We often urge people to read their insurance policies. It may not be a laugh a minute; it may not be an edge-of-the-seat thriller. You may even doze off once or twice. But your insurance policy — and it doesn’t matter what kind of insurance we are talking about — contains information that could change the way you run your house, the people you lend your car to, or the insurance company you buy your coverage from.
A recent article illustrates yet another example of the resources available to insurance companies.
We have started the new year off with some information about mid-term cancellations of homeowners insurance policies. It is not exactly an upbeat topic, but it does offer fodder for resolutions. If you are truthful on your application, pay your premiums and follow the insurer’s instructions about repairs, you shouldn’t get the dreaded notice of cancellation.
As odd as it seems, it is possible that an entire generation of Floridians will never have to live through a hurricane. If the 2015 season is as quiet as the last few years have been, we will have a full decade of hurricane-free living under our belts.
If you are among the thousands of Florida homeowners who were “depopulated” from Citizens Property Insurance Corp. last year, you may now be dealing with a different insurer for the first time in years. The coverage may vary slightly, but the basic terms of the contract and your relationship with the insurance company have not changed. State law makes sure of that.
The enrollment period for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act closes at noon today. Chances are good that those of us who have put this off to the very last minute will have a tremendous sense of relief when it’s finally taken care of. There is a certain comfort that comes from knowing that your insurance is in place for another year.
We are finishing up our series about a Florida Supreme Court decision that the appellate court said could clear up some confusion about workers’ compensation coverage. The issue was whether an employee’s widow can file a workers’ comp claim as well as a wrongful death lawsuit.
We’re continuing our discussion of the recent Florida Supreme Court decision regarding workers’ compensation insurance. An employee was killed on the job, and his widow received a settlement under the employer’s workers’ comp insurance as well as a $9.5 million damage award in a wrongful death lawsuit. The employer’s insurance company refused to pay the damage award from the lawsuit.
Generally, Florida law recognizes workers’ compensation as the sole remedy when a worker is injured on the job. The answer to the question in the post’s title, however, is not a firm “no.” There are exceptions to the rule.
In September 2012, we wrote a post about force-placed insurance with the catchy title, “Force-placed insurance companies feeling the heat.” At the time, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners was just beginning to look into the practice, and Florida was dubbed “Ground Zero” for what regulators believed was an unfair business practice. Two years ago, force-placed insurance (also called “lender-placed insurance”) was the looming sub-scandal of the housing crisis.
