The insurance policy means what it says.

Some states do not have much respect for the words in an insurance policy.  They consider all of the words as “fine print”.  Fortunately, Tennessee still respects the words in the policy. (Why is that good?  Predictability makes insurance rates cheaper and the law easier to predict.)

Finchum v. Patterson, was released today. This is a Tennessee Court of Appeals case where the heart of the dispute has to do with a theft loss to a show truck. The insurance company denied the loss based on the wording of the policy. There was probably a coverage that Finchum could have purchased to cover this loss, they just failed to do so.

What does this case teach us?

• Make sure  your specialty items are covered, especially when you have a $30,000 show truck.
• Periodically check with your agent as to whether or not there are any other coverages you may consider.
• Don’t assume  that your insurance agent speaks for the actual insurance carrier.
• Understand that you have the responsibility to know what is in your insurance policy.

You can’t cover every loss, but it’s in every business’s best interest to  make sure their risks are covered.

This entry was posted on May 12, 2008 at 8:35 pm and is filed under Insurance Law, Business Law. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.