Topic
Policy Interpretation
36 published works
Zalma on Insurance
Extrinsic Evidence Resolves Ambiguity in Policy Interpretation
By Barry Zalma
Stacked Excess Policies Over a Self-Insured-Retention and Deductible Resolved by Application of Extrinsic Evidence Insureds who face major liabilities often buy layers of liability insurance coverage. When all of the…
Zalma on Insurance
Serious Injuries Can Make a Clear and Unambiguous Policy Ambiguous
By Barry Zalma
Ohio Court of Appeals Finds “Close Proximity” is Synonymous with “Occupying” The interpretation of an insurance policy should be simple. The words should be given their common meaning and applied…
Zalma on Insurance
Private Limitation of Action Provision is an Enforceable Condition Precedent
By Barry Zalma
The Purpose of the Suit-limitation Clause Is to Preclude Stale Claims, Require the Insured’s Diligence, and Prevent Fraud The law protects the diligent and ignores those who are slothful in…
Property Insurance Coverage Law Blog
Case Highlights How Writing and Interpreting Policies Can Be Challenging in Today’s Technological World
In the recent case of Rainforest Chocolate, LLC v. Sentinel Insurance Company, Ltd.,1 the Supreme Court of Vermont found coverage for Rainforest where Sentinel’s “false pretense” exclusion turned out to…
Property Insurance Coverage Law Blog
Punctuation Placement Could Lead to a Policyholder’s Next Victory
The saying goes like this, “Say what you mean, and mean what you say.” We all know the business of contract construction is no easy task. But underwriters should go…
Property Insurance Coverage Law Blog
Policy Interpretation Matters for Coverage Application and Court Reminds Insurance Company that it Wrote the Policy
At a recent insurance conference, I heard a discussion in passing between industry folks about the trend of trying to kill the name “all-risk insurance policy.” The basic conversation was…
Zalma's Insurance 101 Videoblog
Insurance 101 – Chapter 7 – Volume 2 – Reading the Policy
By Barry Zalma
Reading the Policy The facts of each individual claim will clarify and color the interpretation of the policy contract and bring different nuances to the adjuster’s interpretation of the policy…
InsureReinsure
Massachusetts Federal Court Declares Insured’s Construction Of General Liability Policy “Irrational”
The federal district court in Massachusetts recently declared that a general liability policyholder’s construction of a policy exclusion was irrational, with the result that the carrier owed no coverage for…
Property Insurance Coverage Law Blog
Florida Supreme Court Says Ambiguities in Policy Language Are To Be Construed in Favor of the Policyholder and Coverage Without Considering Extrinsic Evidence
By Shaun Marker
The words on the page of the insurance policy matter and are very important to both parties to the agreement. Since the insurance company drafts the policy, if there is…
Property Insurance Coverage Law Blog
Texas Law: What Happens When the Policy is Silent on an Issue?
If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you know that I have written about how courts interpret ambiguous terms in an insurance policy. We know that in those instances,…