Expert Witness Blog

Property insurance expert witness Burl Daniel, CPCU, CIC, CRM, writes on adequate coverage:

Property insurance seems simple enough – pay the premiums; settle the claim after the fire; replace the damaged home or commercial building. In reality, however, this coverage can be one of the most complex areas in all of Property and Casualty insurance.

Extensive knowledge of several types of policy forms is required to ensure proper structuring of coverage. Due to the wide variation in types and locations of buildings, contents, and Business Income exposures, a multitude of policy forms and endorsements exist to cover virtually any type of property. Expertise with all of these numerous forms – including Inland and Ocean Marine insurance – is necessary to structure coverage correctly.

In THE BUSINESS SECURITY TEST, night club security expert witness Robert A. Gardner, CPP, writes that “no business is totally immune from the threat of crime but a little prior planning and a few common sense precautions are all that is necessary to deter most criminals.”

Policies, Procedures & Training

1. Do you have a Workplace Violence Prevention Policy?

On his website, homeowner’s insurance expert witness Burl Daniel, CPCU, CIC, CRM describes the The National Flood Insurance Program:

Created by Congress in 1968, The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is the largest single peril insurance program in the world. FEMA contracts with over 100 “Write Your Own” (WYO) insurance carriers to administer underwriting and process claims. With only one peril to insure and carriers to help, insuring against flood loss should be simple – but that’s not always the case.

Residential Property under NFIP

In Fatal Asthma, pulmonary medicine expert witness Dr. James F. Lineback, Newport Longevity Medical Group, writes:

Asthmatics who eventually go on to develop acute respiratory failure experience a gradual drop in blood oxygen and ,eventually, an elevated arterial carbon dioxide level during the time when most of their strength is devoted to breathing. As oxygen continues to drop and pressure inside the chest rises due to an increased respiratory effort, the heartbeat may become irregular which can result in a fatal cardiac arrhythmia if the problem is not solved immediately.

Early treatment of asthma actually prevents the accumulation of dried secretions in the airways, as well as the narrowing of those structures. As that process progresses, however, treatment becomes increasingly difficult, which may eventually place these patients at high risk for a fatal outcome. Appropriate management, therefore, involves aggressive treatment at an early stage in order to prevent these patients from progressing to a stage where they eventually become at high risk for a fatal outcome.

In Agent Errors and Omissions Insurance Expert, insurance agencies expert witness Burl Daniel, CPCU, CIC, CRM,

Insurance agents and brokers are under constant scrutiny for their errors and omissions; this scrutiny often results in questions regarding agents’ performance. Among these questions: What standard of care should clients reasonably expect from their agent or broker? What insurance customs and practices should apply to a given set of circumstances? Who said what – and when, and where? How were insurance transactions documented?

Read more, including Common Causes of Agent Errors & Omissions Allegations.

In Fatal Asthma, pulmonary medicine expert witness Dr. James F. Lineback, Newport Longevity Medical Group, writes:

Fortunately, the overwhelming majority of asthmatics experience mild symptoms that are easily treated with medications which open up the airway and reduce inflammation in those structures. A certain subset however, have more severe narrowing of the airways and must be treated more aggressively and monitored more carefully with serial pulmonary function testing.

Patients with severe asthma require more medication, have more frequent visits to the emergency room, and may actually require mechanical ventilation for acute respiratory failure. These patients constitute a high risk group for a fatal outcome and generally have certain risk factors, such as steroid dependence, prior need for mechanical ventilation, a high number of medications, and frequent episodes of acute respiratory failure. Aggressive treatment in this group prevents accumulation of dried secretions in the airways as well as severe life threatening airway obstruction. Once this process occurs, these patients are faced with a significant increase “work of breathing” which eventually leads to respiratory muscle fatigue.

Logistics expert witnesses may advise regarding freight forwarders and cargo movement. In the news, RLS Corporation, a third-party logistics provider, announced the launch of the first phase of its next-generation website at www.rlscorp.com.

The new website features critical real-time updates for the logistics industry, including national weather conditions and fuel prices. The site also provides the latest news from key industry groups, such as the American Trucking Association, the Transportation Intermediaries Association, and the National Industrial Transportation League.

Read more: rlscorp.com.