RiskProf

A Little Friday Levity

Not to be confused with the new little Leverty.  Riskprof’s Ty Leverty had a little boy earlier this spring.  I won’t disclose his name out of respect to his privacy, but it is a real strong Irish name.  I am particularly fond of Finbarr as a name, but my wife (who was probably thinking of the then wee one’s future) repulsed with significant gusto my attempts to name any of my little sigmas Finbarr.  Just so you know -- I did stop moping about this years ago.

Here is the real Friday levity.  Evidently, someone sued Pepsi (the owners of Cap’n Crunch) for false advertising for $5 billion because there were no crunchberries in the cereal.  I realize $5 billion is much anymore, but I think the fact that the word “crunchberry” is not in a real dictionary or even MS Word’s might have been a clue.

boingboing has a short story, but the comments are hilarious.. some of my favorites so far..

• #7. I heard that Crunch [had] to stop using his formal title when it was exposed that he never actually served in the military.
• #3. What!? Next thing you'll be telling me is that Froot Loops aren't made from real fruit, and that there's no nuts in Grape Nuts!
• #37. Don't be silly. Froot Loops are made from froot.
• #9. I love that she's suing on behalf of, not just herself, but the "other people" who have been similarly misled. […]Don't kid yourself, lady, you are an island in this belief system.
• #33 Follow up suit: Lucky Charms are not "magically delicious." They are merely "delicious."
• #48. So... that bowl I just had of Rice Chex didn't really have any Czecks (sic) in it, right?

Portland Is Great

As the last post showed I didn't see many papers.  There were too many new beers to taste!  I also had the pleasure of having lunch with David Rossmiller.  A good time was had by all. We didn't even spend that much time talking about Katrina, Mississippi, Mr. Scruggs, music lyrics or the other supporting cast of the recent troubles.  Thank you for lunch David and the next one is on me.

Torts: L'affaire de Coeur Edition

Man meets Woman.  Woman is married to Husband. Man and Woman run off and have an affair.  Husband successfully (it turns out) sues Man for the tort of alienation of affections.  Man is bummed and makes a claim against his homeowners policy.

Ok, should Man's insurance company, State Farm, cover the damage award?

TortsProf Blog has the details.

I wonder if the answer would be different in Mississippi?

Here is my analysis....

Under the policy State Farm was obligated to pay for a loss.  A loss was defined as an accident causing bodily injury or property damage.

While I have simplified the language somewhat (see case for actual contract language).  I believe that one can make the argument that because Man and Woman fell in love accidentally and this was the cause of Husband's bodily injury ( a broken heart).  Because State Farm (1) did not exclude this specific set of facts from coverage; and (2) because the contract is vague and ambiguous and written specifically so as to permit the State Farm to arbitrarily deny needed coverage to injured policyholders; and (3) because State Farm avoiding paying claims it knows it should pay; and (4) because State Farm is making money; and, finally, (5) because State Farm is suing the state AG we must interpret the contract in favor of the insured.  Ta da! 

Punitive damages for bad faith are likely, too, since State Farm is an out-of-state insurer.  Further, there is likely a conspiracy among all insurers not to pay similar claims.  Unfortunately, the McCarran-Ferguson Act (which was set up by the insurance industry to dupe the Congress into letting the states regulate insurance) allows the insurers to illegally contract, combine, and conspire in restraint of trade.  Finally and perhaps most importantly, State Farm was really mean to Sen. Lott.

Sound Familiar?

A guy walks into a Casino and pays the nickel slots.  On the slot machine there is a disclaimer that says the maximum payout for the machine is $2,500.

The guy drops a nickel, pulls than handle and wins a $1.6 million payout.

The Casino operator claims a mechanical fault and points to the disclaimer.  The guy, now known as plaintiff, is suing for his "lost" payout.

Personally, I think he should be paid because the casino industry had unconscionably high profits last year.

via Casinowire

graphic from Hotel Interactive.com

An Interesting Insurance Contract Story on Funding the X-Prize

...from the folks at Marginal Revolution.  Please read the comments as they are interesting too.

I am starting to wonder about my alien abduction contract.  One can get $10 million in life time cover for 19.95 + $3s&h.  I wonder which experts help divine the price.

How "Bout Them Gators

U. of Fla. Researchers Halt Hurricane with Flick of Switch

Now we just have to hope they can stop Auburn, FSU, LSU, Tennessee, Georgia, Kentucky, Ole Miss and the rest just as easily.

Posting to Resume Shortly

Yes, I am still breathing. Your many letter (sic) of concern touched me.  I'll be back posting momentarily.

A Name by Any Other Name

Am not related to her — although she was on the faculty in my department (as an adjunct) and more than one person though she was my wife.  The risque-wife was not amused.  Please, Walter, don’t link to any Saturday Night Live posts about me! 

Am related, in name, to this celebration.  Happy Mardi Gras.  Make sure that you are careful when you bite into your King Cakes as there may be a hidden hard plastic figures of kings.  Local grocery stores make them here in Atlanta with the plastic figure on top.  I wonder why?

 

We Always Wondered Why We Spoke in the First Person Plural

We have just been anointed the King of Insurance Blogging.  We are thinking seriously of changing the blog to Risking.

While we are on our royal high horse,  we wish to thank David Rossmiller for the kind coronation.

A Florida Catastrophe for Ohio State!

How about them Gators?

The Risque-wife earned four degrees there and I don’t think she missed a game.  She even sat through the horrible 0–10 year in ‘79?  I was the more serious student (i.e. nerd), but I watched some on TV.