The Inventory Contents List Was Reviewed During The EUO
During the EUO, opposing counsel marked Bubba's personal inventory list as an exhibit and said he wanted to go over some of the items destroyed in the fire. EUOs are a good tool for finding out information and evaluating the credibility of the insured. On its face, Bubba's contents list probably caused an "inquiring mind" to want to know more. There were only 9 pages, but Bubba had more handguns than socks, even counting the ones that didn't match. Shotguns took almost 2 pages, the rifles and semi-autos used almost another 6 pages. Most homeowners' policies have maximum limits for guns and jewelry. The Wewoka Worldwide policy limited guns to $2,500.00. And it was a safe bet Bubba wasn't claiming any jewelry.
I heard the "tall building" lawyer say, "You know sir that your policy has a $2,500.00 limit on your guns?" Bubba sounded off like he was back in boot camp, "NO SIR, I bought full coverage for my guns, sir!" I couldn't help laughing when Bubba started telling him "his guns wuz covered under the fishin' " part of the policy. I amused myself listening to the conversation until I saw opposing counsel reach into his brief case and pull out one of those big bottles of Tums. I decided to help him out just a little and said. "I think Bubba might be talking about his inland marine floater for coverage on the guns." Bubba's agent had helped Bubba by covering the guns under a floater. Bubba just associated "floater" and "marine" with "fishin'".
One significant difference between an EUO and a deposition is the "read and sign" part. In deposition, witnesses commonly waive the right to read and review the transcript. In an EUO, most insurance policies require the witness to read and sign. Bubba's going to "let me do the readin' " of his transcript before he signs. Lucky me!
