{"id":897644,"date":"2020-07-01T13:44:24","date_gmt":"2020-07-01T19:44:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?p=897644"},"modified":"2020-07-01T13:44:28","modified_gmt":"2020-07-01T19:44:28","slug":"notice-of-claim-provision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/notice-of-claim-provision\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cPlease\u201d Is Not a Material Condition of an Insurance Policy\u2019s Notice of Claim Provision"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Larry P. Schiffer | <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.inredisputesblog.com\/2020\/06\/say-please-is-not-a-material-condition-of-an-insurance-policys-notice-of-claim-provision\/\" target=\"_blank\">Squire Patton Boggs<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is fundamental that a policyholder has to notify its insurance company about a claim if it expects the insurer to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/frequently-used-misunderstood-construction-contract-terms\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">defend and indemnify<\/a> the policyholder against that claim.\u00a0 When and where that notice has to be given, however, varies.\u00a0 Sometimes the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/replacement-cost-coverage-180-day-notice-requirement\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">notice requirement<\/a> is expressed as a mandatory condition and sometimes the policy wording is more polite.\u00a0 In a recent non-precedential case, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals addressed this issue in a legal malpractice case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In\u00a0<em>Landmark American Insurance Co. v. Lonergan Law Firm, P.L.L.C.<\/em>, No. 19-10385 (5th Cir. Jun. 4, 2020) (not for publication), a lawyer sued for legal malpractice had a claims-made professional liability policy with the following <a href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/contractors-failure-to-strictly-comply-with-notice-provision-precludes-contract-damages-award\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">notice provision<\/a>: \u201cPlease send all claim information to: Attention: Claims Dept [address].\u201d\u00a0 The insured never sent the underlying claims information to the insurer\u2019s claims department.\u00a0 Instead, when renewing the policy, the policyholder reported the claim on a claims supplement to the renewal application.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The insurer refused to defend the underlying lawsuit and brought a declaratory judgment action claiming it did not have any obligation to defend the case because of the lack of notice to its claims department.&nbsp; The district court agreed and granted summary judgment to the insurer.&nbsp; The Fifth Circuit reversed and remanded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In reversing, the court held that the policyholder \u201creported\u201d the underlying claim information to the insurer as required by the policy when it included the information in the claim supplement.&nbsp; The court noted that the insurer did not dispute that it received the claims information in the claims supplement.&nbsp; While the court conceded that other circuits had held reporting to the claims department fulfills an essential feature of notice provisions, in this case the notice provision was permissive and not mandatory.&nbsp; In other words, saying \u201cplease send\u201d is very different than saying the insured \u201cmust\u201d or \u201cshall\u201d send the notice to the claims department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thus, the court held that the notice provision in this policy was not a material condition of the policy and breach of this permissive requirement, unlike a mandatory condition, did not result in a justifiable denial of coverage.&nbsp; In this case, the insurer could be relieved of its duty to defend and indemnify only upon a showing that it was prejudiced by the breach.&nbsp; Because the district court never reached that issue, the circuit court remanded the case for further proceedings.&nbsp; The circuit court made it clear that it was not deciding whether the insured breached the notice provision or whether any breach may have prejudiced the insurance company.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Larry P. Schiffer | Squire Patton Boggs It is fundamental that a policyholder has to notify its insurance company about a claim if it expects the insurer to defend and indemnify the policyholder against that claim.\u00a0 When and where that notice has to be given, however, varies.\u00a0 Sometimes the notice requirement is expressed as a&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/notice-of-claim-provision\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">\u201cPlease\u201d Is Not a Material Condition of an Insurance Policy\u2019s Notice of Claim Provision<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[9914],"tags":[9895,10904,6438,10627],"class_list":["post-897644","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-insurance-coverage","tag-advise-consult","tag-insurance-coverage-claims","tag-notice-provision","tag-notice-requirements","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>\u201cPlease\u201d Is Not a Material Condition of an Insurance Policy\u2019s Notice of Claim Provision - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sometimes the notice requirement is expressed as a mandatory condition and sometimes the policy wording is more polite which can cause issues\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/notice-of-claim-provision\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u201cPlease\u201d Is Not a Material Condition of an Insurance Policy\u2019s Notice of Claim Provision - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sometimes the notice requirement is expressed as a mandatory condition and sometimes the policy wording is more polite which can cause issues\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/notice-of-claim-provision\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Advise-Consult-Inc-126949043996790\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-07-01T19:44:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-07-01T19:44:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@adviseconsult\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@adviseconsult\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/notice-of-claim-provision\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/notice-of-claim-provision\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0a11abe008083d5fb19c2b0feefe7bd7\"},\"headline\":\"\u201cPlease\u201d Is Not a Material Condition of an Insurance Policy\u2019s Notice of Claim Provision\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-07-01T19:44:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-07-01T19:44:28+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/notice-of-claim-provision\/\"},\"wordCount\":451,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Advise &amp; Consult\",\"Insurance Coverage Claims\",\"Notice Provision\",\"Notice Requirements\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Insurance Coverage\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/notice-of-claim-provision\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/notice-of-claim-provision\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/notice-of-claim-provision\/\",\"name\":\"\u201cPlease\u201d Is Not a Material Condition of an Insurance Policy\u2019s Notice of Claim Provision - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-07-01T19:44:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-07-01T19:44:28+00:00\",\"description\":\"Sometimes the notice requirement is expressed as a mandatory condition and sometimes the policy wording is more polite which can cause issues\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/notice-of-claim-provision\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.\",\"description\":\"Construction Expert Witnesses\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Advise & Consult\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AC-Red-Logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AC-Red-Logo.png\",\"width\":162,\"height\":75,\"caption\":\"Advise & Consult\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Advise-Consult-Inc-126949043996790\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/adviseconsult\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company-beta\/204526\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/MrConstructionExpert\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0a11abe008083d5fb19c2b0feefe7bd7\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b01e71b7acadd7657af782b7ad1a30cc?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b01e71b7acadd7657af782b7ad1a30cc?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.expertwitnessinconstruction.com\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\u201cPlease\u201d Is Not a Material Condition of an Insurance Policy\u2019s Notice of Claim Provision - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.","description":"Sometimes the notice requirement is expressed as a mandatory condition and sometimes the policy wording is more polite which can cause issues","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/notice-of-claim-provision\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\u201cPlease\u201d Is Not a Material Condition of an Insurance Policy\u2019s Notice of Claim Provision - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.","og_description":"Sometimes the notice requirement is expressed as a mandatory condition and sometimes the policy wording is more polite which can cause issues","og_url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/notice-of-claim-provision\/","og_site_name":"Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Advise-Consult-Inc-126949043996790\/","article_published_time":"2020-07-01T19:44:24+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-07-01T19:44:28+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@adviseconsult","twitter_site":"@adviseconsult","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/notice-of-claim-provision\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/notice-of-claim-provision\/"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0a11abe008083d5fb19c2b0feefe7bd7"},"headline":"\u201cPlease\u201d Is Not a Material Condition of an Insurance Policy\u2019s Notice of Claim Provision","datePublished":"2020-07-01T19:44:24+00:00","dateModified":"2020-07-01T19:44:28+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/notice-of-claim-provision\/"},"wordCount":451,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization"},"keywords":["Advise &amp; Consult","Insurance Coverage Claims","Notice Provision","Notice Requirements"],"articleSection":["Insurance Coverage"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/notice-of-claim-provision\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/notice-of-claim-provision\/","url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/notice-of-claim-provision\/","name":"\u201cPlease\u201d Is Not a Material Condition of an Insurance Policy\u2019s Notice of Claim Provision - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2020-07-01T19:44:24+00:00","dateModified":"2020-07-01T19:44:28+00:00","description":"Sometimes the notice requirement is expressed as a mandatory condition and sometimes the policy wording is more polite which can cause issues","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/notice-of-claim-provision\/"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/","name":"Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.","description":"Construction Expert Witnesses","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Advise & Consult","url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AC-Red-Logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AC-Red-Logo.png","width":162,"height":75,"caption":"Advise & Consult"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Advise-Consult-Inc-126949043996790\/","https:\/\/x.com\/adviseconsult","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company-beta\/204526\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/MrConstructionExpert"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0a11abe008083d5fb19c2b0feefe7bd7","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b01e71b7acadd7657af782b7ad1a30cc?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b01e71b7acadd7657af782b7ad1a30cc?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.expertwitnessinconstruction.com"]}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2ztG6-3Lw8","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/897644","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=897644"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/897644\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":897645,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/897644\/revisions\/897645"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=897644"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=897644"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=897644"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}