What Makes Long-Term Disability Insurance Unique?

Fri May 25th, 2018 on     Disability Insurance,    

Generally speaking, in Florida and throughout the country, disability insurers will utilize whatever means necessary — whether you have short-term disability insurance coverage or long-term disability insurance coverage — to undervalue a policyholder’s claim, or to otherwise avoid having to payout the claim altogether.  Insurers rely on the fact that many policyholders are unwilling to challenge their decision, even if their decision is not justified by the evidence. If you’ve had a legitimate disability claim […]

Be Careful What You Post to Social Media — Insurers May Be Investigating

Fri May 18th, 2018 on     Disability Insurance,    

In Florida (and throughout the country), disability insurance policyholders must take special care not to post potentially compromising text, photos, and videos to their various social media accounts.  Insurance companies are increasingly making use of evidence that their investigation teams dredge up on social media accounts to undermine policyholder claims and thereby justify a denial. Insurers Have Always Investigated Inconsistencies Disability insurers have a long history of using privacy-invasive tactics in order to investigate potential […]

Can You Make a Property Insurance Claim That Includes Damage for Loss of Use?

Fri May 11th, 2018 on     Property Insurance,    

In Florida, where hurricanes, tropical storms, and other natural disasters are a regular feature of life, property insurance claims frequently involve “loss of use” coverage issues.  Standard property insurance coverage does not necessarily cover all the various losses suffered by a policyholder.  Loss of use coverage — which may be its own separate policy, or simply a provision built into an existing homeowner’s insurance or renter’s insurance policy — helps fill in the gaps, so […]

Determining Business Interruption Losses

Fri Apr 27th, 2018 on     Insurance Claims,    

If you are covered by business interruption insurance, then you may find yourself in a particularly vulnerable situation when some event occurs that interrupts the normal flow of business and thus leads to unexpected losses.  A significant enough interruption to business can cause irreparable damage to one’s brand and reputation.  Depending on the nature and extent of the damage, submitting an insurance claim and successfully obtaining benefits may be fundamental to the continuance of the […]

Disabled Claimants Must Seek Treatment and Give Regular Updates

Fri Apr 20th, 2018 on     Disability Insurance,    

In Florida, as is the case in other states, recipients of disability benefits — whether through private disability insurance or through a public program like SSDI — must reasonably follow the treatment plans required by their physicians, and must regularly update their insurer as to their condition.  Failure to do so could result in a loss of benefits (through premature termination of benefits), or a reassessment of disability benefits that reduces the amount you receive […]

Policyholders: Be Careful Not to Misrepresent Yourself on Your Insurance Application

Fri Apr 13th, 2018 on     Insurance Claims,    

In some cases, your insurer may deny your claim due to a specific misrepresentation in your insurance application — even if the misrepresentation at issue was not intentional and was merely a mistake borne of a simple misunderstanding. Material Misrepresentation as a Defense Insurers can use a material misrepresentation defense to avoid having to pay out for your legitimate insurance claims.  Oftentimes, an insurer will discover some mistake in your application and will anchor their […]

Can You Sue Your Insurance Agent for Their Mistakes?

Fri Apr 6th, 2018 on     Bad Faith Insurance,    

In Florida, insurance litigation disputes — often involving over-broad and unexpected policy exclusions — may lead one to question the liability of their insurance agent.  After all, if the insurance agent obtained the policy on your behalf, it’s possible that they have not satisfied their obligations and have somehow misled you into entering into an insurance agreement that did not adequately meet your needs. In the event that your insurance agent failed to adhere to […]

How the Health Insurance Appeals Process Works in Florida

Fri Mar 30th, 2018 on     Health Insurance,    

In Florida, and elsewhere, health insurance policyholders are entitled to appeal adverse determinations by their insurer — such as a denial of coverage — and thereby request that the insurer conduct a full review of their original decision. The appeals process is the first of several steps in challenging the determination made by your health insurer.  After you have exhausted the internal appeals process, you can move forward with an external, third-party review of the […]

Bad Faith Lawsuits: Making Sure Your Claim is a Strong One

Fri Mar 23rd, 2018 on     Bad Faith Insurance,    

In Florida, insurers have a duty of good faith that they must adhere to.  Simply put, insurers must act fairly, honestly, and with due regard towards the interests of their policyholders.  If they fail to do so — for example, by wrongfully denying a claim, unreasonably delaying the handling of a claim, or otherwise interfering with the policyholder’s ability to recover the damages to which they are entitled — then they may be held liable […]

Florida Property Insurers Must Cover Damage to Personal Property Too

Fri Mar 16th, 2018 on     Property Insurance,    

Usually, property loss does not involve exclusive damage to the dwelling unit itself — there may also be damage to other, non-dwelling structures (such as a fence around the property), or more commonly, to items of personal property that also reside within the dwelling.  In some cases, the personal property of the policyholder may be of significant value, and as such, their loss may expose the policyholder to unexpected financial vulnerability. For example, suppose that […]

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