Insurance Insights

Analysis and practical guides on insurance.

4 articles, checklists, and guides on insurance law, written by the attorneys at MC Law. Every piece is general information, not legal advice — for a specific matter, contact the firm.

InsuranceFirst-Party Claims

Filing and Fighting a Property Insurance Claim: A Practical Guide

This guide takes a property insurance claim from the hour of the loss through appraisal, complaint, and suit. It covers what to photograph before anything is moved, the mitigation duty and how emergency expenses are reimbursed, why requesting the complete policy with endorsements is the first legal act of the claim, how to prepare for the adjuster inspection and what to hand over, building a contents inventory that does not understate the loss, the sworn proof of loss deadline that forfeits claims, how to claim the depreciation holdback that millions of dollars go unclaimed on, when to demand appraisal, how to survive an examination under oath, and how to read a denial letter.

Casey Scott McKayFebruary 18, 202628 min read

InsuranceFirst-Party Claims

Insurance Claim and Bad Faith Checklist: A Practical Checklist

This checklist runs a first-party insurance claim from the hour of the loss through a bad faith case. It is organized as sequences: immediate documentation and mitigation, the policy review that identifies every deadline, the adjuster inspection, valuation and contents, the conditions that forfeit claims, appraisal, examinations under oath, denials and complaints, and the evidence a bad faith claim requires. Every deadline that can destroy a valid claim is flagged, including the sixty-day proof of loss requirement and the policy suit limitation period that is far shorter than the ordinary contract period.

Casey Scott McKayJanuary 27, 20267 min read

InsuranceFirst-Party Claims

First-Party Insurance Claims and Bad Faith: Coverage, Duties, and Remedies

A first-party insurance claim is a contract dispute in which one party writes the contract, investigates the facts, decides the claim, and holds the money. This article explains how a property policy is structured and why the exclusions matter more than the grant, the difference between actual cash value and replacement cost and the practical trap in the holdback, the policy conditions that can forfeit a valid claim including proof of loss and the examination under oath, the appraisal clause as an underused resolution mechanism, the duty of good faith and fair dealing and the statutory unfair claims practices regimes, the damages available for bad faith including punitive exposure, and how ERISA preemption removes bad faith remedies for employer health and disability plans.

Casey Scott McKayJanuary 22, 202627 min read

InsuranceFirst-Party Claims

First-Party Insurance Toolkit: Proof of Loss, Appraisal, Examinations, and Bad Faith Claims

This toolkit assembles the working papers of a first-party insurance claim: the policy request, claim diary and documentation index, mitigation expense log, an estimate comparison worksheet keyed to the line items insurers omit, contents inventory and additional living expenses templates, the proof of loss extension request and reservation language, the depreciation holdback demand, an appraisal demand and appraiser engagement, examination under oath preparation and objection language, a point-by-point denial response, the report production demand, a regulator complaint outline, a bad faith evidence index, and partial payment acceptance language.

Casey Scott McKayJanuary 13, 202611 min read