Zalma on Insurance
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Insurance Claims professional presents articles and videos on insurance, insurance Claims and insurance law for insurance Claims adjusters, insurance professionals and insurance lawyers who wish to improve their skills and knowledge. Presented by an internationally recognized expert and author.
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December 14, 2021
Fraudulent Claim Voids Policy

Making a Claim for Loss to Personal Property not Damaged is Fraud

Read the full article at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/fraudulent-claim-voids-policy-barry-zalma-esq-cfe and at https://zalma.com/blog plus more than 4000 posts.

To successfully commit arson-for-profit the perpetrator needs a modicum of intelligence and some knowledge of insurance. When the perpetrator is incompetent, makes claim for property removed from the subject of the insurance before setting it afire, he or she will be caught and will recover nothing from the crime. In Kenny Thomas v. Certain Underwriters At Lloyd’s, London, No. 4:20-CV-00275 BSM, United States District Court, E.D. Arkansas, Central Division (December 8, 2021) Kenny Thomas proved to be a totally incompetent arsonist and lost every opportunity to recover anything from his attempt to profit from his arson.

BACKGROUND

In June 2019, a fire occurred at Kenny Thomas’s home in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Following the fire, Thomas submitted a insurance claim to Lloyd’s for the total loss of his home and for the loss of personal property, including furniture. At the time of the fire, Thomas was behind on his mortgage payments and the home was listed for sale.

Lloyd’s hired Midwest Fire Consulting Group (“Midwest Fire”) to investigate, and Midwest Fire concluded there was no evidence that furniture or personal items were destroyed in the fire. The Arkansas Insurance Department (“AID”) discovered that almost nine months after the fire, Thomas’s girlfriend submitted a claim under a furniture protection plan and obtained a replacement cushion for one of the sofas from Ashley Furniture that Thomas claimed had been destroyed. The Ashley Furniture items were present in the home and had not been destroyed in the fire. Lloyd’s concluded that the evidence obtained by AID was conclusive evidence of fraud.

DISCUSSION

Thomas’s breach of the concealment or fraud condition unambiguously voided his homeowner’s insurance policy. Lloyd’s’ denial of insurance benefits was consistent with the now overwhelming evidence that Thomas voided the policy through misrepresentations regarding his loss.

ZALMA OPINION

Thomas did not have the skill, intelligence or ability to cause an arson-for-profit fire or a fraudulent insurance claim. His inadequacy allowed Lloyd’s, and the AID, to establish that he attempted fraud. Even if the fire was covered the claim for non-damaged contents voided the entire contract and he lost his entire claim for an Ashley furniture sofa. He should be arrested, tried and convicted of the major intentional violent crime of arson and the crime of insurance fraud. Of course, his mortgage holder may have a claim.

© 2021 – Barry Zalma

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6 hours ago
PROSECUTING ATTORNEYS ARE IMMUNE FROM SUIT

Formulaic Recitation Of The Elements Of Civil Conspiracy Are Insufficient
Post number 5320

See the full video at https://lnkd.in/gPACkgWq and at https://lnkd.in/gsaxij7D, and at https://zalma.com/blog plus more than 5300 posts.

In Hassan Fayad v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, et al., No. 2:25-cv-10930, United States District Court, E.D. Michigan, Southern Division (March 24, 2026) Plaintiff Hassan Fayad, the owner of several businesses providing transportation, diagnostics, testing, and therapy services, regularly billed insurance companies for these services, was arrested and tried for fraud, convicted, had the conviction overruled and sued the insurers and prosecutors he found responsible.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

By January 2020, Liberty Mutual, Progressive, Allstate, and Esurance suspected fraudulent activity and filed a complaint with the Michigan Department of Attorney General (MDAG). The insurers alleged that Fayad and others billed Michigan auto insurance policies for profit without actually providing medically ...

00:08:00
April 09, 2026
Everyone Must Agree to Removal to Federal Court

Federal Courts Have Limited Jurisdiction

When all Parties Refuse Removal There is No Jurisdiction

Post number 5319

Read the full article at https://lnkd.in/gp6Z-JYY, see the full video at https://lnkd.in/gAum322y and at https://lnkd.in/gRPzCjmt and at https://zalma.com/blog plus more than 5300 posts.

In Beth Mayhew and Matthew Mayhew v. Vladimir Sadovyh, et al., No. 2:26-CV-04029-WJE, United States District Court, W.D. Missouri (April 6, 2026) Mayhew was involved in a trailer-truck accident with Vladimir Sadovyh, who was employed by Nova First, LLC and Globex Transport, Inc. Both companies owned the tractor-trailer involved.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Chubb and Mohave Transportation Insurance Company jointly issued an insurance policy covering Nova First, Globex, and Sadovyh, with EMA Risk Services acting as a third-party administrator.

Beth Mayhew sued Nova First, Globex, and Sadovyh for negligence in Missouri state court, and following a jury trial, a nuclear judgment was awarded to the Mayhews totaling ...

00:04:01
April 09, 2026
IVF is not Excluded Sexual Conduct

Ordinary Negligence is What Medical Professi0nal Liability Insures

Post number 5319

See the full video at https://lnkd.in/gxKjDztW and at https://lnkd.in/gnxkxS42, and at https://zalma.com/blog plus more than 5300 posts.

Sexual Conduct Exclusion Doesn’t Apply When Doctor Negligently Uses His Own Sperm

In Integris Insurance Company v. Narendra B. Tohan, No. AC 47222, Court of Appeals of Connecticut (April 7, 2026) Integris Insurance Company, a medical professional liability insurer, initiated a declaratory action to determine its duty to defend and indemnify Narendra B. Tohan, a physician licensed in Connecticut, in a separate negligence action alleging medical misconduct.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

In 2019, Kayla Suprynowicz and Reilly Flaherty (civil action plaintiffs), who were strangers for most of their lives, discovered through a genetic testing company that they are half siblings.

INSURANCE POLICY

The policy defines “Professional Services” in relevant part as “any professional medical services within the ...

00:07:58
April 02, 2026
Zalma’s Insurance Fraud Letter – April 1, 2026

ZIFL – Volume 30, Issue 7 – April 1, 2026

THE SOURCE FOR THE INSURANCE FRAUD PROFESSIONAL
Post number 5314

Posted on April 1, 2026 by Barry Zalma

Zalma’s Insurance Fraud Letter (ZIFL) continues its 30th year of publication dedicated to those involved in reducing the effect of insurance fraud. ZIFL is published 24 times a year by ClaimSchool and is written by Barry Zalma. It is provided FREE to anyone who visits the site at http://zalma.com/zalmas-insurance-fraud-letter-2/ This issue contains the following articles about insurance fraud:

No One is Above the Law – Not Even a Police Officer

Police Officer Convicted for Fraud in Reporting an Accident Affirmed
Police Officer Should never Lie about Results of Chase

In State Of Ohio v. Anthony Holmes, No. 115123, 2026-Ohio-736, Court of Appeals of Ohio, Eighth District, Cuyahoga (March 5, 2026) a police officer appealed criminal conviction as a result of lies about a high speed chase.

Read the following article and the full issue of ZIFL at https://zalma.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/ZIFL-04-01-2026-1.pdf...

April 01, 2026
Zalma’s Insurance Fraud Letter – April 1, 2026

ZIFL – Volume 30, Issue 7 – April 1, 2026

THE SOURCE FOR THE INSURANCE FRAUD PROFESSIONAL
Post number 5314

Posted on April 1, 2026 by Barry Zalma

Zalma’s Insurance Fraud Letter (ZIFL) continues its 30th year of publication dedicated to those involved in reducing the effect of insurance fraud. ZIFL is published 24 times a year by ClaimSchool and is written by Barry Zalma. It is provided FREE to anyone who visits the site at http://zalma.com/zalmas-insurance-fraud-letter-2/ This issue contains the following articles about insurance fraud:

No One is Above the Law – Not Even a Police Officer

Police Officer Convicted for Fraud in Reporting an Accident Affirmed
Police Officer Should never Lie about Results of Chase

In State Of Ohio v. Anthony Holmes, No. 115123, 2026-Ohio-736, Court of Appeals of Ohio, Eighth District, Cuyahoga (March 5, 2026) a police officer appealed criminal conviction as a result of lies about a high speed chase.

Read the following article and the full issue of ZIFL at https://zalma.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/ZIFL-04-01-2026-1.pdf...

March 31, 2026
Insurance Fraud Costs Everyone

Posted on March 30, 2026 by Barry Zalma

Insurance Fraud, a Way to Reduce Violent Crime
Post number 5313

A Fictionalized True Crime Story of Insurance Fraud from an Expert who explains why Insurance Fraud is a “Heads I Win, Tails You Lose” situation for Insurers. The story helps to Understand How Insurance Fraud in America is Costing Everyone who Buys Insurance Thousands of Dollars Every year and Why Insurance Fraud is Safer and More Profitable for the ­­­Perpetrators than any Other Crime.

She Taught Her Customers The Swoop And Squat:

Recently the California Insurance Department’s Fraud Division arrested a young woman in Los Angeles County for operating an insurance fraud school. She advertised her classes in the “Penny Saver” an advertising sheet distributed free to the public and a print version of Facebook, X Craig’s list. She had operated for several years teaching methods of committing automobile insurance fraud. Only after a police officer enrolled in one of her classes was she arrested.

Her defense ...

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