Automotive and Trucking Accidents in the U.S. with Foreign Defendants: What Insurers Need to Know
Butler's Thursday Tips | Little Black Box
Straight Talks: Autonomous regulations around the world
Straight Talks: Innovations in product liability for autonomous and connected vehicles
How Auto Defects Can Cause Passenger Injury
Understanding Supplemental Spousal Liability Insurance in NY
Hailey French’s Story – When millions barely cover the bills.
What happens if more than one person is responsible for an accident?
Catastrophic Impairment: What it means and why it's important to you if you've been hurt in a car accident
If you’ve received a settlement check from an insurance company after a car accident, property damage claim, or injury settlement, you might be wondering: how long is an insurance check good for? While holding onto it for a...more
In Wolf v. Riverport Insurance Co., the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the district court’s holding, under Illinois law, that an underinsured motorist insurer did not breach its insurance contract, and no implied...more
Do you know what kind of car insurance you or your plaintiff carries? Is it full tort or limited tort? Pennsylvania law permits a choice between two coverage options when selecting car insurance–limited tort and full tort....more
Accidents are stressful under any circumstances, but they can become even more complicated when they involve uninsured or underinsured drivers. In Florida, a state known for its high rate of uninsured motorists, understanding...more
With an increasing trend of nuclear excess verdicts around the country against individuals unable to pay millions of dollars, third-party bad faith lawsuits are on the rise. Frequently, attorneys will represent a plaintiff in...more
We kick off the year with a quartet of state supreme court decisions and an intermediate appellate court ruling that has insurers breathing a harmonious sigh of relief. Policyholders and insurers often disagree over what the...more
In Erie Insurance Exchange v. Hannah Baluch, ___ A.3d ___, 2025 WL 22562 (Pa. Super. Ct., Jan. 3, 2025), the Pennsylvania Superior Court addressed whether an insured with her own automobile insurance policy is entitled to...more
In most states, drivers must have automobile liability coverage to pay damages caused by a driver's negligence. Failure to do so can result in fines and denial of registration. According to the Insurance Information Institute...more
Key Points: Where the language in an insurance contract is plain and unambiguous, the courts must interpret the terms of the contract according to their plain meaning as written....more
The household vehicle exclusion has once again been proven to be viable and enforceable—under the right circumstances. Major was using her mother’s vehicle when she was struck by another vehicle operated by Cruz. Major...more
On April 22, 2024, Governor Kemp signed into law Senate Bill 83, overhauling Georgia’s statute governing pre-suit time-limited demands (TLD) in auto wreck cases, O.C.G.A. § 9-11-67.1. The amendment aims to reduce or eliminate...more
Navigating insurance matters can feel like a hassle, and it's a part of life that most of us will encounter sooner or later. Picture this: you've been in a fender bender, and your first thought is, "Who do I tell? What should...more
Each state has its own specific set of car insurance laws laying out certain requirements for its residents. In 2023, North Carolina passed notable legislative changes to the State’s car insurance laws, increasing the minimum...more
Several years ago, I published a blog regarding the number of occurrences triggered under a liability policy for a motor vehicle accident in Florida. Other states also addressed this issue. Recently, the Federal District...more
Acuity, A Mut. Ins. Co. v. Progressive Specialty Ins. Co., 2023-Ohio-3780 This lawsuit involved a dispute as to which insurance policy should provide liability coverage for an auto accident. The driver, Ashton Smith, was...more
Golik v. Erie Ins. Exch., 300 A.3d 514 (Pa. Super. Ct. Aug. 7, 2023) - Mr. Golik was issued an auto insurance policy by the defendant in 1992. After marriage, Mrs. Golik was added to the policy as a named insured. Mr. Golik...more
In a decision handed down last week in Nationwide Property and Casualty Insurance Company v. Elvia Castaneda and Christina Tapia Casteneda, a three-judge panel of the Pennsylvania Superior Court invalidated the “unlicensed...more
In Neptune v. Indian Harbor Insurance Co., the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals recently addressed whether uninsured motorist (UM) coverage applied in an accident where there was no evidence of a “hit” from the uninsured...more
A plaintiff cannot recover attorney’s fees in a Florida lawsuit for Uninsured Motorist (“UM”) benefits unless there is a dispute about whether the insurance policy provides coverage. However, attorney’s fees from the...more
Numerous class action suits have been filed against auto insurers regarding the valuation of vehicles that are total losses. These cases typically allege that insurers are undervaluing vehicles in some common way or in...more
Frequency of severity is back. Insurance buyers need to approach excess casualty renewals carefully to mitigate for loss trends and take advantage of a changing insurance market....more
The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit recently addressed the issue of whether tendering a policy limits check on a liability policy with an overbroad release could constitute bad faith. In Pelaez v....more
Does an insurer “open coverage” or “acknowledge coverage” for a claim by making a payment? No, it doesn’t. The Third DCA confirmed: an insurer does not waive its coverage defenses, such as policy exclusions or breaches of...more
Automobile insurance policies specify a maximum amount the insurer will pay for a single accident. This coverage limit applies both to liability and uninsured/underinsured motorist (“UM”) coverages. ...more
The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals recently released two opinions involving multiple liability claims against an insured with insufficient policy limits. Both cases involved appeals from summary judgment orders in bad...more