Despite what you see in their numerous television commercials, insurance companies don’t necessarily do the right thing for their customers. 

Mrs. Jones’ ( not her real name)  family religiously paid their homeowners insurance premium for many years.  They used the same insurance agency for more than fifty years for all of their insurance needs.  Multiple family members owned the insured home, but only one sister actually lived in the house. 

The insurance policy only listed the residing sister as a “named insured”.  When she passed away, Mrs. Jones immediately notified  the insurance agent, and asked if she needed to do something to maintain the house insurance.  She was advised that the house insurance was fully paid and in effect for another six months.  

Her deceased sister had not failed to do any estate planning, and as a result had no will,  Mrs. Jones, who was not an attorney, undertook to handle the probate administration of her sister’s small estate.  Among other things she took steps to transfer the deceased sister’s interest in the house to her legal beneficiaries.  

Unfortunately, the house burned down shortly thereafter (well within the policy period).  As a result of the fire, a person in the house suffered severe personal injury. 

The insurance company denied the claim based upon an obscure paragraph on page 22 of a policy that contained more than fifty pages.  The insurance agent and the insurance company refuse to accept any responsibility.  Mrs. Jones has retained our firm to seek justice for her in court.   

The Lesson:  Don't be fooled by an insurance company’s promise to come to your rescue when a tragedy happens.