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Mealey's Catastrophic Loss

  • March 07, 2025

    Judge: Insurer Timely Filed Motion For Attorney Fees In Hurricane Sally Suit

    PENSACOLA, Fla. — A federal judge in Florida granted a commercial property insurer’s motion for attorney fees after granting its motion for summary judgment in a coverage dispute arising from Hurricane Sally property damage, rejecting the insured’s argument that the motion for attorney fees was untimely.

  • March 07, 2025

    Contractor Has Standing To Seek Reformation Of Policy, 11th Circuit Rules

    ATLANTA — The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held that a general contractor has Article III standing to seek reformation of an insurance policy and a lower court erred in dismissing the reformation counterclaim but affirmed the lower court’s ruling that a commercial general liability insurance policy’s course-of-construction exclusion (COCE) bars coverage for water damage in a suit stemming from the subcontractor’s alleged faulty installation of cladding and glazing systems in a construction job.

  • March 06, 2025

    Judge Grants Judgment For Insurers In Condominium Attorney Fee Dispute

    NEW YORK — A New York federal judge granted summary judgment for insurers as to a condominium association’s claim for attorney fees in a breach of contract suit filed against insurers over their failure to cover a condominium’s hurricane-related losses, finding that because New York law applies and lacks a provision justifying attorney fee recovery, the claim for attorney fees under Florida law fails.

  • March 06, 2025

    Baylor College Of Medicine Seeks Texas High Court Review Of COVID-19 Coverage Suit

    AUSTIN, Texas — Baylor College of Medicine filed a petition in the Texas Supreme Court seeking review of an appeals court’s conclusion that the presence of the COVID-19 virus at its premises did not cause “direct physical loss of or damage to” to its property, challenging the appeals court’s reversal of a lower court’s judgment following a jury verdict in the school’s favor.

  • February 27, 2025

    Petitioners In Baltimore Bridge Collapse Suit Ordered To Be Deposed In U.S.

    BALTIMORE — A federal chief magistrate judge in Maryland on Feb. 26 granted claimants’ motion to compel petitioners and their management agents and employees to submit to depositions in a Maryland federal court in an exoneration lawsuit brought by the owner and technical manager of the ship that allided with and destroyed the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore.

  • February 27, 2025

    Florida Panel Reverses Ruling In Insurer’s Favor In Hurricane Coverage Suit

    TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A Florida appeals panel on Feb. 26 concluded that Florida Statutes Section 624.1551 cannot be applied retroactively to an insured’s bad faith lawsuit seeking extracontractual damages from her insurer, reversing a lower court’s judgment in favor of the insurer and remanding with directions to deny the insurer’s motion to dismiss and reinstate the coverage lawsuit over hurricane damage.

  • February 26, 2025

    Judge Dismisses Hospital’s $2.5M D&O Coverage Suit Over DOJ, AG Investigations

    CHICAGO — A federal judge in Illinois granted an insurer’s motion to dismiss a hospital insured’s breach of contract lawsuit, finding that the insurer’s liability is capped by the Regulatory Claim Endorsement’s $1 million sublimit and that the hospital failed to allege that the insurer breached its duty to pay for its $2.5 million in remaining defense expenses arising from underlying criminal federal and state investigations into the hospital’s employees and officers.

  • February 25, 2025

    Louisiana High Court Refuses To Review Ruling In Hurricane Ida Coverage Dispute

    NEW ORLEANS — The Louisiana Supreme Court on Feb. 25 denied an insured’s application for writ of certiorari seeking review of a First Circuit Louisiana Court of Appeal panel majority’s holding that a lower court properly interpreted the state Legislature's amendment of Louisiana Revised Statutes Section 22:1892(H) by Act 290 to be a procedural change that applied retroactively and, as a result, eliminated any class action for damages, including bad faith penalties, brought against the state’s insurer of last resort.

  • February 25, 2025

    Florida Panel Affirms Ruling In Insurer’s Favor In Coronavirus Coverage Suit

    MIAMI — A Florida appeals panel on Feb. 19 affirmed a lower court’s judgment in favor of an insurer in an insured’s declaratory judgment lawsuit seeking coverage for its business interruption losses as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, concluding that nothing in the record supports the insured’s contention that the governmental shutdown orders “were issued ‘due to’ specific conditions at the premises of the Insured.”

  • February 25, 2025

    Insurer Disputes Contention That ‘Windstorm’ Is Ambiguous In Tornado Coverage Suit

    AUSTIN, Texas — Replying to insureds’ response to its petition for review asking the Texas Supreme Court to review a Texas appellate court majority’s reversal of a lower court’s judgment against the insureds in a coverage dispute arising from tornado damage, a homeowners insurer asserts that the insureds’ contention that “windstorm” is ambiguous “can be true only for those unfamiliar with English grammar, plain language, and precedent.”

  • February 24, 2025

    Insurers Ask Supreme Court To Decide Whether Tribal Court Can Exercise Jurisdiction

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — After the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals denied insurers’ petition for rehearing and rehearing en banc asking it to reconsider its opinion that affirmed a federal court’s finding that a tribal court has subject matter jurisdiction over a COVID-19 coverage suit involving tribal properties on tribal land, the insurers filed a petition for writ of certiorari asking the U.S. Supreme Court to determine “whether a tribal court can exercise jurisdiction over nonmembers of the tribe based on off-reservation conduct.”

  • February 21, 2025

    Florida Panel: No Coverage Owed For Insured’s Untimely Tropical Storm Eta Claim

    MIAMI — A Florida appeals panel affirmed a lower court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of an insurer in an insured’s breach of contract lawsuit seeking coverage for his property damage caused by Tropical Storm Eta, concluding that the lower court did not err when it ruled that the insured did not rebut the presumption of prejudice from his untimely claim.

  • February 12, 2025

    Panel Reverses Attorney Fees Award In Octogenarian’s Bad Faith Suit Over Hail Damage

    FORT WORTH, Texas — A Texas appeals panel reversed and remanded a trial court’s award of appellate attorney fees in favor of an octogenarian insured in her bad faith lawsuit seeking coverage for her roof damage caused by hail and wind and affirmed the remainder of the lower court’s judgment, finding that the evidence was sufficiently strong to support the jury's conclusion that the insurer knowingly took advantage of the insured’s “‘lack of knowledge, ability, experience, or capacity . . . to a grossly unfair degree.’”

  • February 11, 2025

    Hawaii High Court Answers Questions On Subrogation Issues For Wildfire Settlement

    HONOLULU — The Hawaii Supreme Court on Feb. 10 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, remanding the case to the Second Circuit Court of Hawaii.

  • February 11, 2025

    Judge Refuses To Modify Terms Of Injunction In Baltimore Bridge Collapse Suit

    BALTIMORE — A federal judge in Maryland denied the state of Maryland and an insurer’s motions to partially lift a stay in an exoneration lawsuit brought by the owner and technical manager of the ship that allided with and destroyed the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, concluding that although many of the movants’ contentions are “well-taken,” the court declines to exercise its discretion to modify the terms of the injunction.

  • February 10, 2025

    California Panel Affirms Ruling In Insurer’s Favor In Wildfire Coverage Dispute

    LOS ANGELES — A California appeals panel held that a homeowners insurance policy did not cover the insureds’ claim for wildfire damage to their home, affirming a lower court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of the insurer on the insureds’ claims for breach of contract and bad faith.

  • February 07, 2025

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

    NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Feb. 6 held that a lower federal court properly granted summary judgment in favor of a homeowners insurer as to the insured’s extracontractual bad faith claims in a wind damage coverage dispute, finding that the insured is barred him from recovering any additional damages from the insurer under Texas Supreme Court precedent.

  • February 07, 2025

    Federal Jury Awards Insured $39.9M In Damages In Hailstorm Coverage Dispute

    TYLER, Texas — A jury in a Texas federal court unanimously awarded an insured $4,838,747 in damages for its commercial property insurer’s breach of contract and $35 million in exemplary damages for the insurer’s breach of its 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.

  • February 05, 2025

    Canadian Court Affirms Retrocessionaire’s Loss In ‘Follow Settlements’ Dispute

    TORONTO — The Ontario Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal concerning a retrocession agreement’s “follow settlements” clause in a dispute over settlement of a business interruption claim, letting stand a trial court’s September 2023 ruling for a fronting reinsurer.

  • February 05, 2025

    Insurers Withdraw Motion For Judgment On Pleadings In Maui Wildfire Coverage Suit

    MAUI, Hawaii — Insurers withdrew their motion for judgment on the pleadings in a Hawaii court in their insureds’ bad faith action alleging that the insurers’ subrogation lawsuit seeking to recover compensation for the payments that they made to victims of the Aug. 8, 2023, Maui wildfires is “unfair, inequitable, and unlawful” because they “seek to take money away from their premium-paying insureds who are the real victims of the Maui Wildfires without showing that these victims have been fully compensated.”

  • February 03, 2025

    Panel Affirms Denial Of Condo Owner’s Motion To Intervene In Class Action Suit

    GRETNA, La. — A Louisiana appeals court affirmed a lower court’s denial of a condominium unit owner’s motion to intervene in a class action lawsuit arising from Hurricane Ida property damage, concluding that the movant failed to satisfy the required elements to intervene pursuant to Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Article 1091.

  • January 31, 2025

    Majority Affirms Ruling In Insurers’ Favor In Bad Faith Suit Over Flood Deductible

    NEW ORLEANS — A majority of the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held that a lower federal court did not err in determining that the extrinsic evidence resolved an ambiguity in favor of the insurers’ interpretation of a policy flood deductible, affirming the lower court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of the insurers in a general contractor’s bad faith lawsuit arising from flood damage at a hotel renovation.

  • January 30, 2025

    Louisiana Panel Affirms Dismissal Of Hurricane Ida Coverage Dispute As Untimely

    GRETNA, La. — A Louisiana appeals panel on Jan. 29 affirmed a lower court’s judgment that sustained Louisiana Insurance Guaranty Association’s peremptory exception of prescription and dismissed with prejudice an insured’s coverage dispute over Hurricane Ida damage, agreeing with the lower court that the insured failed to timely deliver the original of his petition for damages to the court and his fax-filed petition was “without any force or effect.”

  • January 29, 2025

    Panel Reverses Judgment In Baylor College Of Medicine’s Favor In COVID-19 Dispute

    HOUSTON — Noting an issue of first impression, a Texas appeals court concluded Jan. 28 that the presence of COVID-19 at the Baylor College of Medicine did not cause “direct physical loss of or damage to” to the insured’s property and reversed a lower court’s judgment following a jury verdict in favor of the insured.

  • January 29, 2025

    Panel Upholds Dismissal Of Hurricane Damage Suit Against Property Insurer

    NEW ORLEANS — An insured’s breach of contract and bad faith claims stemming from a dispute over coverage for property damages sustained during a hurricane to 18 rental properties were properly dismissed because the insured failed to provide sufficient facts or details regarding the damages sustained to the properties and the property insurer’s handling of the insured’s claim, the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said.