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Claims
Acceptance of claims check
Our insured’s car was hit when another driver ran a stop sign. The police report and a witness’ statement confirmed this, although the other driver was not ticketed. The other driver’s carrier offered only 80 percent of the damages. Our insured cashed the claim check, endorsing it “partial payment,” so that he could get his car fixed, then went after the balance. An arbitrator ruled against him since he had cashed the check. The arbitrator said that endorsing the check “partial payment” made no difference. Is this true?
Reservation of rights
Please give some insight as to how to respond to and protect our insureds when a carrier sends a reservation of rights letter on a claim.
Negotiated claims settlement
My client was involved in an automobile accident that was the complete fault of the other party. He has received a letter from the adjuster of the other party’s insurer offering a compromise payment, claiming they had not received a notice of loss, nor could they contact their insured. Can an insurer make such an offer?
Denial of homeowners claim for lack of building permits
Could an insurer deny a homeowners policy claim for damage caused by a condition in improvements made to the home for which the homeowner neglected to get the proper building permits?
Umbrella policy—notice of claim requirements
My client had someone get injured on his property that initially resulted in a $1,500 reserve being placed on his commercial general liability policy. Since it was such a small amount, my client chose not to report it to his umbrella insurer. However, when the reserve subsequently was increased to $75,000, I persuaded the client to give notice on the umbrella policy. The umbrella insurer then declined coverage due to late notice. Should my client have given notice on the umbrella policy even though the claim appeared to lack severity in the beginning?
Backing into a garage door
While backing up, I ran into the garage door we just installed. Do I submit the claim to our auto or homeowners insurance carrier?