Legal Updates for Insurance Agents & Brokers – RESULTS & THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
Results*
Christopher Block (Roseland, NJ) successfully handled a case where the plaintiff alleged the defendant insurance producer failed to alert the plaintiff of a policy renewal coming up and then failed to advise him that the policy had lapsed, and he had no insurance. The plaintiff claimed the defendant breached a contract to provide the plaintiff with notices by email and that the defendant breached a duty of care in a claim for professional negligence. Due to the breadth of the insurance policy at issue, the claim against the defendant was for $500,000.
At trial, the plaintiff relied upon his testimony that he did not receive the notices or any calls from the defendants regarding the lapse. For the defense, Christopher argued and was able to establish that any potential breach of contract or breach of a professional duty of care was not the proximate cause of the plaintiff's damages because he failed to take any steps to either calendar or diary his insurance renewal deadlines, and he also failed historically to timely renew his insurance policies in the eight years preceding this loss. After an hour and fourteen minutes of deliberation, the jury agreed with the defense and found that the plaintiff could not establish a proximate cause between the alleged breach of a duty of care and the plaintiff's damages.
*Prior Results Do Not Guarantee a Similar Outcome
Legal Update for Insurance Agents & Brokers – February 2023 has been prepared for our readers by Marshall Dennehey. It is solely intended to provide information on recent legal developments and is not intended to provide legal advice for a specific situation or to create an attorney-client relationship. We welcome the opportunity to provide such legal assistance as you require on this and other subjects. If you receive the alerts in error, please send a note tgventura@mdwcg.com. ATTORNEY ADVERTISING pursuant to New York RPC 7.1. © 2023 Marshall Dennehey. All Rights Reserved.