Archive for the ‘Insurance’ Category

Last month, State Farm Insurance Company released data detailing the number of dog bite homeowner insurance claims filed in 2010. (State Farm Press Release, It’s not the Breed, It’s the Bite … California Leads Nation in Dog Bite Claims, available here.)

California topped State Farm’s list, both in total number of claims filed (369) and amount paid (nearly $11.3 million), although the data was reported in absolute terms only, and was not normalized by number of State Farm customers per state or state population.

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The Janssen Law Firm recently successfully resolved a wrongful death matter for the $300,000.00 homeowner’s insurance policy limits of a defendant property owner whose burn barrel fire got out of control in a Eureka, California residential neighborhood.  The defendant property owner allowed an un-permitted “burn barrel” fire to get out of control on an extremely gusty, fall day (winds in excess of 30 miles an hour) which caught the back deck, picnic table and a fence on the property line on fire.  John “Happy Jack” Van Lieu rushed into the smoke with tubs of water to knock down the fire, and was exposed to toxic smoke.

Within two days “Happy Jack” was coughing up blood, and was hospitalized, eventually dependant on a ventilator, and expired at St. Joseph’s Hospital.  The cause of death according to the pathologist was “massive alveolar lung damage consistent with toxic smoke inhalation exposure.”

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As most of the readers of this blog are aware, Humboldt County experienced a 6.5 earthquake on Saturday, January 9, 2010.    United States Geological Survey record of the quake and  The Eureka Times-Standard complete earthquake coverage.

By all accounts, while the quake did cause damage to Humboldt County, the North Coast was generally lucky to avoid major damage or serious injuries.  The court and attorneys in Eureka reported only relatively minor interruptions of business due to damage and loss of electricity.  As many government agencies have noted, all residents and businesses should take this opportunity to review their earthquake preparedness and emergency planning.  Humboldt State University, Department of Geology, provides a useful link to earthquake and tsunami preparedness information.

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