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Mealey's Texas Insurance

  • December 09, 2025

    Panel Remands Insured’s Pollution Liability Suit, Says Jurisdiction Question Exists

    NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals remanded an insured’s suit seeking coverage under an environmental site pollution liability insurance policy for the settlement of an underlying personal injury suit stemming from carbon monoxide exposure after determining that it is unclear if federal jurisdiction exists because the insured references a nondiverse defendant in numerous filings despite the parties’ representations that the nondiverse defendant was dismissed or terminated from the suit.

  • December 08, 2025

    Suit Seeking Coverage For Stolen Machine Components Will Stay In Federal Court

    DALLAS — A lawsuit filed by insureds seeking coverage for losses incurred as a result of a burglary will remain in Texas federal court because complete diversity of citizenship exists as the insurer’s claims adjuster, a nondiverse defendant, must be dismissed, a Texas federal judge said after finding that the insureds failed to state a plausible claim against the adjuster.

  • December 05, 2025

    Insured’s Expert Testimony In Fire Damage Coverage Suit Excluded As Unreliable

    FORT WORTH, Texas — A Texas federal judge accepted a federal magistrate judge’s recommendation to grant a motion to exclude expert testimony presented by an insured, agreeing with the magistrate judge that the expert’s testimony is unreliable because the expert failed to provide specific valuations for insured computer equipment destroyed in a fire.

  • December 05, 2025

    Breach Of Contract Suit Against Property Insurer Dismissed Following Settlement

    AUSTIN, Texas — A Texas federal judge dismissed an insured condominium association’s breach of contract suit against a property insurer seeking coverage for wind and hail damage after the parties reached a settlement.

  • December 05, 2025

    Judge Denies Insurer’s Supplemental Summary Judgment Motion In Roof Damage Dispute

    FORT WORTH, Texas — A federal judge in Texas on Dec. 4 held that fact issues preclude granting a commercial property insurer’s motion for supplemental summary judgment on a church insured’s claims for breach of contract and violations of the Texas Prompt Payment Claims Act, further denying the insured’s motion to reconsider an earlier ruling that dismissed its bad faith claims in a coverage dispute over hailstorm damage.

  • December 05, 2025

    Insured’s Complaint Against Auto Insurer Will Remain In Texas Federal Court

    SAN ANTONIO — A Texas federal judge adopted a magistrate judge’s recommendation to deny an insured’s remand motion because the insured failed to meet her burden of showing that the amount in controversy, as set forth in her complaint against her auto insurer, will not exceed the federal jurisdictional requirement of $75,000.

  • December 04, 2025

    Remand Warranted Based On Addition Of Nondiverse Defendant, Magistrate Judge Says

    MIDLAND, Texas — After recommending that leave be granted to allow two employees who are seeking coverage under their employer’s auto insurer to file an amended complaint to add the employer’s workers’ compensation insurer as a defendant, a Texas federal magistrate judge recommended that the employees’ suit be remanded to state court because diversity of citizenship no longer exists with the addition of the workers’ compensation insurer.

  • December 04, 2025

    Jury Verdict In Tornado Damage Suit Amply Supported By Trial Record, Panel Says

    NEW ORLEANS — A jury verdict entered in favor of a homeowners insurer in a dispute over coverage for tornado damage to an insured home is “amply supported” by the trial record and the district court acted within its discretion by limiting the testimony of the insurer’s engineer, the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said.

  • December 03, 2025

    Judgment For Insurers In Auto Accident Suit Must Be Reversed, Panel Says

    SAN ANTONIO — A trial court’s judgment entered in favor of insurer defendants must be reversed because the trial court did not hold a hearing or a trial on the merits of the insurers’ motion for summary judgment before entering an order of final judgment in a dispute stemming from an auto accident, the Fourth District Texas Court of Appeals said in partially reversing the lower court’s ruling.

  • December 03, 2025

    Insurance Department’s Confirmation Of Excess Loss Payments Assessment Affirmed

    AUSTIN, Texas — A Texas appeals panel affirmed the state insurance department’s order confirming the assessment of excess loss payments that a member insurer must pay the state’s insurer of last resort for Hurricane Harvey damage, rejecting the member insurer’s argument that the members’ percentage of participation should be the catastrophe year and not the year of assessment.

  • December 01, 2025

    Panel: Court Erred In Denying Homeowners Insurer’s Motion To Dismiss Bad Faith Suit

    HOUSTON — A state trial court erred in denying a homeowners insurer’s motion to dismiss claims alleging violations of the Texas Insurance Code and bad faith because the insureds’ causes of action against the insurer were barred based on the insurer’s payment of an appraisal award, the First District Texas Court of Appeals said in vacating the trial court’s order.

  • November 25, 2025

    Judge Denies Homebuilder’s Motion To Sever, Finds Claims Address Same Questions

    AUSTIN, Texas — A federal judge in Texas denied a homebuilder’s motion to sever claims in a case in which the homebuilder alleges that its general liability insurer breached their contract by denying coverage for underlying construction defect claims and refusing to participate in settlement negotiations related to the underlying claims, finding no reason to apply different reasoning to separate claims.

  • November 18, 2025

    Relator Seeks Rehearing Of 5th Circuit Ruling Affirming Dismissal Of FCA Suit

    NEW ORLEANS — A qui tam relator filed a petition for panel rehearing of a Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling affirming a lower court’s dismissal of the relator’s complaint as “insufficiently plausible and particular” in a suit alleging violations of the federal False Claims Act (FCA) for a rehabilitation facility’s alleged presentation for payment to Medicare false claims regarding patient admission services related to sales representatives’ screening narratives.

  • November 12, 2025

    Insured Admonished For Use Of AI; Remand Of Mold, Water Damage Suit Denied

    DALLAS — A Texas federal judge denied an insured’s motion to remand a water and mold damage suit and accepted a magistrate judge’s recommendation and report that cautioned the insured, a pro se litigant, from relying on artificial intelligence (AI) after finding numerous nonexistent legal cases cited in the insured’s filings.

  • November 12, 2025

    Texas Federal Judge Dismisses Insurance Adjusters From Storm Damage Coverage Suit

    AMARILLO, Texas — A Texas federal judge granted a property insurer’s motion to dismiss two insurance adjusters from its insureds’ breach of contract suit arising out of a storm damage coverage dispute because the insurer accepted liability for any claims alleged against the insurance adjusters.

  • November 10, 2025

    COMMENTARY: Uh-EUO: How Examinations Under Oath Impact Claims

    By Rachel E. Hudgins, Kevin V. Small and Charlotte E. Leszinske

  • November 11, 2025

    Insured Waived Right To Seek Attorney Fees In Auto Coverage Suit, Panel Says

    CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — An insured waived the right to seek attorney fees because the insured and auto insurer did not have an enforceable agreement to bifurcate a claim for attorney fees from a liability claim and because the insured failed to object when the jury was discharged prior to considering the insured’s request for attorney fees, the Texas 13th District Court of Appeals panel said in issuing a revised opinion.

  • November 10, 2025

    Texas Panel Affirms Ruling Denying Summary Judgment In Guaranty Act Dispute

    HOUSTON — In a case of first impression, a Texas appellate court affirmed a lower court ruling denying a motion for summary judgment filed by a woman sued by a county government over damage to its vehicle in an auto accident, finding that because the woman failed to show that the county was a “self-insurer” pursuant to the Texas Motor Vehicle Safety-Responsibility Act (Safety and Responsibility Act) and the Texas Property and Casualty Insurance Guaranty Act, the lower court did not err when denying the woman’s motion for summary judgment.

  • November 05, 2025

    Panel Majority Denies Rehearing; Ruling In Favor Of Workers’ Comp Insurer Stands

    HOUSTON — The majority of a First District Texas Court of Appeals panel denied a workers’ compensation claimant’s motion for rehearing and rehearing en banc, refusing to reconsider its ruling that a trial court did not err in finding that the claimant failed to meet her burden of proving that she is entitled to continuing workers’ compensation benefits.

  • November 04, 2025

    Genuine Issues Exist On Whether Hailstorm Damage Is Covered, Federal Judge Says

    DEL RIO, Texas — A homeowners insurer is not entitled to summary judgment because genuine issues of fact exist regarding whether a hailstorm occurred during the applicable policy period and whether the loss is covered under the policy, a Texas federal judge said in agreeing with a magistrate judge’s report and adopting the magistrate judge’s recommendation to deny the insurer’s motion.

  • November 04, 2025

    Texas Federal Judge Adopts Recommendation To Dismiss Suit Against Auto Insurer

    SAN ANTONIO — A Texas federal judge accepted a magistrate judge’s recommendation to dismiss an insured’s suit against an auto insurer for lack of jurisdiction, agreeing with the magistrate judge that the amount in controversy does not meet the federal minimum requirement of $75,000 and that it is unclear whether complete diversity of citizenship exists between the parties.

  • November 04, 2025

    Named Driver Exclusion Precludes Coverage For Insured’s Auto Accident, Panel Says

    AUSTIN, Texas — A trial court did not err in finding that a commercial auto insurer had no duty to defend its insured and owed no coverage for damages incurred to the insured’s vehicle because the insured signed a named driver exclusion that precluded the insured from driving an insured vehicle and relieved the auto insurer of any coverage obligation if the insured, who did not possess a driver’s license, was involved in an auto accident while driving an insured vehicle, the Third District Texas Court of Appeals said.

  • October 31, 2025

    Bad Faith Claims In Storm Damage Suit Cannot Proceed Against Insurer, Judge Says

    SAN ANTONIO — An insured’s bad faith claims, alleged under the Texas Insurance Code and Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act (DTPA), cannot proceed because the insured failed to show that the homeowners insurer’s coverage decision or conduct in handling the insured’s storm damage claim were unreasonable, a Texas federal judge said.

  • October 30, 2025

    Bad Faith Claim Against Church Insurer Cannot Proceed, Judge Says

    SAN ANTONIO — An insured church’s bad faith claim alleged against its insurer cannot proceed because the insurer’s conduct in handling the insured’s storm damage claim does not rise to the level of bad faith, a Texas federal judge said in partially granting and partially denying the insurer’s motion for summary judgment.

  • October 28, 2025

    5th Circuit Slightly Revises Opinion In Health Care Claims Assignment Dispute

    NEW ORLEANS — Granting what it construed as a petition for panel rehearing in a reimbursement dispute over out-of-network care, the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals issued a slightly revised substituted opinion with the same result as the original — it mostly vacated and remanded summary judgment against health insurance plans.