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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April 05, 2022
A Lie About Where a Car is Garaged May Save Premium But Defeated UM Claim

Deemer Statute Does Not Provide Coverage Not Purchased

Read the full article at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/lie-where-car-garaged-may-save-premium-defeated-um-zalma-esq-cfe and at https://zalma.com/blog plus more than 4150 posts.

Posted on April 5, 2022 by Barry Zalma

Deemer statutes, like the one enacted in New Jersey, an automobile insurance company that sells insurance both in New Jersey and in other jurisdictions is deemed to have provided the minimum PIP coverage required by New Jersey law. In Juan Guiterrez-Ganan v. Allstate Insurance Company, No. A-0646-20, Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division (April 1, 2022) Juan argued that the Deemer Statute compelled Allstate to provide uninsured motorist coverage.

Juan Guiterrez-Ganan was injured in an automobile accident when his car was struck by a car driven by an underinsured motorist. Plaintiff sued his insurance company, defendant Allstate Insurance Company (defendant or Allstate), seeking to obtain underinsured motorist benefits for his injuries and losses.

The trial court granted summary judgment to Allstate and dismissed his claims.
FACTS

On April 29, 2016, plaintiff’s car was rear-ended while he was operating his vehicle near an intersection in Atlantic City. The driver of the other car was intoxicated and underinsured. As a result of the accident, plaintiff suffered personal injuries.

However, several years before 2016, plaintiff had lived in Georgia. While in Georgia, he purchased a 2010 Audi Q5, registered the car in Georgia, and obtained insurance coverage in Georgia from Allstate. In 2016 and for at least two years before, plaintiff lived and garaged his car in New Jersey.

Nevertheless, in 2016, plaintiff continued to register his car in Georgia and continued to purchase a Georgia-issued automobile insurance policy from Allstate. In his renewal application submitted in December 2015, for insurance coverage from January 2016 to July 2016, plaintiff listed his address at a street in “Savannah, Georgia.” At that time, plaintiff had a New Jersey driver’s license listing his address in “Galloway, New Jersey.” Plaintiff’s 2016 policy from Allstate did not include automobile medical payments or personal injury protection (PIP).

Plaintiff acknowledged that at the time of the accident in April 2016, he was a resident of New Jersey and had maintained and garaged his car in New Jersey for at least a year and a half before the accident.

Following the accident, Allstate paid $15,015.48 for medical expenses incurred by plaintiff, but refused to pay additional monies. In February 2019, plaintiff sued Allstate seeking underinsured motorist benefits. The trial court explained the reasons for its decision on the record but, after plaintiff appealed, the court amplified its reasons in a written opinion.

The trial court found that plaintiff’s Georgia insurance policy did not contain medical expense coverage required under New Jersey law. The trial court, therefore, held that plaintiff’s claims against Allstate were barred under N.J.S.A. 39:6A-4.5(a). In that decision, the trial court rejected plaintiff’s argument that N.J.S.A. 17:28-1.4, the “Deemer Statute,” effectively meant he had maintained the minimum coverage required under New Jersey law.
ANALYSIS

The appeal involved the interpretation of N.J.S.A. 39:6A-4.5 as applied to the undisputed material facts.

Every owner of an automobile principally garaged in New Jersey must maintain minimum liability insurance coverage, including no-fault PIP coverage of $15, 000 per person. Every standard automobile liability insurance policy shall contain personal injury protection benefits. To determine whether an automobile is principally garaged in New Jersey, the key consideration is where the vehicle is primarily or chiefly kept or kept most of the time. Moreover, any driver moving to New Jersey must obtain a New Jersey driver’s license and register his or her car within sixty days of becoming a resident.

The statutory provision advances a policy of cost containment by ensuring that an injured, uninsured driver does not draw on the pool of accident-victim insurance funds to which he or she did not contribute. The statute gives the uninsured driver a very powerful incentive to comply with the compulsory insurance laws: obtain automobile liability insurance coverage or lose the right to maintain a suit for both economic and non-economic injuries.

Under New Jersey law, plaintiff was required but failed to maintain medical expense benefits coverage. Indeed, that coverage was available to him in his Georgia policy, but he elected not to pay for it. Applying the plain language of N.J.S.A. 39:6A-4.5(a), plaintiff is barred from seeking recovery of economic or non-economic losses.

Plaintiff argued that the bar of N.J.S.A. 39:6A-4.5(a) does not apply to him because he was not operating an uninsured automobile at the time of the accident. Under the Deemer Statute, an automobile insurance company that sells insurance both in New Jersey and in other jurisdictions is deemed to have provided the minimum PIP coverage required by New Jersey law.

The statute’s general purpose is to ensure that New Jersey residents injured as a result of an accident with an out-of-state vehicle will have recourse to policies of insurance that are at least as broad as the presumptive minimal limits of a New Jersey insurance policy. The Deemer Statute requires insurers authorized to transact automobile insurance business in New Jersey to provide coverage to out-of-state residents consistent with New Jersey law whenever the automobile or motor vehicle insured under the policy is used or operated in this State.

Plaintiff argued that, by virtue of this Deemer Statute, his policy included PIP benefits; therefore, he was not uninsured. Allstate gave plaintiff the benefit of the Deemer Statute and paid his medical expenses up to $15, 000. Even if the Deemer Statute did apply, plaintiff’s suit is still barred by N.J.S.A. 39:6A-4.5(a) because he failed to maintain PIP benefits as required by New Jersey law.

The appellate court interpreted the phrase “while operating an uninsured automobile” to mean while operating an automobile that did not have the required PIP coverage. Plaintiff was barred from suing Allstate for underinsured or uninsured benefits seeking economic and non-economic losses stemming from the April 2016 automobile accident.
ZALMA OPINION

The action brought by the plaintiff was an insult to an insurer that paid his medical bills even though he had obtained the policy under false circumstance by claiming to reside in Georgia and that his car was garaged in Georgia. Rather than pay anything Allstate should have considered rescinding the policy because it was obtained by a knowing and material fraud. The court, although it reached an obviously correct decision, should have reported the plaintiff to the New Jersey Insurance Department Fraud Division since the policy he obtained from Allstate was based on a material false statement of fact.

(c) 2022 Barry Zalma & ClaimSchool, Inc.

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. He is available at

http://www.zalma.com

and [email protected].

Subscribe to Zalma on Insurance at locals.com https://zalmaoninsurance.local.com/subscribe.

Subscribe to Excellence in Claims Handling at https://barryzalma.substack.com/welcome.

Write to Mr. Zalma at [email protected]; http://www.zalma.com; http://zalma.com/blog; daily articles are published at https://zalma.substack.com.

Go to the podcast Zalma On Insurance at https://anchor.fm/barry-zalma; Follow Mr. Zalma on Twitter at https://twitter.com/bzalma; Go to Barry Zalma videos at Rumble.com at https://rumble.com/c/c-262921; Go to Barry Zalma on YouTube- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCysiZklEtxZsSF9DfC0Expg; Go to the Insurance Claims Library – https://zalma.com/blog/insurance-claims-library/

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Post 5196

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You Plead Guilty You Must Accept the Sentence

In Commonwealth Of Pennsylvania v. Mark D. Redfield, No. 20 WDA 2025, No. J-S24010-25, Superior Court of Pennsylvania (September 19, 2025) the appellate court reviewed the case of Mark D. Redfield, who pleaded guilty to third-degree murder for killing April Dunkle with malice using a rifle.

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Prelitigation Communications Privileged

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Post 5196

Posted on September 25, 2025 by Barry Zalma

See the full video at and at

Judicial Proceeding Privilege Limits Litigation

In David Camp, and Laura Beth Waller v. Professional Employee Services, d/b/a Insurance Branch, and Brendan Cassity, CIVIL No. 24-3568 (RJL), United States District Court, District of Columbia (September 22, 2025) a defamation lawsuit filed by David Camp and Laura Beth Waller against Insurance Branch and Brendon Cassity alleging libel based on statements made in a letter accusing them of mishandling funds and demanding refunds and investigations.

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Case background:

Plaintiffs Camp and Waller, executives of NOSSCR and its Foundation, sued defendants Insurance Branch and Cassity over a letter alleging financial misconduct and demanding refunds and audits. The letter ...

00:07:56
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September 24, 2025
Untrue Application for Insurance Voids Policy

Misrepresentation or Concealment of a Material Fact Supports Rescission

Post 5195

Don’t Lie to Your Insurance Company

See the full video at and at https://rumble.com/v6zefq8-untrue-application-for-insurance-voids-policy.html and at https://zalma.com/blog plus more than 5150 posts.

In Imani Page v. Progressive Marathon Insurance Company, No. 370765, Court of Appeals of Michigan (September 22, 2025) because defendant successfully established fraud in the procurement, and requested rescission, the Court of Appeals concluded that the Defendant was entitled to rescind the policy and declare it void ab initio.

FACTS

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Plaintiff applied for an insurance policy with the defendant, indicating that the primary use of her SUV would be for "Pleasure/Personal" purposes.

Misrepresentation:

Plaintiff misrepresented that she would not use the SUV for food delivery, but records show she was compensated for delivering food.

Accident:

Plaintiff's SUV was involved in an accident on August ...

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See the full video at https://lnkd.in/gePN7rjm and at https://lnkd.in/gzPwr-9q

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Post 5185
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See the full video at https://lnkd.in/gePN7rjm and at https://lnkd.in/gzPwr-9q

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Barry Zalma: Insurance Claims Expert Witness
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The Need for a Claims Handling Expert to Defend or Prove a Tort of Bad Faith Suit

© 2025 Barry Zalma, Esq., CFE

When I finished my three year enlistment in the US Army as a Special Agent of US Army Intelligence in 1967, I sought employment where I could use the investigative skills I learned in the Army. After some searching I was hired as a claims trainee by the Fireman’s Fund American Insurance Company. For five years, while attending law school at night while working full time as an insurance adjuster I became familiar with every aspect of the commercial insurance industry.

On January 2, 1972 I was admitted to the California Bar. I practiced law, specializing in insurance claims, insurance coverage and defense of claims against people insured and defense of insurance companies sued for breach of contract and breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing. After 45 years as an active lawyer, I asked that my license to practice law be declared inactive ...

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