Overreaching Assignments & Their Impact on Your Claims Handling

Recently, there has been an uptick in changes to the language in the assignment of benefit contracts which emergency mitigation companies are having Insureds sign.

One of the changes in the contracts is that the Insured’s execution of the assignment of benefits authorizes the carrier to not only directly pay them for their services, but to also include them on all checks regardless of the coverage they are for. For example, if the carrier pays the insured under Coverage A for repair, Coverage C for contents, or Coverage D for additional living expenses, this contractual language may require that the AOB company be listed on these checks.

A second change in the contracts is that the assignment of benefits may have a single sentence seeking to exceed any emergency services cap the carrier’s policy may have. Once the carrier receives this contract, the clock begins ticking on the time frame for the carrier to respond. If the carrier fails to respond within the timeframe detailed in the policy, this cap is waived.

With an influx of insurance claims due to recent natural disasters, being aware of these changes is key to how you handle these claims. Hopefully, this overreaching on behalf of the AOB companies will be the final push needed to have some laws passed to regulate this AOB realm.

If you have any questions on this issue, please feel free to contact our First Party Property Team at info@roiglawyers.com.

ROIG Lawyers attorneys have provided presentations on Assignment of Benefits as well as other areas that are beneficial to our clients in the Property Insurance industry. For more information on how to schedule a complimentary Continuing Education course via webinar or live presentation, please contact the Marketing Department of ROIG Lawyers.