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Michelle Villarreal began her claims career over 30 years ago, with Cigna Companies while attending St. Mary’s University in San Antonio. She is the President and CEO of Occupational Accident Risk, Inc, a Third Party Administrator specializing in Texas work injury programs. They have been in the Third Party Administration industry since 2006, offering services…
As an experienced insurance expert witness, Daniel works with attorneys on agent/insurance company standard of care and bad faith. He can analyze coverages and claim handling. He works with both plaintiffs and defendants on cases he believes in. Daniel has 40 years of experience as a practicing insurance agent / professional and almost 20 years…
Steve is a 30+ year veteran of property and casualty insurance claims. He holds the CPCU and AIC designations and is Past President (2006) of the National Society of Professional Insurance Investigators (NSPII). Over the course of his carrier career, Steve worked as a direct claim handler, manager, litigation examiner, senior claim specialist and director…
“An insurer’s knee-jerk denial letter cannot be saved from triggering the penalties [of bad faith] merely because the insurer’s lawyer is able to construct a post-hoc justification for denying coverage. “[I]nsurers that unreasonably delay the evaluation of the insureds’ claims [can be found liable for bad faith], even if the insurer’s ultimate assessment of the claim proves to be correct ‘”Holding otherwise could potentially result in insurers taking the gamble that a denial based on a cursory review will be rescued by a clever trial lawyer.”
“IN 2010, I authored an article on the dangers of absolute exclusions.1 That article was prompted by an appellate decision in Florida, James River Ins. Co. v. Ground Down Eng’g, 540 F.3d 1270 (11th Cir. 2008). In that case, an engineering firm that was providing consulting services on whether land had become polluted found that its errors and omissions (E&O) policy, which covered it as an environmental consultant, didn’t cover pollution!”