Insurance Law
Category RSS FeedLegislation to update insurance rule for interstate trucking
The minimum liability insurance required for large trucks in interstate commerce was set at $750,000 forty years ago in 1981 at the beginning of the Reagan Administration. Everything else has gotten more expensive in the past forty years. Nothing costs the same since then–not the truck, the repairs, the gas, or the tolls, so it … Continue Reading
11th Circuit Court of Appeals sides with insurance company on “examination under oath”
Property insurance policies typically include provisions that the policyholder must cooperate in investigation and adjustment. This includes an examination under oath (EUO) — answering a lot of questions from the insurance company’s lawyer. Failure of the policyholder to submit to the examination may preclude even an innocent insured from any recovery under the insurance contract.
Policyholders … Continue Reading
Child death in day care van – uninsured child care & sovereign immunity for negligent licensing
Every summer there are far too many instances of children dying when left in a hot vehicle. One such tragedy involving a child care center without adequate insurance led to a claim against a city government for negligent licensing of the child care center.
Many child care centers in Georgia have no liability insurance because child … Continue Reading
“Can an Uninsured Motorist insurance claim affect my insurance rates?”
Uninsured / Underinsured Motorist (UM/UIM) insurance coverage exists to cover your damages when you are injured due to the negligence of another motorist who has little or no insurance. Whenever we meet with a new client who was injured in a car wreck, we review all the auto insurance policies in the household to determine … Continue Reading
Legal alchemy? Turning lead into gold by finding adequate insurance
If we have a nearly unique niche in our law practice it is the search for vastly more insurance for catastrophic truck crash cases where the visible insurance coverage is terribly inadequate. Other law firms — in Georgia and elsewhere — call us in to handle that part of a wrongful death or catastrophic personal … Continue Reading
Touch at trial – jurors lay hands on injured plaintiff
The “laying on of hands” can resonate powerfully. In my background, it has spiritual and theological implications as a ritual of blessing or of healing. Can this and other senses beyond sight and hearing also be part of legitimate trial advocacy in conveying truth to jurors?
The Georgia Court of Appeals recently said yes in the context … Continue Reading
Credit Reporting Agencies Agree to Change Reporting of Unpaid Medical Bills
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Clients who have been injured often express concern about their medical bills showing up on credit reports, harming prospects for major purchases, credit cards, employment and even security clearances in their work.
Anyone looking for a job, applying for a mortgage or car loan, renting an apartment, getting a … Continue Reading
A trap door in Georgia renewal actions for uninsured motorist insurance coverage
Georgia law allows a plaintiff in a civil lawsuit one chance to dismiss without prejudice and refile. The renewal statute, OCGA § 9–2–61, allows a plaintiff who voluntarily dismisses a timely filed suit to file suit within six months, regardless of whether the statute of limitations has run.
However, a case decided by the Georgia Court … Continue Reading
Medicare Secondary Payer Enhancement Act of 2010
One of the biggest headaches today in representing senior citizens in personal injury cases is the Medicare Secondary Payer Act. Whenever Medicare has paid for treatment, or may in the future pay for any treatment even tangentially related, it may demand repayment out of a personal injury settlement. So far, so good, at least in … Continue Reading
Medicare reimbursement system clogs settlements for injured seniors
Injury victims who are even close to being old enough to become Medicare beneficiaries are currently victims of a Kafkaesque nightmare than adds insult to injury and interminable bureaucratic delay to the delays already involved in the court system.
The Medicare Secondary Payer (MSP) system was intended to ensure that Medicare does not pay for health … Continue Reading
