What is Insurance?
Insurance is, “a contract whereby, for a stipulated consideration, one party undertakes to compensate the other for loss on a specified subject by specified perils. The party agreeing to make the compensation is usually called the “insurer” or “underwriter;” the other, the “insured” or “assured;” the agreed consideration, the “premium;” the written contract, a “policy;” the events insured against, “risks” or “perils;” and the subject, right, or interest to be protected, the “insurable interest.” (Black’s Law Dictionary 946. 4th Ed. Rev. 1968)
An insurance policy is a contract in which an individual or entity (the policyholder) pays an insurance company (the insurer) in regular payments in exchange for financial protection over specific risks or losses. For example, medical insurance helps to cover medical costs, such as hospital visits, hospital stays, and medications. Similarly, auto insurance helps to cover damages incurred from car accidents. Insurance payments are known as premiums. Insurance contracts typically limit the amount of costs that an insurance provider may be required to pay.
The McCarran-Ferguson Act (15 U.S.C. § 1011) grants many aspects of insurance regulation to individual state governments. However, federal laws like federal taxes do apply to insurance, and must be acknowledged. Insurance is important to the legal system, as it helps protect individuals, those who cause harm to individuals through negligence, and any third party that is faced with the burden of compensating for an injury.
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2016 Top Safety Picks Announced with Toughest Criteria Ever
More car models awarded top safety pick despite most rigorous requirements yet
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has released their 2016 Top Safety Picks. The results spell good news for prospective car buyers: for the second year in a row, more vehicles earned Top Safety Pick Plus ratings, even as the institute raised their standards and requirements.
More than 20 winners of the last year’s Top Safety Pick award don’t qualify under the 2016 criteria. But, even with the tougher standards, more vehicles earned the top rankings – 48 models were named Top Safety Pick Plus, up from 33 models last year.
Honda, Toyota, VW/Audi, and Subaru Dominate the Top Rankings
See the complete list of 2016 winners here. Toyota, Honda, Volkswagen/Audi, and Subaru are the automakers with the most Top Safety Picks in this year’s list.
Raising the Bar
The new criteria for earning a Top Safety Pick or Top Safety Pick Plus rating include small overlap crash test performance (designed to see how vehicles handle a front-end diagonal impact), […]
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Attention Labor Day travelers: 3 reasons fatal car accidents are up
Distracted driving proves to be largest cause of fatal car accident increases
As Labor Day approaches, holiday travelers are warned that fatal car accidents are on the rise this year, according to the National Safety Council. Traffic fatalities are up by 14% and injuries are up by 33%.
About 19,000 people have been killed so far this year, and that’s not including July and August, historically two of the deadliest months of the year for drivers. At this rate, deadly car accidents threaten to reach over 40,000, the highest since 2007. Why is this happening?
It seems surprising. Cars today are equipped with ever-evolving safety technology designed to make them more crash-worthy. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety continues to improve their safety rating system, developing more tests that cars must pass and higher standards they must meet in order to earn a “good” […]
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Dan Munley Speaks Up for Victims of I 380 Tractor Trailer-Bus Crash as Investigation Continues
Yesterday, Interstate 380 was shut down by a deadly crash between a tractor trailer and a charter bus in Monroe County. According to the state police, the tractor trailer crossed the median and hit the bus head on. Three people, including the bus driver, were killed, and 13 more were taken to area hospitals to be treated for injuries. Nine were taken to Pocono Medical Center, and the rest were treated at Geisinger trauma centers.
According to WNEP, The Academy Viaggidea charter tour bus was carrying a group of Italian tourists on their way to visit Niagara Falls. The driver of the tractor trailer has been identified as Franklin Wyatt from Oklahoma. His truck is registered to XTRA Lease Trucking of St. Louis.
Attorney Dan Munley, former chairman of the American Association for Justice’s Trucking Litigation Group and current member of its public relations committee, […]
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Marion Munley Named Top 50 Women; Munley Law Personal Injury Attorneys listed in 2015 Pennsylvania Super Lawyers
Munley Law Personal Injury Attorneys is pleased to announce that seven of its attorneys have been named to the 2015 list of Pennsylvania Super Lawyers, an honor awarded to the top five percent of lawyers in Pennsylvania. In addition, Marion Munley has been named among the Top 50 Women Lawyers in Pennsylvania by PA Super Lawyers.
As of this year, all of our attorneys have been named Pennsylvania Super Lawyers.
- Robert W. Munley, Sr., Personal Injury – General: Plaintiff, Personal Injury – Products: Plaintiff
- Marion K. Munley, Personal Injury – General: Plaintiff, Personal Injury – Medical Malpractice: Plaintiff
- Daniel W. Munley, Personal Injury – General: Plaintiff, Personal Injury – Products: Plaintiff
- Christopher Munley, Personal Injury – General: Plaintiff
- Julia K. Munley, Personal Injury – General: Plaintiff, […]
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Spending bill alarms truck safety advocates
Once again, the trucking industry is making people nervous.
While I was doing research for this blog post yesterday, a tractor trailer accident in our area had Interstate 81 shut down for most of the day. The driver of the truck lost his life.
Trucking is a major industry across much of the country, including in our home region of NEPA. With all these large tractor trailers on the road alongside comparatively tiny passenger vehicles, the number of heavy trucking accidents has been rising for the last four years. You’d think, then, that safety would be more of a concern for lawmakers and industry officials. Unfortunately, not everyone sees it that way.
As truck accident lawyers, this is something we feel strongly about. This post will cover what you should know about how these changes could affect you. […]
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