Strategies, Challenges, and Answers

Archives for August 2013

If An Insured’s Policy Covers Activities In Nevada, The Insured Can Sue The Company In Nevada For Breach Of That Policy And For Bad Faith

The Mendes family lived in Massachusetts.  They owned a house in Massachusetts.  They registered to vote there.  Their auto registration and drivers licenses were all from Massachusetts.  In fact, they had auto insurance that they bought in Massachusetts that was underwritten by the Arabella Mutual Insurance Company.  The Arabella policy required that to claim the benefits of all of the policy’s coverage provisions, the insured car had to be principally garaged in Massachusetts.The Mendeses … [Read more...]

Nevada Desperately Needs A Court Of Appeals

In April 2012, Jeremiah Eskew-Shahan tried to give the family dog Onion a kiss good night.  He stumbled onto the dog.  Onion instinctively grabbed the little boy.  Immediate intervention by the family was not enough to save Jermiah from the dog’s unprecedented response.  Jeremiah died.The City of Henderson wanted to immediately euthanize the dog claiming that the six-year-old Mastif-Rhodesian mix was a danger to the community.  The Lexus Project, a dog rescue organization, intervened.  The … [Read more...]

A Breach of Nevada’s Unfair Claims Settlement Practices Act Does Not Amount To Bad Faith Per Se

Good Faith Gone Bad In United States Fidelity & Guaranty Co. v. Peterson, 91 Nev. 617, 540 P.2d 1070 (1975) the Nevada Supreme Court allowed a common law action by an insured against his insurer for a breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, commonly called “bad faith”. In order to sustain a bad faith claim, the plaintiff must prove that: 1)   The insurer denied or refused to pay an insured’s claim; 2)   The insurer had no reasonable basis to deny or refuse to pay … [Read more...]

Asiana Flight 214: What Went Right?

Typically after an airplane crash, the focus is on what went wrong.  In the case of the recent crash of Asiana Flight 214 from Seoul, Korea to San Francisco the question should be framed as “what went right?”  After all, 307 passengers and crew made it off the plane alive; only three lives were lost.  This speaks volumes about the integrity of the Boeing 777 airplane, the training and preparedness of the 12 flight attendants on board and the comportment of the passengers who remained orderly and … [Read more...]