#14 - Principle: If an insurance policy is written in such a

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation

Strengthen—PR, SN. The correct answer choice is (B)

Your task in this Strengthen question is to select the answer choice that best supports the application
of the principle presented in the stimulus.

Principle: If an insurance policy is written in such a way that a reasonable person
seeking insurance would not read it thoroughly before signing it, then the
reasonable expectations of the policyholder concerning the policy’s coverage
should take legal precedence over specific language in the policy itself.

Application: The insurance company should be required to cover the hail damage to
Celia’s car, even though specified language in the written policy Celia signed
excluded coverage for hail damage.

The principle in this stimulus is a conditional rule, which can be diagrammed as:

reasonable not to read thoroughly reasonable expectations take precedence

Based on this principle, the application is that the insurance company should be required to cover the
hail damage to Celia’s car, despite specific contractual language to the contrary. For this application
to properly apply the principle, two circumstances must be the case. First, the contract must have
been written in such a way that a reasonable person seeking insurance would not read it thoroughly
before signing it. Also, Celia’s expectation that the insurance company would cover the hail damage
must be reasonable.

Your prephrase in this Strengthen question is that the correct answer will likely tell you that the two
circumstances referenced above is present. The incorrect choices will not support the application,
either because they are not material to the application, or because they undermine it.

Answer choice (A): Whether Celia generally is a reasonable person is not material to the application,
because the requirement stated in the principle was that the policyholder’s expectation regarding the
policy be reasonable.

Answer choice (B): This is the correct answer choice. This choice is correct because it informs
you that both of the sufficient conditions discussed in the principle are satisfied.

Answer choice (C): This choice does not tell you whether Celia’s expectations regarding her
coverage are reasonable.

Answer choice (D): As a companion to choice (C), this answer does not state whether a reasonable
person seeking insurance would have read the policy thoroughly before signing it.

Answer choice (E): As with choice (C), this choice does not tell you whether Celia’s expectations
concerning coverage are reasonable.

[Arindom]

Hi,

Could you explain the difference between answer choice B and answer choice E and why here B is correct?

Thank you.

- Arindom

[Stephanie Oswalt]

Hi Arindom,

Thanks for your question. Generally speaking, we need a bit more input from you before we delve into a discussion of a particular LR question. Ultimately, it won't be us who are taking the test; it's you! Our goal is to help you cultivate the analytical ability to approach these questions on your own, which is why you need to help us help you first.

Here's what I'd like you to do:

• 1. Describe your approach to the stimulus. Did you understand the argument, if any, from a structural standpoint? What is the conclusion, and what evidence is the author using in support of that conclusion?
  
  2. Did you prephrase an answer to the question in the stem? If so, what was your prephrase?
  
  3. What exactly made the two answer choices you have listed particularly attractive? Did you use any question type-specific test (e.g. Assumption Negation Technique) to differentiate between them?

Thanks,

Stephanie

[Arindom]

Hi,

I picked answer choice E for this because the principle says that if an insurance policy is written in such a way that a reasonable person look for insurance would not read it thoroughly,then the reasonable expectations take precedence over specific language in the written policy. The application of this is that the insurance company should cover the hail damage to Celia's car even though the policy excludes coverage for hail damage.

So, in my prephrase, I was looking for an answer where a reasonable person would not read the policy as thoroughly, and I thought C was pretty tight in implying that the insurance policy should pay since a reasonable person in Celia's place also would not read the insurance as thoroughly.

- Arindom

[BethRibet]

Hi Arindom,

Thanks for writing.

Answer choice E *only* indicates that Celia did not read the policy and it was reasonable that she did not. But for the principle to apply well to this application, we also need to address the fact that the stimulus states that the "reasonable expectations of the policyholder" are then what matters in determining whether the policy applies. But answer choice E says nothing about what Celia's expectations were, much less whether they were reasonable, so we can't get to the conclusion/application that she should have coverage. On the other hand, answer choice B clearly indicates that Celia had a reasonable expectation that the hail damage would be covered, so this is the best answer.

Hope this clears it up!

Beth

[jiyounglee]

Why is A incorrect?

Is it because the sufficient condition is not met?

sufficient conditions: an insurance policy is written in such a way that a reasonable person seeking insurance would not read it thoroughly before signing it and reasonable expectations of the policyholder concerning the policy's coverage

In A,

instead of Celia is a reasonable person, it said, Celia, a reasonable person, would not have read Celia's insurance policy before signing it,

would A be a better answer than B?

[Emily Haney-Caron]

Hi jiyounglee,

You're spot on for why A is incorrect. A would be right if it said, "Celia is a reasonable person, she did not read the policy thoroughly before signing it, and she expected the insurance policy to cover hail damage to her car."

[bk1111]

How can we know that Celia did not read the policy in answer choice B? It says a reasonable person would not read it, but it does not establish that Celia is a reasonable person? Does the second clause of the answer choice suggest that she is reasonable, "Celia reasonable expected the policy to cover hail damage"

If that is the case, how does this answer choice differ from D?

[James Finch]

Hi BK,

As a principle question, there are clear requirements that have to be met in order for the conclusion to be true. In this case, if an insurance policy is written in such a way that a reasonable person seeking insurance would not read it thoroughly, then a policyholder's reasonable expectation of policy coverage should take legal precedence over the specific language in the policy.

In the application of this principle, Celia's car has been damaged by hail. Her insurance policy specifically excludes coverage for hail damage. So how do we get from that that her insurance company should cover the hail damage? What are we missing? Looking back at the principle, we need:

1. A policy written in such a way that a reasonable person would not read it thoroughly, and;

2. A reasonable expectation on Celia's part that her insurance policy would cover hail damage.

If, and only if, we have those two elements, then we can justify the conclusion that the insurance company should pay for the hail damage to Celia's car. Answer choice (B) gives us those two elements exactly. Answer choice (D), however, tells us only that Celia did not read the policy carefully, not whether the policy was written in such a way that a reasonable person would not read it thoroughly.

As an aside, principle questions like these that contain multiple elements to reach a conclusion are good practice for law school and beyond, as this is how laws themselves are written and interpreted. Whether established by a court or by statute, every cause of action contains elements, all of which must be met in order to establish the claim as true, and lawyers must fit the facts neatly within each and every element to establish their claims.

[ericau02]

Hello can you please explain this a bit further. I somewhat understand how the application represents the principle but I don't really know how or in what way. Basically can you explain how to approach a question like this one? And how to apply that principle correctly. Thanks!