Where plaintiff failed to have service issued for over a year against the defendant driver in a car accident case, her claim against her uninsured motorist insurance carrier was barred. In Davis v. Grange Mutual Casualty Group, No. M2016-02239-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Sept. 28, 2017), plaintiff filed suit on March…
While a case for personal injuries resulting from a car accident must be filed within one year, a claim against an insurance company for uninsured motorist coverage arising from the same incident is not subject to that one-year statute of limitations. In Bates v. Greene, No. W2016-01868-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App.…
The case of Barrick v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. and Jones, No. M2013-01773-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. June 27, 2014) first begins in 2008, when the Barrick family was sued after their minor son accidentally killed a motorcyclist in a tragic crash while driving his father’s car. For over…
An over-the-road truck driver parked his truck on the shoulder of a road, got out, walked across a five-lane highway to a convenience store, purchased a soft drink and chewing tobacco, walked back across the highway towards his truck, but in the lane second-nearest the truck was struck by a…
In Cleveland Custom Stone v. Acuity Mutual Insurance Company, No. E2013-02132-COA-R3-CV (June 10, 2014), the Tennessee Court of Appeals considered a myriad of issues in a case concerning an insurance company’s failure to pay insurance proceeds to the Plaintiffs for a building destroyed by fire. The business that owned the…
The California Court of Appeals explored the issue of the responsibility of an insurance agent is the case of Williams v. Hilb, Rogal & Hobbs Ins. Services of California, Inc., 177 Cal.App.4th 624, 98 Cal.Rptr.3d 910 (2nd Dist. 2009). Insurance agents like to argue that they do not have a duty to…
There is a new blog in town – the Tennessee Insurance Litigation Blog. The blog is authored by Parks Chastain and Brandon McWherter. Parks typically represents insurance companies and Brandon typically represents policyholders. Great idea, gentlemen. Good luck.
In most states the duty to defend an insured in litigation is broader than the duty to indemnify that insured. Here is a 50-state survey prepared by the highly regarded Chicago-based firm of Hinshaw & Culbertson on the duty to defend. Here is how they describe the 105-page publication: Duty…
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has ruled that a drunk driver’s death was not "accidental" and therefore his surviving spouse could not collect accidental death benefits under an insurance policy. The decedent’s blood alcohol level was fifty percent higher than the legal limit when he…
The Tennessee Supreme Court has issued an extremely important decision in the field of bad faith law. In Johnson v. Tennessee Farmers Mutual Insurance Company, No. E2004-00250-SC-R11-CV (August 28, 2006), Justice Holder, writing for an unanimous court, reversed the Court of Appeals and upheld a bad faith verdict against Tennessee…