Mealey's Catastrophic Loss : Mealey's : Legal News & Analysis

Mealey's Catastrophic Loss

November 04, 2024
Panel Affirms $6.6M Appraisal Award In Insured’s Favor In Hurricane Coverage Dispute

ATLANTA — The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a lower federal court’s grant of a condominium association insured’s motion for summary judgment and confirmation of a $6,599,810.67 appraisal award for its actual cash value loss arising from Hurricane Irma damage, saying it will not save the insurer “from the undesired consequences of the binding appraisal agreement it chose to enter.”
October 29, 2024
Federal Judge Stays Dismissal Of Philadelphia Eagles’ COVID-19 Coverage Dispute

PHILADELPHIA — A federal judge in Pennsylvania stayed his dismissal of a lawsuit brought by the owner and operator of the Philadelphia Eagles football organization seeking a declaration as to coverage for its losses arising from the COVID-19 pandemic pending a ruling on the insured’s motion for reconsideration.
October 28, 2024
Michigan Supreme Court Refuses To Review Ruling In Favor Of Insurance Agent

LANSING, Mich. — The Michigan Supreme Court on Oct. 28 denied an insured’s request for leave to appeal an appeals court’s ruling that affirmed a lower court’s grant of summary disposition in favor of an insurance agent and agency in its negligence lawsuit arising from its lack of flood coverage.
October 28, 2024
La. Supreme Court Says 5th Circuit Wrong On Arbitrability Of Insurance Disputes

NEW ORLEANS — Addressing questions of law certified to it regarding state law and arbitration agreements embodied in insurance policies, the Louisiana Supreme Court on Oct. 25 ruled that state law prohibits arbitration of insurance disputes, directly contradicting the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ “flawed” findings in two cases involving hurricane insurance claims against foreign and domestic insurers.
October 25, 2024
U.S., Ship Owner File Settlement Notice In Exoneration Suit Over Bridge Collapse

BALTIMORE — The United States and the owner and technical manager of the ship that allided with and destroyed the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore filed a joint notice on Oct. 24 indicating they have reached a settlement and asked a Maryland federal court to dismiss the United States’ Sept. 18 claim and answer to the ship owner’s petition for exoneration from or limitation of liability for the casualties and damage arising from the bridge collapse.
October 24, 2024
Driver’s Claims For Larger COVID-19 Refunds Properly Dismissed, 9th Circuit Told

SAN FRANCISCO — GEICO in an Oct. 23 appellee brief tells the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that a federal judge properly granted summary judgment on an insured driver’s class action claim against it for violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by providing drivers an insufficient rebate on premiums after COVID-19, arguing that its rebate was fair under the relevant policy and state insurance regulations.
October 22, 2024
Judge Remands Hurricane Damage Dispute Involving Insurer, Guaranty Association

BATON ROUGE, La. — “[F]or the reasons set forth” in a Louisiana federal magistrate judge’s report and recommendation to remand to state court a hurricane coverage dispute between a homeowner and his now-insolvent insurer, a Louisiana federal judge remanded the case “for lack of subject matter jurisdiction” after the magistrate judge granted the insured’s motion to amend his complaint to add the Louisiana Insurance Guaranty Association (LIGA) as a defendant.
October 22, 2024
Contamination Exclusion Bars Coverage For COVID-19 Losses, Federal Judge Says

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — An all-risk policy’s contamination exclusion bars coverage for losses sustained during the COVID-19 pandemic because a California appellate panel’s determination that a contamination exclusion bars coverage for COVID-19 losses is binding and warrants the same finding in a similar suit filed by insureds in federal court, a California federal judge said Oct. 21 in granting an insurer’s motion for summary judgment.
October 22, 2024
3rd Circuit Dismisses Urban Outfitters’ Appeal In Coronavirus Coverage Suit

PHILADELPHIA — One day after URBN US Retail LLC (Urban Outfitters) and its insurer filed a joint stipulation to dismiss, the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals tossed Urban Outfitters’ appeal of a lower federal court’s dismissal of its coverage lawsuit arising from the coronavirus pandemic.
October 22, 2024
Motion To Substitute Guaranty Association Denied In Row Over Hurricane Coverage

LAFAYETTE, La. — A Louisiana federal magistrate judge denied an insured’s motion to substitute the Louisiana Insurance Guaranty Association (LIGA) for a now-insolvent insurer in a dispute over coverage for purported damages caused by Hurricanes Laura and Delta, finding that even if the court determined that it had subject matter jurisdiction over LIGA through a transfer of interest from the insurer to LIGA, the state of Louisiana’s interest in regulating insurance provides a sufficient reason for abstention.
October 18, 2024
Panel Partly Reverses Ruling In Coverage Suit Arising From Hurricanes Laura, Delta

NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Oct. 17 reversed a lower federal court’s imposition of statutory penalties, attorney fees and costs in favor of a church insured in its lawsuit alleging that the insurer underpaid its losses arising from Hurricanes Laura and Delta, finding that the lower court erred when it determined that the insurer’s conduct was arbitrary and capricious and without probable cause.
October 18, 2024
Contractor Appeals No Coverage Ruling In Suit Arising From Alleged Faulty Roof Work

NEW YORK — A contractor filed a notice indicating that it is appealing a New York federal court’s ruling that adopted a magistrate’s report and recommendation in concluding that insurers owe no coverage for an underlying lawsuit that accuses the contractor and a subcontractor of faulty work on roofs in a New York City apartment complex that failed during Hurricane Sandy.
October 17, 2024
Federal Judge Dismisses Philadelphia Eagles’ COVID-19 Suit Against Insurer

PHILADELPHIA — A federal judge in Pennsylvania on Oct. 16 dismissed a lawsuit brought by the owner and operator of the Philadelphia Eagles football organization seeking a declaration as to coverage for its alleged losses arising from the coronavirus pandemic, noting that the court is bound by Ungarean v. CAN & Valley Forge Ins. Co. that was recently decided by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
October 17, 2024
Insured’s Hurricane Zeta Lawsuit Is Untimely Under SFIP, 5th Circuit Affirms

NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Oct. 16 affirmed a lower federal court’s “carefully crafted opinion” that dismissed with prejudice an insured’s breach of contract lawsuit seeking coverage for its Hurricane Zeta damage, agreeing with the lower court that the insured’s action is time-barred by the one-year statute of limitations pursuant to its Standard Flood Insurance Policy (SFIP).
October 10, 2024
9th Circuit Unseals Driver’s Brief Challenging GEICO’s ‘Unfair’ COVID-19 Rebates

SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals unsealed a brief filed by a driver appealing a federal judge’s grant of summary judgment on her class action claim for violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) to GEICO for allegedly unfairly retaining an estimated $238 million in additional premium relief the driver says it owed insureds after the COVID-19 pandemic.
October 09, 2024
Bound By Another Planet, Judge Reconsiders Ruling Against Insurer In COVID-19 Suit

SANTA ANA, Calif. — A California federal judge on Oct. 8 granted an insurer’s motion to reconsider the court’s ruling that denied its motion for partial judgment on the pleadings in Live Nation Entertainment Inc.’s breach of contract lawsuit arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, dismissing with prejudice Live Nation’s claims for coverage that require a showing of physical loss or damage after concluding that the court is bound by the holding in Another Planet Entertainment, LLC v. Vigilant Insurance Co. that a “bare allegation” that “the actual or potential presence of the COVID-19 virus rendered [plaintiff's] property unusable for its intended purpose” is insufficient to demonstrate physical loss or damage to the insured property.
October 09, 2024
3rd Circuit Refuses To Rehear Consolidated Appeals In COVID-19 Coverage Suits

PHILADELPHIA — The Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Oct. 8 denied insureds’ petition seeking rehearing en banc of a panel’s rejection of 14 consolidated appeals of lower federal courts’ dismissals of the insureds’ lawsuits seeking coverage for their business interruption losses caused by the coronavirus and the subsequent shutdown orders, standing by the panel’s holding that the insureds’ loss of use of their properties’ intended business purposes is not a physical loss of property to trigger business income or extra expense under their respective policies.
October 09, 2024
Chemical Company: Insurer Withheld Full Value Of Business Interruption Loss

BEAUMONT, Texas — A sustainable chemical company insured sued its insurer in a Texas federal court for breach of contract and declaratory judgment, seeking to obtain coverage for the full value of its business interruption loss caused by an explosion at a Texas plant.
October 09, 2024
Settlement Conference Scheduled In Hurricane Ida Coverage Dispute

NEW ORLEANS — A Louisiana federal magistrate judge announced that a settlement conference has been scheduled for next month in a commercial property owner insured’s lawsuit seeking coverage for its damage caused by Hurricane Ida.
October 09, 2024
Mediator: Restaurant, Insurer Settle Suit Over Looting Damage After Hurricane Maria

ST. CROIX, Virgin Islands — A mediator filed a report in a federal court in the Virgin Islands indicating that a restaurant insured and an insurer completely resolved their dispute over the insurer’s adjustment of the insured’s property damage claim and business interruption losses arising from looting after Hurricane Maria.
October 08, 2024
9th Circuit Grants Restaurants’ Motion To Dismiss Appeal In COVID-19 Coverage Suit

SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Oct. 7 granted a motion by owners, operators and managers of two Napa Valley, Calif., restaurants to dismiss their appeal in a coronavirus coverage dispute after the California Supreme Court dismissed its consideration of the Ninth Circuit’s certified question asking whether an insurance policy’s virus exclusion is unenforceable.
October 03, 2024
Texas Panel Affirms Jury Verdict In Insured’s Favor In Hurricane Harvey Dispute

EDINBURG, Texas — A Texas appeals court panel on Oct. 3 affirmed a jury verdict in favor of an insured in its breach of contract lawsuit alleging its insurer improperly denied its claim seeking coverage for roof damage to two of its buildings that was caused by Hurricane Harvey, finding that evidence would have enabled the jury to determine that the damage to the roofs was sustained by wind or wind-created openings.
October 02, 2024
English Appellate Court Rules Against Reinsurer In COVID-19 ‘Catastrophe’ Case

LONDON — Rejecting both main arguments a reinsurer advanced in a dispute over business interruption losses, a panel of the Court of Appeal of England and Walesagreed with a lower court’s ruling that under the reinsurance agreement, the COVID-19 pandemic is a “catastrophe” and an “Hours Clause” doesn’t exclude individual losses that continue to develop more than 168 hours after they first occur.
September 30, 2024
Alaska High Court Sides With ‘Overwhelming Majority’ In Coronavirus Coverage Suit

ANCHORAGE, Ala. — Finding “no reason to differ from the overwhelming majority” in answering “no” to two certified questions from an Alaska federal court, the Alaska Supreme Court held Sept. 27 that neither the presence of the coronavirus at an insured’s property nor operating restrictions that were imposed on an insured property by pandemic-prompted governmental orders constitute “direct physical loss of or damage to” the insured property to trigger coverage.
September 27, 2024
Pennsylvania Supreme Court Reverses Coverage Ruling In Dentist’s Coronavirus Suit

PITTSBURGH — The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Sept. 26 held that a dental practice insured is not entitled to commercial property insurance coverage for its financial losses incurred during the COVID-19 pandemic and the state’s nonessential business shutdown orders because its covered properties did not incur any physical loss or damage, reversing a Pennsylvania Superior Court majority’s ruling and ordering the case remanded for the trial court to enter summary judgment in favor of the insurer.