Should Read
Every once in a while, an insurance bad faith lawsuit produces documents that give the public a rare opportunity to look behind the curtain and see how an insurance company actually operates. I have spent more than four decades reading internal insurance company documents, and I…
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California’s SB 876: What the New Legislation Means for Policyholders
Disaster recovery involves more than restoring property to its pre-loss condition. Policyholders may also need to navigate coverage limits, temporary housing costs, and changes in who handles their claim. California’s newly signed Senate Bill 876, the Disaster Recovery Reform…
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Iowa Judges Give Insurers a Roadmap for Slow Payments and Sloppy Adjusting
Iowa policyholders deserve good faith insurance law that asks why insurance money remained unpaid when competent adjusting could have established that it was owed. After reading Cutler v. Guardian Mutual Insurance Association, 1 I am concerned that the court has given insurers a…
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Proof of Loss: Whose Number Is It, Anyway?
Lately, I have seen an uptick in the number of sworn proofs of loss (“SPOL”) that insurers are requesting to be completed with the number prefilled as the monetary amount the insurer believes is the correct amount. There is no problem with insurers requesting a policyholder to…
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No Mulligan for Zurich: The $2.5 Million Deductible Waiver
“Golfers get mulligans. But in this case, the insurance company does not.” Judge Embry Kidd opened the appellate court’s opinion with those two sentences. I laughed and suspect more than a few public adjusters and frustrated policyholders will want to frame the lines. For those…
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New York Appraisal: The State Court Appointed the Umpire
In October 2023, Chip asked whether a federal judge could appoint an umpire in a New York insurance appraisal. 1 The answer in Victor’s Café is now clear: the umpire was selected by the New York Supreme Court in New York County, after the federal court directed Travelers to…
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Who Decided You Cannot Hire a Public Adjuster? Florida’s Attorney General Wants Answers
Insurance companies bring experienced professionals to the claims process. Policyholders should be able to bring knowledgeable help of their own. Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has opened an investigation into the issue, announcing on October 20 that his office…
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Florida Rejects Retroactive Pre-Suit Notice: A Win for Policyholders
Buying an insurance policy should not mean agreeing to whatever additional hurdles the Legislature might create years later. The Florida Supreme Court reinforced that principle in Universal Property & Casualty Insurance Co. v. Hughes, holding that Florida’s property insurance…
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State Farm’s Claims Scorecard: What Does Management Call a Win?
Yesterday, in “Behind State Farm’s Claims Curtain: Who Is Really Managing Your Insurance Claim?”, I introduced readers to internal State Farm documents made public in an Oklahoma bad faith lawsuit. I promised we would look more closely at what those documents reveal about the…
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Behind State Farm’s Claims Curtain: Who Is Really Managing Your Insurance Claim?
Yesterday, in “When Will Insurers Advertise That They Found a Way to Pay You More?” I raised questions about the insurance industry’s fascination with claims efficiency and reducing costs. I suggested that claims professionals should be just as interested in finding overlooked…