Newsletter RSS

Mealey's Texas Insurance

  • 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.

  • October 24, 2025

    Insured Apartment Complex Owner’s Suit Barred By Limitation Provision, Judge Says

    SAN ANTONIO, Texas — An insured apartment complex owner’s breach of contract suit is barred by an insurance policy’s two-year suit limitation provision because the insured’s claims accrued when the insurer initially issued its coverage decision and the insured did not file suit until more than four years after the coverage denial, a Texas federal judge said Oct. 23 in granting the insurer’s motion for summary judgment.

  • October 20, 2025

    Chemical Company Says Settlement Reached In Coverage Suit Arising From Explosion

    BEAUMONT, Texas — A sustainable chemical company insured filed a notice in a Texas federal court indicating that it has reached a settlement with its insurer of its breach of contract and declaratory judgment lawsuit seeking to obtain coverage for the full value of its business interruption loss caused by an explosion at a Texas plant.

  • October 20, 2025

    Insured’s Water Damage Coverage Suit Cannot Proceed Based On Failure To Cooperate

    HOUSTON — An insured’s breach of contract and extracontractual claims against her homeowners insurer cannot proceed because the insured breached the policy’s duty to cooperate provision by failing to provide the insurer with requested documents needed to adjust her water damage claim, a Texas federal judge said in granting the insurer’s motion for summary judgment.

  • October 15, 2025

    Texas Insurance Code Violation Claims Against Homeowners Insurer Fail, Judge Says

    PECOS, Texas — An insured homeowner failed to present evidence showing that her insurer acted unreasonably in handling a claim for storm damage to her home, a Texas federal judge said in granting the homeowners insurer’s motion for partial summary judgment on claims alleging violations of the Texas Insurance Code.

  • October 10, 2025

    Excess Insurer’s Duty To Indemnify Suit Is Premature, 5th Circuit Panel Says

    NEW ORLEANS — A district court properly dismissed an excess liability insurer’s declaratory judgment suit because the insurer’s duty to indemnify its insured and the insured’s employee in an underlying negligence suit cannot be determined until after the underlying suit is resolved, the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said.

  • October 08, 2025

    5th Circuit Affirms Ruling In Insurer’s Favor In Suit Prompted By Hail, Wind Damage

    NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Oct. 7 held that, absent an independent injury, an insured cannot file tort claims against an insurer under Texas’ Unfair Settlement Practices Act after receiving an appraisal award and statutory interest, affirming a lower federal court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the insurer in a coverage dispute over wind and hail damage.

  • October 08, 2025

    Panel Refuses To Review Trial Court’s Reinstatement Of Insurer’s Subrogation Case

    SAN ANTONIO — The Texas Fourth District Court of Appeals on Oct. 8 denied a homeowners insurer’s petition for a writ of mandamus in a subrogation suit stemming from a roofing contractor’s defective work, refusing to review a trial court’s decision to set aside a default judgment and final judgment by default entered against the roofing contractor.

  • October 08, 2025

    Breach Of Contract, Insurance Code Violation Claims Are Time-Barred, Judge Says

    FORT WORTH, Texas — An insured’s claims for breach of contract and violations of the Texas Insurance Code cannot proceed against a property insurer because they are barred by the two-year statute of limitations, a Texas federal judge said in granting the insurer’s motion for summary judgment.

  • October 08, 2025

    Fact Issue Exists As To Whether Insured Designated Wife As Beneficiary, Panel Says

    NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals reversed and remanded a district court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of a decedent’s mother after determining that the decedent’s wife provided evidence that creates an issue of fact as to whether the insured designated his wife as a beneficiary under his life insurance policy.

  • October 07, 2025

    Insured’s Suit Seeking UIM Benefits Dismissed Following Settlement With Auto Insurer

    SAN ANTONIO — A Texas federal judge dismissed an insured’s suit seeking to recover underinsured motorist (UIM) benefits under an auto policy after the parties notified the court that a settlement was reached.

  • October 07, 2025

    No Coverage For Drain Line Piping That Could Fail In Future, Judge Says

    SAN ANTONIO — A Texas federal judge granted an insurer’s motion for summary judgment on a portion of an insured’s breach of contract claim related to coverage for repair costs incurred following a water leak at an insured restaurant because the policy at issue does not require the insurer to pay for drain line piping that may fail in the future.

  • October 07, 2025

    Insureds Appeal Take-Nothing Judgment In Coverage Dispute Arising From Storm Damage

    TYLER, Texas — Insureds filed a notice indicating that they are appealing a Texas federal court’s take-nothing judgment in favor of a commercial property insurer in a coverage dispute arising from property damage that was caused by a wind and hailstorm.

  • October 06, 2025

    Common-Law Bad Faith Claim In Storm Damage Suit Will Proceed, Judge Says

    SAN ANTONIO — An insured’s common-law bad faith claim alleged against a homeowners insurer can proceed because a question of fact exists regarding the reasonableness of the insurer’s investigation of the storm damage incurred at the insured’s home; however, a portion of the insured’s claim alleging violation of the Texas Insurance Code cannot proceed because the insured failed to show that the insurer made a misrepresentation on which the insured relied, a Texas federal judge said in partially granting and partially denying the insurer’s motion for summary judgment.

  • October 03, 2025

    Bad Faith Coverage Case Dismissed After Insurer Granted Summary Judgment

    ABILENE, Texas — A Texas federal judge adopted a magistrate judge’s recommendation to grant summary judgment to an insurer and dismiss with prejudice a policyholder’s breach of contract, bad faith and statutory claims arising from a hail damage coverage dispute, finding that the policyholder failed to distinguish covered hail damage from noncovered causes under Texas’ concurrent causation doctrine.

  • October 02, 2025

    Texas Panel Reverses Ruling In Windstorm Insurer’s Favor In Hurricane Harvey Suit

    CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A Texas appeals panel on Oct. 2 reversed and remanded a lower court’s grant of a windstorm insurer’s motion for summary judgment in an estate’s breach of contract lawsuit arising from Hurricane Harvey damage, ruling that the insurer partially denied coverage by concluding that the estate did not perform a condition precedent under the policy’s personal property replacement cost endorsement and, therefore, the estate was entitled to seek judicial relief on its claim for recoverable depreciation.

  • October 02, 2025

    Insured’s UIM Suit Remanded To Texas State Court For Lack Of Diversity

    SHERMAN, Texas — A Texas federal judge remanded an insured’s suit seeking underinsured motorist (UIM) benefits because diversity of citizenship does not exist as the insured, who was visiting her daughter in Texas at the time of the accident, and the auto insurer are both Michigan residents.

  • September 29, 2025

    Texas High Court Denies Review In COVID-19 Contamination Suit

    AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas Supreme Court on Sept. 26 denied an insured’s petition for review of a state appellate court’s ruling that a contamination exclusion bars coverage for the insured’s claim seeking coverage for damages and losses incurred as a result of the coronavirus.

  • September 29, 2025

    Texas High Court Won’t Review Baylor College Of Medicine’s COVID-19 Coverage Suit

    AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas Supreme Court on Sept. 26 denied Baylor College of Medicine’s petition seeking review of an appeals court’s conclusion that the presence of the COVID-19 virus at its premises did not cause “direct physical loss of or damage to” its property, challenging the appeals court’s reversal of a lower court’s judgment following a jury verdict in the school’s favor.

  • September 26, 2025

    Builder Appeals Judge’s Finding Of No Policy Coverage Of Arbitration Award

    HOUSTON — A homebuilder filed a notice in federal court in Texas on Sept. 25 that it was appealing to the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals a judge’s order ruling granting summary judgment in favor of the builder’s commercial liability insurer in its suit seeking indemnification for a $213,000 arbitration award for damages caused by construction defects in a home it built; the judge had found that no coverage existed under the policy.

  • September 26, 2025

    Suit Limitation Provision Bars Insureds’ Water, Mold Damage Suit, Panel Says

    EDINBURG, Texas — A trial court did not err in finding that a policy’s suit limitation provision bars a lawsuit filed by insureds who claim that they are owed coverage for water and mold damage in their home because the insureds clearly filed their suit after the limitations period expired, the Texas 13th Court of Appeals said Sept. 25 in affirming the lower court’s decision.

  • September 25, 2025

    Texas Federal Judge Refuses To Reconsider Ruling In Loss Calculation Dispute

    SAN ANTONIO — A Texas federal judge denied an insurer’s motion for reconsideration and refused to permit an interlocutory appeal of the denial of the insurer’s motion for summary judgment in a dispute over the insurer’s practice of withholding future labor costs on homeowners’ property damage claims because the insurer failed to show that there were any manifest errors of law or fact that would warrant reconsideration.

  • September 24, 2025

    Texas Panel Partly Rules In Favor Of Insurers In Coronavirus Coverage Suit

    DALLAS — A Texas appellate panel held that a lower court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of certain commercial property insurers in a breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit arising from the coronavirus pandemic, finding that one of the “follow-form” insurance policies included a coverage-extension endorsement that was not present in the lead policy and the insurer that issued that policy failed to demonstrate that the contamination exclusion superseded the endorsement.

  • September 22, 2025

    Reinsurer Claims Insurer Withheld Premiums, Improperly Terminated Agreement

    DALLAS — A reinsurer sued an insurer in a Texas state court, alleging that the insurer withheld more than $31 million in reinsurance premiums under a quota share reinsurance agreement (QSRA) and related deal, retroactively attempted to terminate their contract in violation of notice requirements and engaged in conduct amounting to breach of contract, unjust enrichment and statutory theft.

  • September 15, 2025

    Homeowners’ Bad Faith, Breach Of Contract Claims To Proceed, Magistrate Judge Says

    DALLAS — A Texas federal magistrate judge denied a homeowners insurer’s motion to dismiss claims for breach of contract and bad faith brought by insureds seeking coverage for water damage in their home after determining that the insureds sufficiently allege facts in their amended complaint to support the claims.