Suspicion of Fraud Cannot Support Qui Tam Action Post 4770 Richard Campfield, suing for the State of California, appealed the trial court sustained the demurrer of defendants Safelite Group, Inc. and its subsidiaries, Safelite Solutions LLC and Safelite Fulfillment, Inc. (collectively, Safelite) without leave to amend. Campfield contends he adequately alleged a cause of action under the Insurance Fraud Prevention Act (Ins. Code, § 1871 et seq.) (IFPA) within the statute of limitations. In State Of California, ex rel. Richard Campfield v. Safelite Group, Inc., et al., A168101, California Court ..read more

"Property Damage" Must Be Actual Not Potential Post 4771 Breach of Construction Contract Not an Insured Peril After the plaintiff's motion for summary judgment was rejected and the defendant insurer's motion for summary judgment was granted the plaintiff appealed. In Westchester Modular Homes Of Fairfield County, Inc. v. Arbella Protection Insurance Company, No. AC 45433, Court of Appeals of Connecticut (April 2, 2024) and the Court of Appeals resolved the dispute. On or about April 27, 2016, the plaintiff entered into a contract with Diana Lada L'Henaff and Jean Jacques L'Henaff for the const ..read more

Lawyers Fraudulent Billing is not Pre-Litigation Protected Petitioning Activity Post 4772 Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPP suits) are meritless lawsuits designed to harass parties for engaging in protected activities (the right of petition or free speech). A party can move to dismiss a SLAPP suit by filing an anti-SLAPP motion. The movant must show the purported SLAPP suit arises from its protected activities; if shown, the respondent can defeat the motion by showing its lawsuit has merit. In OC Media Tower, L.P. et al. v. Louis Galuppo et al., G062372, California Court ..read more

Insurer Files Interpleader to Allow Claim Payment to Proper Competing Claims Against Funds Post 4773 See the full video at https://rumble.com/v4of8jo-whos-on-first.html  and at https://youtu.be/mCY8rYGqSGc In an interpleader action arising out of a jury trial in Hanover Am. Ins. Co. v Tattooed Millionaire Entertainment, LLC, No. 2:16-cv-02817-JPM-tmp (W.D. Tenn. 2016) (“Hanover I”).  In Hanover I, a jury trial was held on “insurance claims submitted to Hanover [by Defendants in the instant case] in connection with a 2015 arson fire and alleged theft at the House of Blues recording s ..read more

“The Passover Seder For Americans”s” My family will, starting on April 22, 2024 will tell the story of the Passover using the book my wife and I wrote for our family. I have published the book on Amazon for the smallest price they would print and ship the book for so you can afford to get enough for your family to run a Seder in English. For more than 3,000 years Jewish fathers have told the story of the Exodus of the enslaved Jews from Egypt. Telling the story has been required of all Jewish fathers. Americans, who have lived in North America for more than 300 years have become Americans and ..read more

ZIFL Volume 28, Issue 4 The Source for the Insurance Fraud Professional Subscribe here: Zalma’s Insurance Fraud Letter (ZIFL) continues its 28th year of publication dedicated to those involved in reducing the effect of insurance fraud. ZIFL is published 24 times a year by ClaimSchool and is written by Barry Zalma.  It is provided FREE to anyone who visits the site at http://zalma.com/zalmas-insurance-fraud-letter-2/ The current issue can be read in full at http://zalma.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/ZIFL-02-15-2024.pdf and includes the following articles: Do the Crime, Serve the Time ..read more

The Hawaiian The following is a fictionalized True Crime Story of Insurance Fraud from an Expert who explains why Insurance Fraud is a “Heads I Win, Tails You Lose” situation for Insurers. Post 4734 The insured was a contractor in Honolulu. He made an excellent living cheating his customers. The insured’s most lucrative scheme was an electronic vermin killer. It consisted of a long wire and a transformer. The contractor strung the wire around a house and plugged it in a wall. The device, charged with low voltage from the transformer, allegedly repelled vermin. The insured guaranteed that all r ..read more

It is not Bad Faith Only to Deny a Claim Post 4734 The California Court of Appeals dealt with a claim by Wynzell Lynn, Jr. in a breach of insurance contract case against defendants are AAA Life Insurance Company and its agent, Craigory Webb. Plaintiff appealed from a final judgment of dismissal that was entered after the trial court struck certain causes of action in plaintiff's operative complaint and sustained the defendants' demurrer as to other causes of action, without leave to amend. In Wynzell Lynn, Jr. v. AAA Life Insurance Company et al., F085402, California Court of Appeals, Fifth Di ..read more

Legal Conclusions are Not Allegations of Fact Post 4734 Zox LLC ("Zox") appealed the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of West American Insurance Company. The district court held that West American had no duty to defend or indemnify Zox in an underlying trademark dispute between Zox and a group of entrepreneurs known as the "Zox Brothers" ("the Zox Litigation"). Zox contends the district court erred because the Zox Brothers sought damages for three potentially covered claims: (1) malicious prosecution; (2) disparagement; and (3) use of an "advertising idea." In ZOX LLC, a Cal ..read more

Unrepaid, Unrecoverable, or Outstanding Credit Exclusion Unrepaid, Unrecoverable, or Outstanding Credit Exclusion Unenforceable Post 4731 Huntington National Bank ("Huntington") sued AIG Specialty Insurance Company and National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (together, "AIG") alleging breach of contract and bad faith stemming from AIG's denial of insurance coverage for Huntington's settlement of a bankruptcy fraudulent transfer proceeding brought by the trustee of a bankrupt company. In granting summary judgment for AIG, the district court held that: In Huntington Nat ..read more