A Clash of Coverage Doctrines- Part 1

Multiple Coverage Claims: Targeted Tender vs. Horizontal Exhaustion
By Terrence J. Madden  February 29, 2012

The “targeted tender” and “horizontal exhaustion” doctrines are important insurance coverage doctrines that have significant consequences to both insurers and insureds.  read more..

Spoliation: Don’t Destroy Your Case By Losing Evidence

By Wayne Partenheimer  March 13, 2012

The fire at your insured’s second-floor offices six months ago caused heavy damage to his business and to the company on the first floor. Since then, you and the claims adjuster for the downstairs firm, along with your cause and origin experts have inspected the scene.  read more..

Defining ‘Physical Injury’

Defining ‘Physical Injury’
By David D. Thamann  March 23, 2012

The FC&S editors recently discussed an interesting issue: the meaning of “physical injury” in conjunction with a claim for property damage under the CGL form.

Property damage is defined in the CGL form as “physical injury to tangible property” or “loss of use of tangible property that is not physically injured.” There is usually no problem with the meaning of “tangible property”—but what is “physical injury”?  read more..

Pets: People, Property or Somewhere in Between?

By Christine G. Barlow  March 15, 2012

Recently a woman in New York filed suit against a pet store because the dog she purchased suffers various medical complaints. The suit seeks to hold the store liable for the animal's pain, suffering and medical bills, as if it were a person rather than a piece of property. While the woman's ultimate goal is to help shut down puppy mills, the issue is a valid one.  read more..

3 Tips for Controlling Workers’ Comp Medical Costs

From the March 12, 2012 issue of National Underwriter P&C

By Dave Lenckus  March 8, 2012

The National Council on Compensation Insurance Inc. (NCCI) reports that medical services now represent 60 percent of Workers’ Comp claim costs. In the past, indemnity costs made up the biggest part of the Workers’ Comp claim.  read more..

How Agency Claims Staff Can Cause E&O Claims

By Curtis M. Pearsall
March 7, 2012

When evaluating the cause of agents E&O claims, one of the current hotspots deals with the manner in which claims are handled at the agency level. While many agencies have a staff dedicated solely to this function, in other agencies this function is handled by an account exec/CSR as part of their duties. Bottom line, this claims handling task is resulting in a number of E&O claims. From my experience, at least 40 percent of agency E&O claims are caused by this level within the agency.
  read more..

Opinion: The Economies of Claims Quality

The Correlation Between Skills, Strategy and Organizational SuccessBy Christopher Tidball
March 9, 2012

"To me, a claims man is a surgeon. That desk is an operating table. And those pencils are scalpels and bone chisels. And those papers are not just forms and statistics and claims for compensation, they're alive, they're packed with drama, with twisted hopes and crooked dreams. A claims man, Walter, is a doctor and a bloodhound...and a cop and a judge and a jury and a father confessor all in one.” ~Barton Keyes, Double Indemnity (1944)  read more..