The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (the federal appellate court with jurisdiction over Washington and other western states) recently decided a novel question regarding so-called "excess" insurance coverage. Excess insurance exists where a person or entity has two layers of insurance: a "primary" insurer that provides coverage up to a specific dollar amount, and a …
Insurance policies contain technical language that often varies from its everyday meaning. When a case depends on the meaning of the insurance policy fine print, how you interpret these technical terms can decide the outcome of a case. One way to define insurance policy terms is to see how those terms are used elsewhere in …
Continue reading Court Ruling Emphasizes Importance of Reading the Insurance Policy as a Whole
An industry group known as the Insurance Information Institute is analyzing the role racial bias plays in calculating insurance premiums. Explicit racial bias, i.e.., setting premiums directly based on race (known as "redlining") has been illegal since the mid 20th century. But rates continue to bet set based on criteria that indirectly reflect racial bias. …
Continue reading Industry Group Reviewing Insurance Rate Practices for Racial Bias
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (the federal appeals court with jurisdiction over Washington and other west coast states) is having a busy summer for insurance cases. On the heels of recent decisions regarding attorneys' fees in ERISA-governed insurance disputes and insurers' duty to reasonably investigate insurance claims comes the July 14, 2020 ruling in Schmitt …
Continue reading Court Confirms Health Insurers Can’t Sell Discriminatory Insurance Policies
ERISA is a remedial law designed to make sure that employees receive the full benefits they earn under their employer's benefit plans. Part of ERISA requires employee benefit plans that wrongfully withhold benefits and force employees to sue to recover those benefits to pay the employee's attorney's fees. Otherwise, the employee will not have received the full …
