Misleading Insurance Statistics Regarding Hurricane Sandy

For a few months now, the insurance industry has been touting the alleged statistic that 95-96% of New Jersey insurance claims from Hurricane Sandy have been closed. I have had many conversations with clients, public adjusters and other attorneys in the industry and, frankly, nobody believes this statistic. Turns out, this is an accurate, albeit completely misleading, statistic. . . .

New York Court Refuses To Limit The Scope Of Appraisal

A New York trial court refused to issue an order limiting the scope of appraisal in a property insurance case in Merrimack Mut. Fire Ins. Co. v. Seibert, 917 N.Y.S.2d 839
(February 10, 2011). The insurance carrier asked the court to appoint a neutral umpire to set the amount of loss in a claim and asked the court to limit the scope of appraisal to the actual cash value of damages. The policyholders asked the court to appoint a neutral umpire as well, but asked the neutral umpire to determine the value of the loss, actual cash value, cost of repair and replacement, and all issues incident to the property loss. The policyholders also requested a ruling from the court that their appointed appraiser is competent and disinterested and qualified to serve as appraiser.
 

 Carolina Coverage - Are All These Documents Really Necessary?

Most property insurance policies have a requirement that in the event of the loss, documents will need to be provided to the insurance company. What documents must an insured provide? Often times, particularly in disputed claims, carriers will request a laundry list of documents. When this happens, digesting and responding can be overwhelming and an insured is left guessing if all these records are really necessary.