Zalma on Insurance
Education • Business
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.
Interested? Want to learn more about the community?
February 25, 2022
The Welcome Fire

True Crime Stories of Insurance Fraud Number 25

See the full video at https://lnkd.in/d_8nyaeh and at https://lnkd.in/dVt-MRYr and at https://zalma.com/blog plus more than 4100 posts.

See the full video at https://rumble.com/vvs4bk-the-welcome-fire.html and at

Honest People Venture into Fraud

The insureds had wealth. He was a successful lawyer and she owned and operated a chain of chiropractic clinics. They lived in Marin County in a multi-million-dollar home. They had two small children who excelled at school. They entertained frequently. They contributed to political campaigns. The Governor, State Senators, Members of Congress and U.S. Senators stayed at their home as honored guests.

Insurance fraud was not in their vocabulary. It was a crime committed by people below the insured’s’ social status.

The insureds’ venture into crime began innocently. They discovered, on a family outing, a one acre lot atop a hill overlooking San Francisco Bay. Its owner had recently died. The executor needed to sell the land to pay taxes. They could “steal” the lot for only $2,750,000.

The insurer succumbed to settlement negotiations because of frustration in the criminal justice system that refused to accept that it is a crime to steal from an insurance company. Everyone who buys insurance lost.
The insurance company will think twice before it disputes a claim with an insured. The insurance company will refuse to believe the next time a prosecutor tells them he intends to prosecute insurance fraud counts against an insured. The next person who attempts a fraud against this insurance company will find his job easy and profitable.

© 2022 – Barry Zalma

Barry Zalma, Esq., CFE, now limits his practice to service as an insurance consultant specializing in insurance coverage, insurance claims handling, insurance bad faith and insurance fraud almost equally for insurers and policyholders.
He practiced law in California for more than 44 years as an insurance coverage and claims handling lawyer and more than 54 years in the insurance business.
Subscribe to “Zalma on Insurance” at https://lnkd.in/gfFKUaTf and “Excellence in Claims Handling” at https://lnkd.in/gNm9EWKJ.
You can contact Mr. Zalma at https://www.zalma.com, https://lnkd.in/gM3rh5cK, [email protected] and [email protected] . Mr. Zalma is the first recipient of the first annual Claims Magazine/ACE Legend Award.
You may find interesting the podcast “Zalma On Insurance” at https://lnkd.in/gxA7YGe; you can follow Mr. Zalma on Twitter at; you should see Barry Zalma’s videos on https://lnkd.in/gqpw9Nd7; or videos on https://rumble.com/zalma. Go to the Insurance Claims Library – https://lnkd.in/gcBrT_DQ The last two issues of ZIFL are available at https://lnkd.in/gfZwXxi

Interested? Want to learn more about the community?
What else you may like…
Videos
Posts
20 hours ago
Proper Inconsistent Pleading Defeats Policy Anti-Assignment Condition

Amended Complaint Provides Escape from Anti-Assignment Condition
Post number 5345

Read the full article at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/proper-inconsistent-pleading-defeats-policy-condition-barry-mrugc, shttps://www.linkedin.com/pulse/proper-inconsistent-pleading-defeats-policy-condition-barry-mrugc and at https://zalma.com/blog plus more than 5300 posts.

State Farm’s Responsive Pleading Defeated Motion on Anti Assignment Condition

In Tyra Caire Treadway v. State Farm Fire And Casualty Company, Civil Action No. 23-6834, United States District Court, E.D. Louisiana (April 28, 2026) Plaintiff Tyra Caire Treadway owned property at 7000-02 Jeannette Street, New Orleans, Louisiana, which was insured under a State Farm homeowners’ policy.

Hurricane Ida struck Louisiana on August 29, 2021, causing damage to the property. Nearly two years later, on August 9, 2023, Treadway sold the property to M1SRJT Jeanette, LLC and assigned her State Farm insurance claim, including the right to pursue additional damages and penalties for ...

00:07:48
20 hours ago
Proper Inconsistent Pleading Defeats Policy Anti-Assignment Condition

Amended Complaint Provides Escape from Anti-Assignment Condition
Post number 5345

Read the full article at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/proper-inconsistent-pleading-defeats-policy-condition-barry-mrugc, shttps://www.linkedin.com/pulse/proper-inconsistent-pleading-defeats-policy-condition-barry-mrugc and at https://zalma.com/blog plus more than 5300 posts.

State Farm’s Responsive Pleading Defeated Motion on Anti Assignment Condition

In Tyra Caire Treadway v. State Farm Fire And Casualty Company, Civil Action No. 23-6834, United States District Court, E.D. Louisiana (April 28, 2026) Plaintiff Tyra Caire Treadway owned property at 7000-02 Jeannette Street, New Orleans, Louisiana, which was insured under a State Farm homeowners’ policy.

Hurricane Ida struck Louisiana on August 29, 2021, causing damage to the property. Nearly two years later, on August 9, 2023, Treadway sold the property to M1SRJT Jeanette, LLC and assigned her State Farm insurance claim, including the right to pursue additional damages and penalties for ...

00:07:48
20 hours ago
Crime Doesn’t Pay

BACKGROUND

See the video at https://rumble.com/v79dts2-crime-doesnt-pay.html and at https://youtu.be/dw0f4goCbxA, and at https://zalma.com/blog plus more than 5300 posts.

Plaintiff:

Andrew J. Mitchell, an incarcerated individual proceeding pro se sued Pandit Law Firm, LLC, on behalf of a corporation that was controlled by Mitchell who had operated Mitchell Adjusting International LLC (MAI), a Texas limited liability company.

According to the US Attorney:

A Texas man (Mitchell) acting as an insurance adjuster who cheated an Albany church out of millions of dollars paid out by its insurance company to repair its facilities heavily damaged by Hurricane Michael in 2018 was sentenced to serve more than 19 years in prison and ordered to pay nearly $4 million in restitution to victims in several states.

Andrew Mitchell, formerly Andrew Aga, 46, of Houston, Texas, was sentenced to serve 235 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release and was ordered to pay $2,895,903.01 in restitution to the Brotherhood ...

00:09:39
May 04, 2026

It is Fraud to Make the Same Claim Twice

Read the full article at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/fraud-make-same-claim-twice-barry-zalma-esq-cfe-c4g8c and at https://zalma.com/blog.

Chutzpah: After Being Paid for a New Roof Insured Makes Second Claim For Same Damages

Post number 5347

No One is Entitled to be Paid for the Same Loss Twice

In Mohammed Ali Khalili v. State Farm Lloyds, No. 14-25-00611-CV, Court of Appeals of Texas (April 30, 2026) Khalili maintained a State Farm Lloyds homeowners insurance policy for decades. In 2008 he filed a roof-damage claim; State Farm paid him to replace the entire roof (shingles and gutters). Khalili never replaced the roof and repeated his claim.

BACKGROUND

In 2021 he filed a second roof claim. State Farm’s inspectors found the roof “very old” with extensive non-storm-related damage. The claim was denied because (1) the damage did not exceed the deductible and (2) State Farm had already paid for a full roof replacement.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

State Farm filed motion for summary...

post photo preview
May 04, 2026

It is Fraud to Make the Same Claim Twice

Read the full article at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/fraud-make-same-claim-twice-barry-zalma-esq-cfe-c4g8c and at https://zalma.com/blog.

Chutzpah: After Being Paid for a New Roof Insured Makes Second Claim For Same Damages

Post number 5347

No One is Entitled to be Paid for the Same Loss Twice

In Mohammed Ali Khalili v. State Farm Lloyds, No. 14-25-00611-CV, Court of Appeals of Texas (April 30, 2026) Khalili maintained a State Farm Lloyds homeowners insurance policy for decades. In 2008 he filed a roof-damage claim; State Farm paid him to replace the entire roof (shingles and gutters). Khalili never replaced the roof and repeated his claim.

BACKGROUND

In 2021 he filed a second roof claim. State Farm’s inspectors found the roof “very old” with extensive non-storm-related damage. The claim was denied because (1) the damage did not exceed the deductible and (2) State Farm had already paid for a full roof replacement.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

State Farm filed motion for summary...

post photo preview
April 30, 2026
Investigation of First Party Property Claims

What Must be Done after Notice of a Claim is Received by the Insurer

Read the full article at https://lnkd.in/gzvvdkMZ and at https://zalma.com/blog.

Below you will read from this post until you reach the the end of this blog post as the free part of an Excellence in Claims Handling post. To read the full article and receive all articles for members of Excellence in Claims Handling you should consider joining as a paid member to get full access to articles for members only, to our news, analysis, insurance coverage, claims, insurance fraud and insurance webinars, by clicking at the subscription link below.

A first party property policy does not insure property: it insures a person, partnership, corporation or other entity against the risk of loss of the property. Before an insured can make a claim for indemnity under a policy of first party property insurance the insured must prove that there was damage to property the risk of loss of which was insured by the policy. The obligation imposed on the insured ...

post photo preview
See More
Available on mobile and TV devices
google store google store app store app store
google store google store app tv store app tv store amazon store amazon store roku store roku store
Powered by Locals