Property
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February 14, 2024
Insurer Notice Law Applies Retroactively, Fla. Panel Rules
A Florida state appeals panel affirmed the dismissal of a property insurance dispute by homeowners against their insurer, saying Wednesday lawmakers intended for a statute requiring policyholders to notify a state agency before suing an insurer for breach of contract to apply retroactively.
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February 14, 2024
Insurer Wants Out Of Covering SC Club Shooting
A Nationwide unit has told a South Carolina federal court it doesn't have to defend a nightclub operator against a former patron's negligence suit, arguing that an assault and battery exclusion in its liquor liability policy bars coverage for the claimant's shooting-related injuries.
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February 14, 2024
$600K In Dairy Queen Fire Damages Not Covered, Court Told
A Dairy Queen franchisee is attempting to overstep boundaries by asking for more coverage than the policy provides, its insurer told a Texas federal court, saying the restaurant's claim stems from the business's personal property damage from a fire at a leased location.
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February 14, 2024
Homebuilder, Insurer Settle Coverage Suit Over Fatal Fire
A builder accused of causing the deaths of two people by failing to install working smoke detectors in a home it constructed has settled its dispute with an insurer over $1 million in coverage for underlying litigation related to the deaths in California federal court.
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February 13, 2024
Insurer, Apartment Owner Agree To End Hail Damage Dispute
The owner of a 12-building apartment complex near Texas A&M University has agreed to end a dispute in Texas federal court with its insurer over $4 million in hail damage coverage.
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February 13, 2024
11th Circ. Boots Insurer's Appraisal Order Challenge
The Eleventh Circuit rejected a Zurich unit's bid to escape a Florida district court's order compelling it into appraisal proceedings with a Pensacola hotel owner, finding Tuesday the appellate court had no power to review a nonfinal order.
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February 13, 2024
$3.3M Loss Of Stolen Nokia Phones Not Covered, Insurer Says
An insurer told a Florida federal court Tuesday it doesn't owe coverage to a trucking company for an underlying lawsuit seeking over $3.3 million for a shipment of Nokia cellphones stolen during transport, arguing that the phones weren't in the company's custody at the time of the loss.
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February 13, 2024
Progressive Unit Sued Over Policy Nixed Before House Fire
A Washington married couple sued a Progressive unit over up to $750,000 in coverage for losses stemming from a house fire, claiming the insurer unfairly canceled their policy before the blaze without properly notifying them in accordance with state law.
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February 13, 2024
Insurer Says Fire Co. Owes $3.7M For Hotel Water Damage
A fire protection and security services company must pay more than $3.7 million for water damage at an Ohio hotel, a Liberty Mutual unit told an Ohio federal court, arguing that the damage was caused by the company's negligence in maintaining a fire sprinkler system.
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February 13, 2024
Fla. Condo Wants Full Coverage For $1.7M Hurricane Damage
A condo association told a Florida federal court that its National Flood Insurance Program insurer has refused to fully cover about $1.7 million in flood and storm damage in 2022 from Hurricane Ian.
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February 12, 2024
Insurer Says No Coverage For Idaho Murderer And Family
A mentally ill suspected cannibal and his wealthy mining family do not have insurance coverage for a wrongful death suit brought on behalf of a murdered, mutilated groundskeeper and his family, the insurer told an Idaho federal court.
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February 12, 2024
NM Dry Cleaner Says Policy Covers Chemical Cleanup Costs
The property owner of a New Mexico dry cleaner told a federal court Monday that State Farm has refused to defend it against an investigation and demand for remediation from the state's environmental protection agency after the discovery of chlorinated solvent contamination in its property's soil.
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February 12, 2024
8th Circ. Affirms Insurer Win In Mo. COVID-19 Coverage Row
The Eighth Circuit affirmed an insurer's win against a Missouri city that sought coverage for sales tax revenue losses resulting from pandemic-related shutdowns, saying Monday that the city's interpretation of a policy endorsement is not reasonable.
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February 12, 2024
Three-State Test Critical To Evaluating Carrier Climate Risk
An analysis finding that insurers' investment portfolios are at risk of losing billions of dollars under delayed climate-transition plans is an important step to fully understanding how well carriers' business activities are aligned with climate goals, experts say.
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February 12, 2024
$1M Alcohol Spill Coverage Suit Not Federal Case, Co. Says
A packaging company being sued by its insurer after expired alcoholic beverages seeped into a warehouse floor, causing more than $1 million in damage, told a Tennessee federal court it should toss the suit because it lacked jurisdiction.
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February 12, 2024
Travelers Says No Coverage For $1.8M Pollution Cleanup
A Travelers unit said it has no duty to reimburse an oil and gas company over $1.8 million for costs it incurred cleaning up 1,600 barrels of spilled brine water, telling a Pennsylvania federal court the company failed to meet its policies' reporting requirements.
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February 09, 2024
State Farm Defends Pricing Setting Insured Says Shorted Her
State Farm Fire and Casualty Co. renewed its bid to toss a Mississippi homeowner's proposed class action over allegations it intentionally underpaid fire damage claims, arguing it was correct to use a "new construction" setting in its pricing software that led to lower recoverable labor costs.
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February 09, 2024
2nd Circ. Affirms Starr Can't Sue To Defend Coverage Denial
The Second Circuit on Friday refused to revive Starr Indemnity & Liability Co.'s suit, which a district court had concluded the insurer used to defend its decision to deny a clothing company coverage for stolen and water-damaged goods.
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February 09, 2024
Ala. Insurer Gets Hurricane Sally Repair Coverage Suit Cut
A Chubb unit successfully trimmed bad faith allegations from a lawsuit seeking coverage for a condominium complex that was damaged by Hurricane Sally in 2020, as an Alabama federal judge found that the condo never showed that its insurance claims were denied by the insurer.
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February 09, 2024
Insurer Settles $1.7M Fluorescent Sign Fire Damage Suit
United Fire & Casualty Co. reached a settlement in its $1.7 million suit against a Texas sign-making company, resolving its bid to recover funds paid to a bed and breakfast after a fluorescent sign caught fire and damaged the property.
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February 09, 2024
Bad Faith Claim Rejected Again In Hurricane Ida Coverage Suit
A Louisiana federal judge again refused to find that the insurer of a suburban New Orleans commercial property acted in bad faith in denying to cover $220,000 in damage Hurricane Ida allegedly caused in 2021.
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February 09, 2024
Court Says 'Catastrophe' Applies In COVID Reinsurance Cases
A London court has allowed insurers to make claims under reinsurance contracts for business interruption losses claimed during the COVID-19 pandemic, saying that the outbreak of an infectious disease constitutes a "catastrophe" under the policy wording.
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February 08, 2024
Texas Adjuster No Longer To Pretend To Be Lloyd's Of London
An insurance adjuster who hijacked the good name of British underwriting giant Lloyd's of London after blaming it for lost compensation agreed in Texas federal court to shut down businesses he opened in its name.
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February 08, 2024
8th Circ. Won't Revive Renter's Fire Loss Coverage Fight
The Eighth Circuit refused Thursday to revive an Arkansas renter's fire coverage suit against her insurer, finding a district court was correct to permanently dismiss the case over what it said were willful failures to follow its orders and properly participate in discovery.
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February 08, 2024
Insurance Orgs. Say Bill Would Prevent CFPB Overreach
Bipartisan legislation seeking to clarify the powers of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has drawn support from insurance regulators and industry trade groups who say the bureau has encroached upon state-based insurance regulation despite clear statutory limitations.
Expert Analysis
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Insurance Brokers Should Expect Wave Of E&O Claims
Policyholders' unsuccessful COVID-19 business interruption suits and the pandemic-related move to remote work will likely result in a plethora of errors and omissions claims brought against insurance agents and brokers, as evidenced by recently filed cases, says Peter Biging at Goldberg Segalla.
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COVID Insurance Rulings Are Misinterpreting 'Physical Loss'
Recent court decisions interpreting "direct physical loss" clauses to deny COVID-19 business interruption recovery where the subject property has not been structurally altered contradict the purpose of all-risks insurance, the ordinary meaning of the operative policy language and pre-pandemic case law, says Lee Epstein at Flaster Greenberg.
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Revamping Law Firm Marketing Lists — With Partner Buy-In
Jackson Lewis’ Paige Bowser shares lessons from the firm's recent overhaul of an outdated email marketing database, including tips for getting partners on board, ensuring compliance with privacy laws and augmenting outreach strategies.
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Courts Should Defer To Science On COVID-19 Physical Loss
As litigation of pandemic-related business interruption claims continues nationwide, the insurance carriers and courts adopting the most conservative interpretation of "physical loss or damage" — the basic trigger for business interruption coverage — are making erroneous assumptions about a complex physical phenomenon, says Micah Skidmore at Haynes and Boone.
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The Murky World Of Legal Rankings Gets Some Clarity In NJ
New Jersey's new, stringent approach to legal rankings will make accolade advertising more transparent, benefiting both attorneys and clients and offering legal marketers a new set of best practices amid evolving standards, say Penny Paul at Lowenstein Sandler and Susan Peters at Greybridge.
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Embracing ESG: Cigna Counsel Talks Employee Wellness
Building employee well-being into corporate environmental, social and governance priorities required our legal team to focus more closely on cross-functional collaboration within the company and increased communication with our board of directors and shareholders, says Julia Brncic at Cigna.
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Hybrid Work Models Are Key To Gender Parity In Law Firms
To curb the historically high rates of attrition among female lawyers, Roberta Liebenberg at Fine Kaplan and Stephanie Scharf at Scharf Banks suggest firms must normalize hybrid work schedules, and they recommend best practices to promote engagement among all attorneys, regardless of where they work.
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An Insurer's Guide To Policyholder Bankruptcy
Given the increased likelihood of policyholders filing bankruptcy petitions in the wake of the pandemic, insurance professionals must be aware of five basic principles when dealing with an insured in bankruptcy, says Eric Fitzgerald at Goldberg Segalla.
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Attorneys Beware: Zoom Depositions Are Likely Inadmissible
As legal proceedings have moved online in light of the pandemic, lawyers may mistakenly believe that recorded Zoom video depositions can be entered as evidence, but without certain safeguards, the testimony is unlikely to be accepted by courts, says Phillip Zisook at Schoenberg Finkel.
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NJ Policyholders Could Still See Recovery For COVID Losses
Although New Jersey state and federal courts have decided the majority of dispositive motions in COVID-19 business interruption insurance cases in favor of insurers, policyholders retain a plausible path to recovery depending on the nature of their loss and the precise policy language at issue, say Lee Epstein and Matthew Goldstein at Flaster Greenberg.
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COVID Rulings May Support Ransomware Insurance Denials
A recent spate of pandemic-related insurance decisions — where federal courts found that a temporary inability to use property doesn't qualify as physical loss or damage for coverage purposes — may be used as favorable precedent by cyber insurers denying ransomware loss claims for temporary inability to access data, say Thomas Caswell and Peter Kelly Golfman at Zelle.
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3 Risk Management Lessons From Pandemic Insurance Wars
As appellate decisions in COVID-19 business interruption insurance claims continue to clarify the state of the law, there are some things that policyholders' lawyers and risk managers can do in the meantime to help prepare for future unforeseen events affecting coverage, says Peter Halprin at Pasich.
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Why Legacy Insurance May Not Protect Adopters Of Bitcoin
Evidenced by El Salvador's adoption of the Bitcoin standard this week, there is an emerging need for insurance products to cover the risk of owning and holding the digital asset, as it may not fall into the protected categories in legacy insurance products, say attorneys at Mound Cotton.