Need a good transportation attorney

[Freight Broker]

I had a load stolen in TX, and my carrier's insurance has denied the claim, stating the truck was left unattended. The truck was stolen from the Exxon Fuel Maxx 21 truckstop outside of Houston on August 1. The driver had gone in to eat and use the facilities, and when he was done the truck and load were gone. The truckstop was able to provide surveillance footage, but it doesn't show much as this happened at night. We also have a police report, and the truck (but not the load) was recovered about a week after the incident. Would anyone here be able to recommend a good transportation attorney? Someone who understand the law across jurisdictions. My own lawyer is slow to respond. The fun never ends does it..

 

[loaders]

Fernandes Hearn lawyers. Long established well known, Toronto transport lawyers. Before calling them, reach out to Scam Chaser on this site. I am sure he will offer some advice and steer you in the right direction. He knows his stuff.

 

[Freight Broker]

Thank you.. I will do that.

 

[bellcitytransport]

I had a load stolen in TX, and my carrier's insurance has denied the claim, stating the truck was left unattended. The truck was stolen from the Exxon Fuel Maxx 21 truckstop outside of Houston on August 1. The driver had gone in to eat and use the facilities, and when he was done the truck and load were gone. The truckstop was able to provide surveillance footage, but it doesn't show much as this happened at night. We also have a police report, and the truck (but not the load) was recovered about a week after the incident. Would anyone here be able to recommend a good transportation attorney? Someone who understand the law across jurisdictions. My own lawyer is slow to respond. The fun never ends does it..

Oh I can only imagine the juicy story behind why the insurance company is denying the claim. On the surface this sounds like a simple theft case, which happens unfortunately quite often. In my experience when I've come across this issue, I find out that the reason for the claim being denied is usually the carrier not following their policies OR a high frequency of claims.
Another resource would be your own insurance. Call them, start the claim process, they won't want to payout either, so they will apply pressure on the carrier's insurance company.

 

[Freight Broker]

The insurance company has cited an exclusion in their policy that doesn't appear to exist.. i.e. truck was left unattended. They're implying that the driver was negligent in leaving the truck at a truckstop while using their facilities. The only provision in their policy that would come close to that exclusion states (under the heading of "Garaging or Secured Yard Warranty" " Parked in a fully enclosed yard which is securely closed or locked, or which is under constant surveillance, or on a 24 hour guard lot..". The Exxon Fuel Max in Houston does have video surveillance.. I have a video of the truck being stolen which is from their security camera. In all probability they also have some other form of security albeit the nature of truck stops is that they're not locked and secured as vehicles must come and go unimpeded.

One more thing.. I do have contingent cargo coverage.. and I'm learning that's not really a good thing to have as both my carrier's insurance and the receiver whose goods were stolen see that as low hanging fruit.. i.e. the receiver is saying why double down on your carrier's insurance when I can simply go after your insurance? And the carrier, likewise, is washing their hands of it..

At this point I've decided I will do nothing further until I've spoken to a transportation attorney. The way I see it, I have several options; 1) I can put a claim in with my contingent cargo insurance provider. 2) I can cover the loss out of pocket to get the receiver off my back, and sue the carrier and their insurance to recover my losses 3) I can invoice my carrier for the $30,000 cargo loss and sue them if they don't pay me. Likely there are other options that I'm not aware of.. and hopefully my legal counsel steers me in the right direction on what's best to do here.

 

[SCAM CHASER]

I would recommend that you report it to your contingency insurer right away. The whole idea behind this type of insurance is for it to respond when the carrier's primary insurance does not.
If you want to discuss the matter with a Texas transportation attorney.....

https://www.bairhilty.com/rbair.html

Hope this helps

 

[Freight Broker]

Thank you.. good advice..

 

[TRKINSURE]

All the advice given above is sound. Fernandes Hearn has some of the best specialized lawyers in the country. Aside them, Richard Landry is amongst the best.
fortunately, I don’t think you’ll need either. Email your broker and the insurer details of the loss, including the carriers insurance company decline and the certificate of insurance of the carrier who declined and that policy (contingent cargo) will respond.
the limits on contingent cargo policies is $2/lbs..

Let me know if you need further guidance.

 

[Jim L]

First type up a specific formal letter to be sent to the carrier and their insurance company outlining and proving the loss with additional documents such as the purchase invoice(make sure INCO terms are noted to confirm who pays the freight). Ask the beneficial freight owners (your client) to review the loss and make sure it includes the full amount including the freight costs. Ask them to sign it stating that this includes the total claim (you don't want them to come back 5 months later for more). Include the Beneficial freight owners name and tell them that you are working on behalf of your client in this manner. Ask that the payment in full be made directly to the beneficial freight owners name as they are the party with the loss. Send a copy of proof of payment for the freight costs paid to the trucking company which shows the completion of the carriage contract. (without this some insurance companies will not proceed). If you have not paid the carrier, you may request that the freight invoice be deducted from the claim upon completion. Carbon copy your continent insurance name and send them a copy.
Wait for a formal response from the insurance company which should come within 30 days as per Carmack. Hopefully you will have completed everything and they will decide just to pay it. If not you will have a document from the insurance company on the legal stand that they will make should it make its way to the court.
If they deny then ask your contingency cargo to get involved as they will be second payor and know all the laws , rules and general expectations in the insurance industry. I think that a truck parked at a truck stop while the driver is on the property is common practice and most likely will not be considered unattended. Either way, if this is a clause in the contract, this is an issue between the insurer and the insured, not a third party - that will have to be dealt with them, not you. They should pay the loss and attempt to subrogate it through their processes with their insured - after all, you did not tell the carrier that the driver had to stop at that specific truck stop nor do you know if the driver was negligent and did not lock his truck or left it running. Do you believe that the insurance company is not paying for the carriers tractor and trailer loss? I highly doubt it.
If this is not successful your continency policy should pay the loss and then subrogate it through the carriers insurance.
If you go through this process you will cross all your t's and dot your i's, protect your interests along with your client, plus the interests of your contingency cargo policy, at very minimal costs. Let the legal option wait for now until you get a definitive no from the carrier insurance policy.

 

[Freight Broker]

I wonder if I should go ahead and pay the claim out of pocket to get the customer off my back.. and then followup with my carrier and my contingent insurance after that.. any merit/pitfalls to doing that?

 

[loaders]

I would strongly recommend against paying your client out of your pocket. I can appreciate and have experienced similar situations, but your client must realize that these things do take time and must run their course. As a broker, you have no insurable interest in the goods and are not obligated to reimburse anyone for the loss. Jim L has provided good advice however having some legal guidance can’t hurt. It would be my opinion, based on previous similar experience, that you put your contingency cargo insurer on notice regarding this matter. You pay premiums for their service, time to use it.

 

[Freight Broker]

Great advice everyone.. thank you..

 

[MikeJr]

For freight claims that are 'straight forward', even if you have to engage your or your carriers insurance and if you have all your ducks in a row, usually a settlement is paid to the claimant within 90-120 days from the date of the insurance company receiving all required documentation. I would usually inform the claimant of this timeline early on in order to manage their expectations.

Happy Friday!!
Mike

 

[Freight Broker]

Carrier's insurance refused to pay, claiming that the vehicle was unattended when it was stolen. I paid the receiver out of pocket and successfully sued the carrier. The whole thing took about a year to resolve, but in the end I was well compensated. I found a good lawyer who worked on contingency.. didn't cost me a penny.. and best of all I did not need to involve my own insurance. Carrier would have been wise to settle.. they ended up paying the claim plus my lawyer (about 22K) and their own useless lawyer.

 

[tasuinam]

Carrier's insurance refused to pay, claiming that the vehicle was unattended when it was stolen. I paid the receiver out of pocket and successfully sued the carrier. The whole thing took about a year to resolve, but in the end I was well compensated. I found a good lawyer who worked on contingency.. didn't cost me a penny.. and best of all I did not need to involve my own insurance. Carrier would have been wise to settle.. they ended up paying the claim plus my lawyer (about 22K) and their own useless lawyer.

This is interesting - so a driver cannot go in to use the facilities incase the load is stolen - we MUST all run teams??? what was the arugmnet your lawyer used????

 

[Freight Broker]

This is interesting - so a driver cannot go in to use the facilities incase the load is stolen - we MUST all run teams??? what was the arugmnet your lawyer used????

I know.. its incredible.. and usually vehicles are unattended when they're stolen.. My guess is that this was an inside job. Truck was quickly located with minimal damage.. driver uncooperative from the get go.

Finding a good lawyer was the hardest part of it. Most did not even favour me with a return call or email.. a couple wanted a 20K retainer.. but finally I found a guy who works independently and on straight commission. Took me three months just to find a lawyer in Texas. I also fired my own lawyer here in Ontario who couldn't be bothered to respond to me.

Some sleepless nights for sure.. but sometimes what doesn't kill you does indeed make you stronger.

 

[NotForHire]

Can you provide some clarity on what the moral of the story is for us please?

For example, if it was a team and the sleeping driver on the bunk was forced out at gun point would you have been covered?

 

[Freight Broker]

The moral of the story (for me at least) is to pay closer attention to who the underwriter is on the carrier's insurance policy. If its a well recognised name like Lloyd's of London you're probably in the clear.. but if its a name you don't recognise then it is better off to pass if you don't have time to read the entire insurance agreement carefully. I was taken aback by this carrier's underwriter.. their contract was poorly written and riddled with grammatical errors, generalities and contradictions.. and their representative was profane and rude, even to the carrier, their own customer! The underwriter it turns out was nothing more than a couple of thugs working out of a strip mall in South Chicago.. I filed a complaint with the US government body that regulates insurers.. I sent them over a copy of the insurance agreement.. hopefully they get an audit.

Don't accept a COI at face value.. look at who the agent is.. look at who the underwriter is.. take the time to investigate.

 

[MLCAR]

I know.. its incredible.. and usually vehicles are unattended when they're stolen.. My guess is that this was an inside job. Truck was quickly located with minimal damage.. driver uncooperative from the get go.

Finding a good lawyer was the hardest part of it. Most did not even favour me with a return call or email.. a couple wanted a 20K retainer.. but finally I found a guy who works independently and on straight commission. Took me three months just to find a lawyer in Texas. I also fired my own lawyer here in Ontario who couldn't be bothered to respond to me.

Some sleepless nights for sure.. but sometimes what doesn't kill you does indeed make you stronger.

want to share the lawyers info sir? always good to have a contact when needed.

 

[XPORTIN]

Makes you wonder sometimes what is Insurance doing with all the money since the fees are so high and they always seem to avoid having to cover claims?