Miscellaneous Personal Lines

What an industry we chose! We get to see the good, the bad, the ugly, the stupid and utterly ridiculous. This is the stuff of legend and it reminds us…

Insurance Services Office (ISO), based on a 2016 survey of millennials, recently introduced the PM 00 43 – Your Belongings Form to allow insureds without a perceived need for a…

When agents have coverage questions, they sometimes ask the underwriter for a coverage interpretation. Interested and concerned members of the VU faculty want to know why in the world you…

Although it seems reasonable that the carrier’s duty to defend ends when no insurable allegations remain in the suit – this is not necessarily always true. Some courts have a…

Proprietary coverage forms are not always better than Insurance Services Office (ISO) forms. Careful comparison is required to confirm the insured is not harmed by non-ISO language. A recent Illinois…

Generally, an insurer’s duty to defend flows from the facts alleged in the lawsuit. When the pleadings alleged damage or injury that is covered by the policy, the insurance carrier…

Every state and the District of Columbia grants insurance carriers an “underwriting period.” Insurance carriers are granted broad authority to cancel a newly-written policy during this statutorily-limited period.

An insured’s offer to purchase insurance is made in the form of the application, supposedly completed by the insured. Acceptance flows from the insurance carrier in the form of a…

Were you affected by the Equifax breach? There is a 1 in 2 chance you were. Even if you weren’t, there are certain steps you can take to fight identity…

Once a policy is in effect and has existed beyond the underwriting period, provisions still exist allowing the carrier to cancel the policy during the policy period. These are often…