Author Archives: Barry Zalma

Construction Defects and Insurance & Mold Claims Every claims person – first party property adjusters or third party liability claims adjusters – will be asked to deal with a claim involving construction defects, mold, or a combination of both. Over … Continue reading →

Payment Only due After Insured and Insurer Reach Agreement on Amount of Loss To collect on a first party property policy of insurance it is required that the insured submit a proof of loss and the insurer agrees that the … Continue reading →

It is Difficult to Understand Why Anyone Would buy More Coverage than Others than for Themselves Most states, like South Carolina, require that insurers issue UM/UIM coverage with the same limits as liability coverages unless the insured asks for lower … Continue reading →

A Tool Available to Insurers to Thoroughly Investigate Claims and Work to Defeat Fraud Published today at Amazon.com is the Second Edition of “The Insurance Examination Under Oath” as either a Kindle book or a paperback. Table of Contents Preface … Continue reading →

The Insurance Claims Library is Essential to Everyone Who Deals with an Insurance Claim This series of books is the latest addition to Barry Zalma’s insurance claims series of books and articles that will form the most thorough, up-to-date, expert-authored … Continue reading →

Lies on Application the Sole Responsibility of the Insured who Signed the Application People who lie to their insurer to obtain an insurance policy cannot claim it was the agent’s fault for not stopping the applicant from fabrication. When the … Continue reading →

The Insurance Claims Library Over the last 52 years Barry Zalma has dedicated his life to insurance, insurance claims and the need to defeat insurance fraud. He has created the following library of books and other materials to make it … Continue reading →

 ZALMA’S INSURANCE FRAUD LETTER  January 15, 2019  Is Hard Labor for Insurance Fraud a Real Deterrent?   Zalma’s Insurance Fraud Letter, Volume 24, No. 2 Some of the articles you can read in this issue of ZIFL follow:  Louisiana takes Insurance … Continue reading →

Fictionalized True Insurance Crime Books Sometimes I find it necessary to provide information about insurance fraud that simply cannot be told in a non-fiction book. Although I am no competition for Tom Clancy, the books explain, by fictionalizing a true … Continue reading →

No Right to Contribution from Employer of Injured Plaintiff Construction contracts contain multiple provisions to shift the obligation from one to another in case of injury during the work. Often the contracts work to attempt to avoid the exclusivity of … Continue reading →

Ethics for Insurance and the Insurance Lawyer To present, adjust, or represent anyone involved with an insurance claim it is necessary to understand the ethical basis of insurance and the obligations of an attorney. Over the last 52 years Barry … Continue reading →

Ohio Court of Appeals Finds “Close Proximity” is Synonymous with “Occupying” The interpretation of an insurance policy should be simple. The words should be given their common meaning and applied in accordance with the agreement of the parties. In Donald … Continue reading →

How to Create a Staff of Professional Claims Handlers Business reporters complain every day that the United States is now at full employment. There are more than seven million jobs available and only six million people available to fill those … Continue reading →

Never Set a Fire if your Neighbor has a Video System Recording your Efforts Arson is the most vicious form of insurance fraud. People, the arsonist, neighbors or fire fighters are often injured or killed. When the arsonist is recorded … Continue reading →

Rescission, the Examination Under Oath and Random Thoughts To present, adjust, or represent anyone involved with an insurance claim it is necessary to understand the law of rescission of insurance or the examination under oath. Over the last 51 years … Continue reading →

Failing to Report an Error is Expensive An insurance coverage dispute resulted from an insured committing, and failing to report, a mistake during the former policy period and seeking coverage for the resulting claim during the latter policy period by … Continue reading →

California Claims & SIU Regulations and Ethics for the Insurance Professional Over the last 51 years Barry Zalma has dedicated his life to insurance, insurance claims and the need to defeat insurance fraud. He has created the following library of … Continue reading →

One Cannot Justifiably Rely on a Purportedly Unclear Statement in a Contract When Reading the Contract in Full Would Remove Any Lack of Clarity When a plaintiff admitted he did not read his homeowners policy only to find that an … Continue reading →

Co-Primary Insurance Coverage on the Same Risk In a dispute that should never have gone to trial, the USDC concluded: “[W]here two or more insurers independently provide primary insurance on the same risk for which they are both liable for … Continue reading →

The Compact Books of Adjusting Property & Liability Insurance Claims Over the last 51 years Barry Zalma has dedicated his life to insurance, insurance claims and the need to defeat insurance fraud. He has created the following library of books … Continue reading →

Pre-Existing Condition Material to No Fault Claim No fault insurance plans, like that in Michigan, provide benefits to an injured person regardless of fault. All the state asks from the injured party is that he or she is honest in … Continue reading →

Two Books for the Insurance Professional Read about these books and more insurance books from Barry Zalma at http://zalma.com/blog/insurance-claims-library/ The concept of unintended consequences is one of the building blocks of economics. Adam Smith’s “invisible hand,” the most famous metaphor … Continue reading →

When an Insurer Pays Mortgagee and not Named Insured, it is Entitled to Assignment of the Debt Paid Insurance companies often ignore the right, when it properly refuses to pay a named insured but must pay the debt owed to … Continue reading →

Construction Defects & Mold Claims Two Book Series to Help Understand Construction Defect or Mold Claims Over the last 51 years Barry Zalma has dedicated his life to insurance, insurance claims and the need to defeat insurance fraud. He has … Continue reading →

Louisiana takes Insurance Fraud Seriously Insurance fraud is a crime that takes a great deal of  money from the insurance buying public. Estimates – since most insurance frauds succeed no one really knows how much it takes – range from … Continue reading →

Happy New Year from Barry Zalma and Zalma’s Insurance Fraud Letter    Defendant Convicted of Insurance Fraud Unsuccessfully Pursues Appeal         Zalma’s Insurance Fraud Letter, Volume 24, No. 1      Some of the articles you can read in … Continue reading →

Arson for Terrorism and Profit How an Insurance Investigator and Insurance Lawyer Defeated a Plot to use a Fire to Fund Terrorism (c) 2020 by Barry Zalma & ClaimSchool, Inc. https://lnkd.in/gQXXiE9 There are many excuses for the inability of the … Continue reading →

Ninth and Final Attempt to Create a Class Action to Recover from U.S. Government Fails In their ninth attempt to pursue a class action against Zurich American Insurance Company (Zurich) the plaintiffs MSP Recovery Claims, claiming an agency relationship with … Continue reading →

Everything Needed by the Insurance Claims Professional Over the last 51 years Barry Zalma has dedicated his life to insurance, insurance claims and the need to defeat insurance fraud. He has created the following library of books and other materials … Continue reading →

Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation Does not Apply to Lawyers’ Settlement Demands Insurance companies, like Allstate, are filing qui tam lawsuits against people they believe are presenting fraudulent claims against the insurer by suing the perpetrators and their lawyers under … Continue reading →

Everything Needed by the Insurance Claims Professional Over the last 51 years Barry Zalma has dedicated his life to insurance, insurance claims and the need to defeat insurance fraud. He has created the following library of books and other materials … Continue reading →

Insurance Criminals Continue to Abuse System After Conviction Insurance criminals are spoiled. They are seldom caught. When caught and prosecuted they, and their lawyers, use every trick and motion available to delay trial and conviction. Even after being convicted and … Continue reading →

Insurance Claims Library Everything Needed by the Insurance Claims Professional Over the last 51 years Barry Zalma has dedicated his life to insurance, insurance claims and the need to defeat insurance fraud. He has created the following library of books … Continue reading →

No Private Right of Action for Person Who Claims a Wrongful Report of Fraud The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit certified the following question to the Court of Appeals of New York: Does New York Public … Continue reading →

Parties Cannot Stipulate to Obtain an Advisory Opinion Courts are designed to solve problems. They are not designed to give advice about how a party can avoid a problem or litigation or how to get an insurance company to provide … Continue reading →

Books Needed by Every Claims Persona and Insured Read about these books and others insurance claims books at http://zalma.com/blog/insurance-claims-library/ “Construction Defects and Insurance” Barry Zalma has updated and re-edited his seminal work Construction Defects Coverage Guide into is the latest addition to … Continue reading →

No Jurisdiction – No Judgment In an action for declaratory relief the nominal defendant Hereford Insurance Company (hereinafter Hereford) appeals from an order of the Supreme Court, Kings County (Andrew Borrok, J.). The order, insofar as appealed from, denied the … Continue reading →

Indicators that help Raise a Suspicion of Insurance Fraud Over the last 51 years Barry Zalma has dedicated his life to insurance, insurance claims and the need to defeat insurance fraud. He has created the following library of books and … Continue reading →

Insurance Fraud & The Compact Books on Adjusting Property or Liability Claims Read about these and other insurance claims books by Barry Zalma at https://zalma.com/blog/insurance-claims-library/ “Insurance Fraud – Volume I & Volume II In Two Volumes Insurance fraud continually takes … Continue reading →

Insurer Can’t Keep Settlement Secret but May Keep Amount Secret Insurance companies often settle lawsuits even when they are sure they owe nothing to save the expense of the litigation and the effect on its reputation. To protect their good … Continue reading →