Insurance Law Webinar – The Great Doctrine of Prevention Debate
May 29 @ 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
An Insurance Law Section HOT TOPIC Webinar sponsored by The Insurance Law Section of the State Bar of Texas, with special thanks to our 2025 Platinum Sponsors:
Boyd, Inc.; Daly & Black, P.C.; Gravely PC; Gray Reed & McGraw LLP; Green, Klein, Wood & Jones; Grisham & Kendall, PLLC; Thompson, Coe, Cousins & Irons, L.L.P.; Wray Willis LLP; and Zelle LLP.
“The Great Doctrine of Prevention Debate”
Thursday, May 29, 2025 @ 12:00 Noon – 1:00pm
Earn 1.0 hour MCLE credit from your own home or office!
About the Webinar: Many first-party property insurance policies provide replacement cost coverage. But in order to receive full replacement cost, most policies require the insured to actually incur the costs to make repairs. Otherwise, the insurer is only required to pay the actual cash value of the property damage.
One wrinkle that may arise is when policies condition replacement cost coverage upon actual repair or replacement within a certain period of time. Therefore, if the parties dispute the scope of damage or cost of repairs, the insured may delay making the necessary repairs, even when the carrier promptly pays the undisputed actual cash value.
When carriers attempt to enforce the policy’s time requirements and limit recovery of the replacement cost depreciation, disputes and questions of fairness are raised. Policyholders may argue delay incentives the insurer – if the insurer’s initial payment is too low or delayed, the insured may argue that it could not complete the repairs and the insurer should not benefit from its own breach. On the other hand, insurers argue that insureds should promptly repair their damage, especially in the context of commercial properties when the actual cash value has been paid, because the policy is a contract between two commercial parties and should be enforced as written.
This is where the Doctrine of Prevention comes into play. Policyholder attorneys have raised this equitable doctrine to otherwise excuse certain policy requirements when seeking recoverable depreciation after a policy’s time limits expired. Carrier counsel, on the other hand, argue that a sophisticated insured should not be allowed to use equitable principles to side-step a contract’s terms and conditions.
Featured Presenters:
William T. (Bill) Jones, Jr. | Green, Klein, Wood & Jones | Houston, TX
Shannon M. O’Malley | Zelle LLP | Dallas, TX
Host: Jonathan C. Lisenby | Gravely PC | San Antonio, TX
>> Free to attend for Insurance Law Section members— advance registration is required!
>> Current Insurance Law Section Membership required to attend this event. Section Membership can be purchased via your MyBar page or here on the Insurance Law Section website.
Can’t make the live event? You may still register if you are a current Section member — pre-registered individuals that do not attend will receive access to the recorded version 1-2 days afterward. (Only registered attendees are eligible for MCLE credit.)