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Company News

Advise & Consult will be a vendor at the PLRB
(Property Loss Research Bureau) claims conference March 21 - 23 in San Antonio, TX.

West Coast Casualty May 13 - 14 in Anaheim, CA.

Please stop by and say, Hello, if you plan on attending.

"For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth -- to know the worst and provide for it."

Patrick Henry

Dear Jeff,   

Mississippi High Court gets it right (again) in Insurance Coverage Dispute

In a long awaited decision, the Mississippi Supreme Court ruled last week in Architex Association, Inc. v. Scottsdale Insurance Company that construction defects caused by subcontractor negligence are occurrences (accidents) triggering coverage under the terms of a general contractors's commercial general liability policy.

The Court's decision is a huge victory for all the major players in residential and commercial construction. The biggest winners may be homeowners, developers, schools and state and local agencies. The cost of remedying a construction defect and the diminished value of a building caused by a construction defect often greatly exceeds the original cost of construction. Absent insurance coverage, homebuilders and general contractors often do not have the wherewithal to indemnify the owner for these legitimate damages.

For complete article

Chinese drywall hearing gets under way in New Orleans Friday

The first test case in the national litigation over Chinese manufactured drywall is about to get under way in U.S. District Court in New Orleans as seven families from Virginia seek to be compensated for the cost of repairing corrosion in their homes from an overseas manufacturer that has ignored the court proceedings.

The test case, Germano et al v. Taishan Gypsum Co. Ltd., will offer the first real estimates of what it may cost to repair a home built with bad drywall while federal agencies in Washington are still deliberating proper "repair protocols" that may guide the use of any government remediation funds. The case is also likely to highlight the challenges of collecting a judgement from a foreign company that has failed to acknowledge the proceedings.

For complete article

Defects
Three Contractors

"Three contractors were visiting a tourist attraction on the same day.  One was from New York, one from Texas, and the third from Florida.
At the end of their tour, the guard asked them what they did for a living.  Upon discovering they were all contractors, the guard said to them, "Hey, we need some work done on the fence in the back...care to take a look and give me an estimate?"
Mr. Florida stepped up first.  He took out his tape measure and pencil, whipped out a pocket calculator, and after a few moments replied, "Well Sir, I figure the job will run about $900.  $400 for materials, $400 for my crew, and $100 profit for me."
Mr. Texas was next.  He took out his tape measure and pencil, did some math, and came back saying, "It'll cost you about $700:  $300 for materials, $300 for labor, and $100 profit for me."
Without moving an inch, Mr. New York immediately said, "$2,700."
Taken aback, the guard looked at him incredulously and said, "You didn't even measure like the other guys!  How in the world did you come up with such an astronomical figure?!?"
"Easy," Mr. New York replied, "$1,000 for me, $1,000 for you...and we hire the guy from Texas."