State Farm gets US high court hearing in Katrina billing case
The case tests the U.S. False Claims Act, the law that lets whistle-blowers sue on behalf of the federal government and then collect a share of any funds recovered.
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Man loses home damage appeal that blamed neighbor’s watering
A man whose Monroe County home was lost to mold contamination lost his appeal of a jury verdict in favor of his neighbor. The homeowner had claimed his neighbor’s excessive watering of her lawn caused water damage to the basement of his home.
Surgery centers sue No.1 insurer UnitedHealthcare
Several Indiana surgery centers are suing the nation’s largest health insurance company, claiming it violated state and federal law by failing to pay for services the centers’ doctors provided to patients. In a similar lawsuit against the insurer, a key dispute is what the word “pay” means.
Supreme Court grants transfer to insurance case
The Indiana Supreme Court accepted one case out of the 24 cases up for transfer last week, a case involving a lawsuit seeking underinsured motorist coverage.
Painkiller distributors face trials
Insurer argues to 7th Circuit Court of Appeals that it has no duty to defend in opioid prescription suit.
Telamon suffers new setback in $5M insurance lawsuit
A judge has dismissed the final count in a lawsuit that Carmel-based Telamon Corp. filed against its insurers in an effort to recoup more than $5 million in losses caused by a former employee’s thievery.
COA: Venue convenience does not trump precedence
The Indiana Court of Appeals said convenience does not trump precedence and reversed and remanded a transfer of venue that would have taken an auto insurance complaint from Marion to Johnson County.
Jury: Security firm not liable for $60M heist from Eli Lilly
A security company isn't liable for the theft of more than $60 million worth of prescription drugs from pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly's warehouse in Connecticut six years ago, a federal jury in Florida says.
COA: Man has to abide by settlement
A man must abide with the agreement he settled on even though he had later second thoughts. The Indiana Court of Appeals found he breached a contract after he came to a settlement with an insurance company.
Pence signs med-mal cap increase on final day
Medical malpractice victims will be eligible for more compensation after Gov. Mike Pence signed into law a bill increasing the payment cap for the first time since the 1990s. The cap would increase from the current $1.25 million limit to $1.65 million next year and then to $1.8 million in 2019.
COA: Neither party entitled to summary judgment in ‘household’ definition dispute
The Indiana Court of Appeals held summary judgment is inappropriate for either party in a lawsuit seeking to declare a woman who was renting a home as a member of the household of the homeowners for insurance purposes.
Rental car insurance policy excludes UIM coverage
The Indiana Court of Appeals reversed the denial of an insurance company’s motion for summary judgment in a lawsuit brought by a customer injured in a car accident who had purchased optional supplemental liability protection when renting a car. The trial court incorrectly denied the company’s motion for summary judgment on the premise it did not provide uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage to the customer.
Emmis sues insurer over $4M in legal fees
Emmis Communications Corp. has filed breach-of-contract suit against a New York-based insurance company for refusing to cover any of the more than $4 million in legal fees the media company accumulated in a long-running court battle with preferred shareholders.
Driverless cars give lawyers bottomless list of defendants
Imagine a robot car with no one behind the wheel hitting another driverless car. Who’s at fault?
Should you get insurance on your kid’s drone?
The next wave of hobby drones will be wrapped in boxes underneath Christmas trees before they fill the skies. If industry sales projections come true, the holiday season will put tens of thousands of relative novices at the controls of small unmanned aerial vehicles in densely populated cities and suburbs. All that amateurish swooping over houses and cars, spooking pets and dodging humans, will invariably lead to cracked windows and more than a few bloody injuries.
Insurance agents denied summary judgment in lawsuit filed after fire
A man’s lawsuit will continue against an insurance agent and his agency after they insured his rental property but then denied coverage after a fire, alleging the man misrepresented the property’s condition.
HIP payments not negotiated; Stanley not applicable
Medical payments made by the Healthy Indiana Plan for a woman involved in a car accident to reimburse her medical providers in full satisfaction of hospital bills were properly excluded at trial, the Court of Appeals held Thursday. The trial court correctly ruled that those payments are barred by the collateral source statute and that Stanley v. Walker does not apply.
Heft not enough to justify insurer deals, top DOJ lawyer says
Health companies saying they need to consolidate to preserve their heft when negotiating with service providers isn’t enough to justify mergers, a top U.S. antitrust enforcer said Friday in comments that could hint at the Justice Department’s thinking on two major health insurance deals.
Prosecutors indict 36 in alleged insurance fraud scheme
Federal prosecutors have indicted 36 people in an insurance fraud scheme alleging that they staged car crashes and filed false insurance claims.
Woman failed to file lawsuit within 3-year period as required by contract
A woman was required under her insurance policy to file a lawsuit to recover underinsured motorist coverage within three years of the car accident, and because she did not, the Indiana Court of Appeals reversed summary judgment in her favor on the issue.