Also known as: insurance contracts · insurance agreement
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
An agreement by which one party, the insurer, undertakes to compensate another party, the insured or a beneficiary, for specified losses upon the occurrence of a designated event in exchange for the payment of premiums.
Icarus Aviation sued Island Manufacturing after a cargo plane crashed. Island Manufacturing held a liability policy with Ideal Solutions. Under the initial disclosure rules, Island Manufacturing produced the full insurance agreement so Icarus Aviation could evaluate whether Ideal Solutions would cover any judgment.
Ira Irving, a California resident, bought a life insurance policy from an out-of-state carrier that mailed premium notices and the policy to him in California. After Ira Irving died, his beneficiary sued the carrier in California court. The single deliberate contact of issuing and maintaining the policy with a forum resident supported specific jurisdiction over the coverage dispute.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Imran Iyer executed a will that devised his estate to the trustee of a revocable life insurance trust he had created during his lifetime. The trust owned several policies on Imran Iyer's life. The devise remained valid even though Imran Iyer retained ownership rights in the policies and the trust was amendable.
Inertia Dynamics held a commercial property policy with an insurer. After a fire loss, the insurer deliberately delayed investigation for months and offered a low settlement to pressure acceptance. Inertia Dynamics stopped paying premiums. The insurer's prior bad faith conduct weighed against treating the nonpayment as a material breach that excused further performance.
Isabella Ingram, domiciled in State X, obtained an auto policy from an insurer while living there. After moving to State Y she was injured in an accident. The court applied the law of State X to interpret coverage because that state had the most significant relationship to the insured, the policy, and the parties at issuance.
India Inoue sued a foreign manufacturer in federal court. The manufacturer had obtained liability insurance from a carrier that defended and indemnified it. The court held that the insurer's contacts and the policy's role in the litigation supported personal jurisdiction over the manufacturer for purposes of the coverage dispute.
A party must disclose any insurance agreement under which an insurer may be liable to satisfy all or part of a possible judgment or to indemnify for payments made to satisfy the judgment. The disclosure allows the opposing party to evaluate the existence and extent of coverage that could affect collection of a judgment.
Yes. Solicitation and maintenance of an insurance contract with a forum resident constitutes a deliberate contact that can support specific jurisdiction when the suit arises out of that contact and the forum has a strong interest in protecting its residents.
A life insurance policy pays proceeds directly to a named beneficiary upon the insured's death outside of probate. The beneficiary designation creates a present contractual right that shifts enjoyment at death without requiring compliance with wills formalities.
An insurer's bad faith delay or deception in handling a claim weighs against treating the insured's later nonpayment of premiums as a material breach. Courts consider whether the breaching party's conduct comports with good faith and fair dealing when assessing materiality.
…The California court based its jurisdiction on a state statute which subjects foreign corporations to suit in California on insurance contracts with residents of that State even though such corporations cannot be served with process within its borders.[^maj-1] Unable to collect the judgment in California petitioner went to Texas…