Did they know their boathouse was not covered if it was on an *adjoining* property they owned?
Clearly they *should* have known if they had read their contract carefully, but we all know how many consumers really do that.
I could just as easily see this being a case of agent sloppiness.
If I bought an adjoining lot and called my agent to add it to my policy, being otherwise as ignorant of insurance as the average customer, would my agent add the adjoining lot to the description of my insured location, or simply add it as an additional property for liability coverage?
Would I, as the customer, know enough to care?
Or would I assume, since the agent didn\’t make a fuss about it, that my policy now covered both lots as my home?
Yes, the agent should clarify what the insured wants to do, and yes, the insured to should read the contract to make sure it was added correctly. But realistically, when a customer buys a neighboring lot, intending to use it as part of his home, how often is it handled correctly?
For a non-adjacent lot, the situation is different, it should be a little more obvious that the land down the street is not part of the same land your home is on. But if you buy the vacant lot next door, and treat it like part of your property, wouldn\’t the average consumer expect homeowners insurance to continue across the lot line?
Good questions Did They Know. I was thinking along th esame lines. The only thing I question is they dropped their law suit in mid-stream which makes something appear fishy.
The Weisses have not dropped the lawsuit, their case is going to the jury. The Tomlinson\’s dropped their lawsuit.
I agree that they probably thought the lot next door was part of their primary residence and do not think they intended to misrepresent themselves. Interesting case.
Why would Joe bother doing that? He didn\’t even read it the first time.
Hey Joe, why are you not bashing Allstate? You must work for them huh? No jumping to conclusions without knowing all the facts? No ripping apart of the insurance company?
Obviously you have a vendetta against State Farm. What did they ever do to you?
Now for my opinion on the matter… I see Linda\’s point about adding the extra land to their property. It is possible their agent didn\’t explain things properly OR misrepresented the coverage OR just simply didn\’t know what they were talking about. Or the Weiss\’ family could be the shady, underhanded sort of people that try and scam insurance companies. Or this or that… I really don\’t know the whole story but Did They Know?/Linda brought up a good point.
Regardless of what they did or did not know at the time of loss, it should have never gotten to court with the claim for the boathouse still being pursued.
Mjolnir- I am not referring to you. :) I enjoy your posts.
Did the Weiss\’ family try to lead Allstate to believe the boathouse was on the insured property? The story doesn\’t bring enough detail about the plaintiffs\’ side of the story.
Someone educate me. Is there something different in the Louisiana policy than in most other states. My policy has a special limit for watercraft of $1,000.00. Now, the insured\’s really can\’t be wanting that money that bad. It appears Allstate is trying to find a loophole to not pay an insured!!!! Why didn\’t the houseboat have a seperate policy on it?
Looks like the agents E&O carrier better be notified. You would think the plantiff and Allstate would third party the E&O carrier (unless it was Allstate)
to muddy up the water a little bit.
It was a boathouse, not a houseboat- BIG difference. A boathouse is a STRUCTURE built at the edge of the water to protect boats from weather, etc. A houseboat is a boat with some of the same amenities as a house. Quite different from each other. Gotta love the English language…
It doesn\’t appear to me that Allstate is trying to get through a loophole, as you stated. The question I have is who can prove where the boathouse was built?
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Shame !
Did they know their boathouse was not covered if it was on an *adjoining* property they owned?
Clearly they *should* have known if they had read their contract carefully, but we all know how many consumers really do that.
I could just as easily see this being a case of agent sloppiness.
If I bought an adjoining lot and called my agent to add it to my policy, being otherwise as ignorant of insurance as the average customer, would my agent add the adjoining lot to the description of my insured location, or simply add it as an additional property for liability coverage?
Would I, as the customer, know enough to care?
Or would I assume, since the agent didn\’t make a fuss about it, that my policy now covered both lots as my home?
Yes, the agent should clarify what the insured wants to do, and yes, the insured to should read the contract to make sure it was added correctly. But realistically, when a customer buys a neighboring lot, intending to use it as part of his home, how often is it handled correctly?
For a non-adjacent lot, the situation is different, it should be a little more obvious that the land down the street is not part of the same land your home is on. But if you buy the vacant lot next door, and treat it like part of your property, wouldn\’t the average consumer expect homeowners insurance to continue across the lot line?
Good questions Did They Know. I was thinking along th esame lines. The only thing I question is they dropped their law suit in mid-stream which makes something appear fishy.
The Weisses have not dropped the lawsuit, their case is going to the jury. The Tomlinson\’s dropped their lawsuit.
I agree that they probably thought the lot next door was part of their primary residence and do not think they intended to misrepresent themselves. Interesting case.
Why would Joe bother doing that? He didn\’t even read it the first time.
Hey Joe, why are you not bashing Allstate? You must work for them huh? No jumping to conclusions without knowing all the facts? No ripping apart of the insurance company?
Obviously you have a vendetta against State Farm. What did they ever do to you?
Now for my opinion on the matter… I see Linda\’s point about adding the extra land to their property. It is possible their agent didn\’t explain things properly OR misrepresented the coverage OR just simply didn\’t know what they were talking about. Or the Weiss\’ family could be the shady, underhanded sort of people that try and scam insurance companies. Or this or that… I really don\’t know the whole story but Did They Know?/Linda brought up a good point.
If the property wasn\’t covered, it wasn\’t covered. If their agent handled the transaction incorrectly, that makes it an E&O problem.
So unless Allstate is the agent\’s E&O carrier, I would say their part in this is over.
The agent\’s part is just beginning.
Regardless of what they did or did not know at the time of loss, it should have never gotten to court with the claim for the boathouse still being pursued.
Thanks Captain Obvious.
Mjolnir- I am not referring to you. :) I enjoy your posts.
Did the Weiss\’ family try to lead Allstate to believe the boathouse was on the insured property? The story doesn\’t bring enough detail about the plaintiffs\’ side of the story.
Someone educate me. Is there something different in the Louisiana policy than in most other states. My policy has a special limit for watercraft of $1,000.00. Now, the insured\’s really can\’t be wanting that money that bad. It appears Allstate is trying to find a loophole to not pay an insured!!!! Why didn\’t the houseboat have a seperate policy on it?
Looks like the agents E&O carrier better be notified. You would think the plantiff and Allstate would third party the E&O carrier (unless it was Allstate)
to muddy up the water a little bit.
It was a boathouse, not a houseboat- BIG difference. A boathouse is a STRUCTURE built at the edge of the water to protect boats from weather, etc. A houseboat is a boat with some of the same amenities as a house. Quite different from each other. Gotta love the English language…
It doesn\’t appear to me that Allstate is trying to get through a loophole, as you stated. The question I have is who can prove where the boathouse was built?