Insurance - The Indiana Lawyer

Should you get insurance on your kid’s drone?

December 16, 2015

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

December 2, 2015

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

November 19, 2015

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

November 16, 2015

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

November 11, 2015

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

October 29, 2015

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.

Health law penalty on uninsured getting stiffer

October 19, 2015

The math is harsh: The federal penalty for having no health insurance is set to jump to $695, and the Obama administration is being urged to highlight that cold fact to help drive its new pitch for health law sign-ups.

COA reverses finding attorney entitled to malpractice coverage

October 15, 2015

A trial court improperly concluded that an Auburn, Indiana, attorney did not make a material representation in his application for renewal of malpractice insurance, the Indiana Court of Appeals held Thursday in reversing summary judgment in favor of the attorney.

Insurer can’t halt depositions in fatal church bus crash

October 12, 2015

The estate of a man killed in an Indianapolis church bus crash may proceed with a countersuit against an insurance company the estate claims acted in bad faith by refusing payment after the fatal crash.

Insurance policy v. public policy

October 6, 2015

A starkly divided Indiana Court of Appeals opinion over whether insurance should be in play after a bicyclist was killed by an unauthorized motorist may be appealed to the Indiana Supreme Court.

Congress passes bill easing small business health law rules

October 2, 2015

Congress approved bipartisan legislation Thursday aimed at preventing premium increases that some smaller businesses were expecting next year under President Barack Obama's health care law.

Company’s recordings not considered ‘publication’

September 29, 2015

An Indiana company sued for recording customers’ personal information over the phone without their knowledge did not publish that information as required to trigger a duty to defend by its insurer in a California lawsuit, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed Tuesday.

Court: Policy required notice to title insurance company

September 28, 2015

A Greensburg couple who received two legal notices that their home was going into a tax sale never notified their title insurance company about the issue, which doomed their lawsuit. The Indiana Court of Appeals upheld summary judgment in favor of the title insurer.

Successor owner must pay more to unemployment insurance

September 21, 2015

A buyer of an auto parts retail business that used the same name, same signs, same location, same phone number, same inventory, same fixtures, and hired some of the same employees lost his appeal to the finding that he is liable for a higher employer rate as a successor business.

Reversal: Insurer’s acceptance of payment reinstated policy

August 4, 2015

A Porter County man won his argument that his insurer’s acceptance of a late payment kept his homeowners coverage in force, after which a garage fire caused damage exceeding $80,000. Now, the insurer also may have to pay bad-faith and punitive damages.

Denial of disability benefits remanded for better explanation

August 3, 2015

A rejection of a claimant’s application for disability is being remanded after the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals found the “abstruse signals” in the denial did not sufficiently explain the reasons for disregarding new evidence.

Insurer off hook in Indy strip club shooting

July 31, 2015

A company that insured a westside Indianapolis strip club has no coverage duty for a patron who was shot in the face after an altercation outside the club three years ago, a federal judge has ruled.

Rehearing finds defendant can raise additional defenses

July 30, 2015

In tweaking an earlier reversal, the Indiana Supreme Court has given the defendant the avenue to raise additional unasserted defenses.

Judge tired of discovery spats in airport insurance dispute

July 23, 2015

The latest dispute in a contentious multi-million-dollar insurance coverage lawsuit arising from a terminal construction mishap at Indianapolis International Airport has led a federal judge to single out opposing counsel in the case.

Defense calls 1 witness in Indianapolis home explosion trial

July 10, 2015

More than 160 witnesses testified for the prosecution in the month-long trial of a man accused of planning a home explosion that gutted an Indianapolis subdivision in 2012, killing two neighbors.

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