STATE LAW – KANSAS LIBRARY – GUIDE 10
Kansas Insurance Agents, Applications & Failure to Procure Coverage
Identify the insurance the agent actually undertook to procure
Keith holds that a Kansas insurance agent or broker who undertakes to obtain specified insurance must exercise reasonable care, skill and diligence. Preserve the application, quotes, binder, declarations, endorsements and communications showing the requested coverage, limit, insured, vehicle and effective date.
Failure to notify can matter when requested insurance was not obtained
Kansas procurement law requires reasonable diligence and notice if the agent cannot perform the undertaking. A customer who is timely told the requested insurance could not be obtained may have an opportunity to seek coverage elsewhere; silence or false assurance can create a different causation record.
Compare the undertaking with the policy actually issued
Obtain the complete policy and any statutory election/rejection documents before concluding an agent failed to procure coverage. A contract interpretation dispute with the insurer is distinct from a procurement claim against the agent, even when both concern the same missing or disputed protection.
Causation depends on what the missing insurance would have paid
Determine whether the requested insurance was available, whether the applicant qualified, what limit/premium would have applied and whether that coverage would have responded to the accident. Damages are tied to loss caused by the procurement failure, not merely to a desired policy limit.
Official Kansas sources
Kansas Legislature · Kansas Insurance Department · Kansas Judicial Branch
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