District Court of Appeals Rules that Insurer Must Cover Loss Where Insurer Tried to Deny Claim Based on Policy Forfeiture Where Insurer Failed to Give Policy to Insured Before Loss Occurred

A transportation company purchased insurance for its tractor trailer from a large international insurance company. However, before the insurer provided the company a copy of the insurance policy, the eighteen wheeler was stolen.

The insurer then denied the claim because the policy required that the truck be stored in a secured facility when not in use; however, the company that owned the truck was not given the policy prior to the theft and had no knowledge of such a requirement.

The trial court ruled that the insurer was not allowed to deny the claim on this basis, because the transportation company had no idea the truck had to be stored in a secure location. The District Court of Appeals upheld the trial court’s ruling.

Our Jacksonville insurance dispute attorneys handle insurance claim denial cases frequently. Often insurers are happy to accept premiums but reluctant to pay losses. In Florida, if you have to sue your own insurer and you are sucessful, you are entitled to recover the attorney fees spent on the case.

In many such instances, we agree to handle cases on a contingency basis, meaning we only get paid if we are sucessful and we get paid in addition to the value of your claim. In this manner, you can hire an insurance claim denial attorney without paying anything out of pocket and, if we are sucessful, you get 100% of the value of the insurance benefit.

If you have any questions about an insurance coverage dispute, please contact our Jacksonville insurance lawyers. We handle cases arising from all types of insurance policies, including life insurance, disability insurance, auto insurance, homeowner’s insurance, and boat insurance.