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Mealey's Catastrophic Loss

  • April 16, 2025

    5th Circuit Remands Attorney Fees Issue In Hurricane Laura Coverage Dispute

    NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals remanded two questions regarding attorney fees to a lower federal court and otherwise affirmed the judgment in favor of the church insured in a bad faith lawsuit arising from Hurricane Laura damage.

  • April 15, 2025

    Bad Faith Suit: CFPA Systematically Failed To Investigate, Pay Wildfire Claims

    LOS ANGELES — Plaintiffs sued California Fair Plan Association (CFPA) and its “largest” members for breach of contract and bad faith in a California court, seeking compensation for their losses incurred by the January Los Angeles wildfires and to hold CFPA “accountable for its decade-long, systematic failure to properly investigate and pay wildfire claims.”

  • April 11, 2025

    Federal Judge Allows Insurers’ Expert Testimony In Hail Damage Coverage Dispute

    DALLAS — Experts retained by an insurance company in a dispute over coverage for hail storm damage did not “rely on an extracontractual definition of cosmetic or functional damage to reach their conclusions,” a Texas federal judge ruled April 10 in denying a motion to exclude.

  • April 09, 2025

    Breach Of Contract Suit In Storm Coverage Dispute Is Untimely, Texas Panel Affirms

    DALLAS — A Texas appeals court affirmed a lower court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of a homeowners insurer on remand of a coverage dispute arising from property damage caused by a wind and hailstorm, agreeing with the lower court that the insureds’ breach of contract lawsuit was untimely.

  • April 09, 2025

    Court Lacked Jurisdiction To Review Appraisal Award, Virginia Panel Affirms

    RICHMOND, Va. — A Virginia appeals court on April 8 affirmed a lower court’s ruling that it lacked jurisdiction to review a $1.7 million appraisal award in a hail and windstorm coverage dispute under the statute pleaded, further denying a property insurer and church insured’s requests for appellate attorney fees and costs.

  • April 08, 2025

    Insurers: ‘Had SCE Acted Responsibly, The Eaton Fire Could Have Been Prevented’

    LOS ANGELES — Insurers have filed a subrogation lawsuit alleging negligence and inverse condemnation against Southern California Edison Co. (SCE) in a California court, alleging that the Eaton fire could have been prevented had the defendant acted responsibly.

  • April 08, 2025

    Texas High Court Agrees To Review Majority’s Reversal In Tornado Coverage Dispute

    AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas Supreme Court granted an insurer’s petition asking it to review a Texas appellate court majority’s reversal of a lower court’s judgment against insureds in a coverage dispute arising from tornado damage.

  • April 07, 2025

    Missouri Panel Partly Reverses Ruling In Insurer’s Favor In COVID-19 Coverage Suit

    KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Missouri panel affirmed in part and reversed in part an insured’s breach of contract lawsuit seeking coverage for its losses arising from the coronavirus pandemic, finding that the court cannot hold that one of the insurers was entitled to judgment as a matter of law under its primary “all-risk” property insurance policy’s Pollution Contamination exclusion and the master policy's Mold, Mildew & Fungus Clause and Microorganism exclusion on the insured’s claims for loss of attraction coverage.

  • April 04, 2025

    Panel Affirms Ruling In Insurer’s Favor In Motel Owners’ Adversary Proceeding

    NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on April 3 affirmed a lower federal court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of an insurer in Texas motel owner insureds’ breach of contract and bad faith adversary proceeding arising from water damage caused by Winter Storm Uri, finding that the insureds’ evidence fails to create a genuine dispute of material fact regarding whether the insurer breached the policy by underpaying for building repairs and contents.

  • April 04, 2025

    Judge: Insured Failed To Provide Prompt Notice Of Damage Arising From Derecho

    ROCK ISLAND, Ill. — A federal judge in Illinois on April 3 entered judgment in favor of a businessowners insurer in a hotel owner insured’s breach of contract lawsuit seeking coverage for damage to the hotel arising from a 2020 derecho, concluding that the insured failed to provide prompt notice of the claim.

  • April 02, 2025

    5th Circuit Says No Additional Coverage Owed For Insured’s Hurricane Damage Claims

    NEW ORLEANS — An insurer properly adjusted an insured’s claims for hurricane damages based on the actual cash value of the damages to the insured’s properties and did not act in bad faith in handling the claims, the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said in affirming a series of rulings issued by a district court.

  • April 01, 2025

    Magistrate Grants Hurricane Coverage Quash Motion, Says Discovery ‘Not Unlimited’

    NEW ORLEANS — A Louisiana federal magistrate judge granted the Louisiana Insurance Guaranty Association’s (LIGA) motion to quash discovery in a hurricane coverage dispute in which the homeowners seek discovery of more than 200 requests for admission from LIGA regarding whether it paid for repairs of certain items in the home, finding that “[w]hile discovery can be broad, it is not unlimited.”

  • April 01, 2025

    Washington Panel: Tribe Fails To Show COVID-19 Caused Direct Physical Loss, Damage

    SEATTLE — A Washington appeals court panel on March 31 held that a federally recognized Indian tribe did not state a claim that the coronavirus caused “direct physical loss or damage” to its insured properties, affirming a lower court’s dismissal of the insured’s bad faith complaint arising from the pandemic.

  • March 28, 2025

    Iowa Supreme Court Affirms Ruling In Insurer’s Favor In Suit Over Derecho Damage

    DES MOINES, Iowa — The Iowa Supreme Court affirmed an appeals court’s ruling in favor of an insurer in an agricultural cooperative’s breach of contract lawsuit arising from its property damage caused by a derecho, agreeing with the lower court that the policy unambiguously limited the insured’s earnings and extra expense coverage to a total of $3 million.

  • March 28, 2025

    5th Circuit Affirms Ruling In Insurer’s Favor In Bad Faith Suit Over Storm Damage

    NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court’s judgment in favor of an insurer in a Texas insured’s bad faith lawsuit arising from a coverage dispute over wind and hail property damage, finding that the insured fully recovered its entitled-to insurance benefits and failed to present evidence that supports an independent injury caused by the insurer’s purported violations of the Texas Insurance Code.

  • March 26, 2025

    5th Circuit Reverses Dismissal With Prejudice Of Hurricane Ida Coverage Dispute

    NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on March 25 reversed a lower federal court’s ruling that a plaintiff lacked standing to sue an insurer for breach of contract and bad faith in a coverage dispute over property damage that was caused by Hurricane Ida, finding that the plaintiff might be able to plead plausible facts to support her third-party beneficiary status.

  • March 26, 2025

    5th Circuit Affirms Ruling In Insurer’s Favor In Winter Storm Uri Coverage Dispute

    NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals concluded that because insureds have recovered their insurance policy benefits in full through the insurer’s payment of the appraisal award and statutory interest, they cannot recover bad faith damages in their lawsuit arising from damage caused by winter storm Uri.

  • March 24, 2025

    R.I. High Court Vacates Appraisal Award Due To Evident Partiality Of Appraiser

    PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The Rhode Island Supreme Court vacated an appraisal award in a coverage dispute over windstorm damage to an insured’s property, finding that it is “quite evident” that the insured’s appointed appraiser “had a direct financial interest in the award” because he was the sole owner and operator of a contracting business that repaired the insured’s home and the assignee of the insured’s claim under her homeowners insurance policy.

  • March 21, 2025

    Florida Panel Affirms No Coverage Ruling In Insureds’ Coronavirus Suit

    MIAMI — A Florida appeals court panel held that hotel insureds are not owed business interruption coverage in the absence of “direct physical loss” or “damage” to their properties, affirming a lower court’s ruling in favor of the insurer in a coverage dispute arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • March 20, 2025

    Hawaii High Court Opines On Answers As To Insurer’s Subrogation Rights

    HONOLULU — The Hawaii Supreme Court issue an 80-page opinion expanding on its earlier order that answered three reserved questions on how the subrogation rights of property and casualty insurance carriers bear on a proposed global settlement of claims related to the August 2023 Maui wildfires.

  • March 20, 2025

    Florida Panel Reverses $541,257 Award In Insureds’ Favor In Hurricane Sally Suit

    TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A Florida appeals court on March 19 reversed a jury’s $541,257 award in favor of insureds in their breach of contract lawsuit against their insurer arising from Hurricane Sally property damage, holding that the insureds failed to demonstrate sufficient evidence that the insurer did not adjust the actual cash value of their loss or the replacement cost of their damaged property.

  • March 19, 2025

    Judge Dismisses Suit Against GEICO After Parties File Joint Notice Of Dismissal

    CHICAGO — The same day the parties filed a joint notice of dismissal, an Illinois federal judge dismissed with prejudice insureds’ lawsuit alleging that auto insurers violated the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act by charging “excessive” premiums during the COVID-19 pandemic that failed to account for a dramatic reduction in driving.

  • March 18, 2025

    Insurer Seeks Take-Nothing Judgment After Jury Awards Insured $39.9M In Storm Suit

    TYLER, Texas — A commercial property insurer moved for full judgment as a matter of law and alternatively a new trial after a jury in a Texas federal court unanimously awarded its insured $4,838,747 in damages for its breach of contract and $35 million in exemplary damages for its breach of the duty of good faith and fair dealing in a coverage dispute arising from property damage that was caused by an April 12, 2020, wind and hailstorm.

  • March 13, 2025

    Judge: N.Y. Law Governs Insured’s Coverage Suit Arising From Hurricane Ida Damage

    NEW YORK — A federal judge in New York concluded that under the state’s choice-of-law rules, a property insurance policy’s choice-of-law clause is valid and, as a result, New York law governs an insured’s declaratory judgment, breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit seeking coverage for property damage to its Louisiana restaurant and warehouse that was caused by Hurricane Ida.

  • March 12, 2025

    Victims Of Taliban Attack Cannot Use Bank’s Assets To Satisfy $138M Judgment

    NEW YORK — The Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held that because a bank account is no longer a “blocked asset” under the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act, plaintiffs cannot use the bank’s assets to satisfy their $138,418,741 default judgment arising from a 2016 Taliban attack, affirming a lower federal court’s ruling that granted a Ukrainian governmental entity’s motion to intervene and vacated a writ of execution.