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

Mealey's Catastrophic Loss

April 01, 2024
Washington Judge Certifies 2 Questions In University’s Coronavirus Coverage Suit

SEATTLE — A Washington judge granted in part an insurer’s motion to certify issues to the Washington Court of Appeals for discretionary review in the University of Washington’s lawsuit seeking coverage for losses incurred by its medical and athletic properties due to the COVID-19 pandemic, staying the lawsuit pending resolution of the two controlling questions of law to determine whether commercial property insurance policies insure business income losses that are related to a pandemic.
March 29, 2024
Insurer Defends Motion Seeking Appellate Review Of COVID-19 Coverage Dispute

SEATTLE — Replying to the University of Washington’s opposition to its motion to certify issues to the Washington Court of Appeals for discretionary review and to stay the university’s lawsuit seeking coverage for losses incurred by its medical and athletic properties due to the COVID-19 pandemic, an insurer argues that it is not seeking to delay the case but just wants “clear guidance” on the threshold legal question of whether commercial property insurance policies insure business income losses that are related to a pandemic.
March 29, 2024
7th Circuit: Crescent Plaza, Sandy Point Dental Foreclose Rome Hotel Owner’s Appeal

CHICAGO — The Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held that its decisions in Crescent Plaza Hotel Owner, L.P. v. Zurich American Insurance Co. and Sandy Point Dental, P.C. v. Cincinnati Insurance Co. foreclose arguments by the owner of luxury hotel in Rome seeking coverage for its lost business income and extra expenses arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.
March 28, 2024
Panel Grants Insurers’ Motion To Publish Opinion In Hurricane Laura Coverage Suit

NEW ORLEANS —The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals granted domestic insurers’ motion to publish its March 4 per curiam opinion that held that a lower federal court abused its discretion when it denied the insurers’ motion to compel arbitration and stay a coverage lawsuit arising from Hurricane Laura property damage to the insured’s Lake Charles, La., apartment complex.
March 25, 2024
Panel Reverses Court In Coverage Suit Over $1M Settlement Of Canceled Music Festival

NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals reversed a lower federal court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of an insurer in the insured’s lawsuit seeking coverage for an underlying $1 million class action settlement arising from its refusal to refund ticket sales for the South by Southwest festival that was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, finding that the policy’s contact and professional services exclusion do not bar coverage.
March 25, 2024
Judge Grants Summary Judgment On Driver’s UCL Claim For ‘Unfair’ COVID Premiums

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge granted GEICO’s motion for summary judgment on an insured’s claim against it for violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by unfairly profiting from a premium giveback program initiated during the COVID-19 pandemic, in part citing evidence that state insurance regulators deemed GEICO’s givebacks sufficient.
March 25, 2024
Judgment Granted For Insurer In Dispute Over Insured’s Hurricane Coverage Fraud

LAKE CHARLES, La. — A Louisiana federal judge granted summary judgment to a homeowners insurer on its counterclaim to recoup reimbursement paid to a homeowner who sued the insurer for bad faith over its purported failure to adequately compensate her for damage caused by Hurricane Laura, finding that there is no dispute regarding the homeowner's misrepresentations when she applied for insurance.
March 22, 2024
Insureds Urge 5th Circuit To Rehear Arbitration Row In $7M Hurricane Ida Dispute

NEW ORLEANS — Two New Orleans property owners urge the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to grant panel or en banc rehearing of their appeal challenging the arbitrability of their claims for $7 million in damages caused by Hurricane Ida and for bad faith against a group of foreign and domestic insurers.
March 21, 2024
Panel Reverses ‘Rare’ Case Where Diner Has Alleged Direct Physical Loss, Damage

SAN DIEGO — A California appeals panel held that a diner insured’s lawsuit seeking coverage for its business losses arising from the COVID-19 pandemic is “one of those rare cases” where the insured has adequately asserted a direct physical loss or damage under its commercial property insurance policy “at least raising the specter of coverage,” reversing a lower court’s judgment in favor of the insurer and remanding.
March 21, 2024
California Panel Affirms Ruling In Coverage Suit Over Postponed Metallica Shows

LOS ANGELES — A California appeals court affirmed a lower court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of an insurer in the insured’s breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit seeking coverage under a “Cancellation, Abandonment and Non-Appearance Insurance” policy for the postponement of the last six shows of Metallica’s South American tour in 2020, finding that the policy’s “communicable disease” exclusion is not ambiguous and that its ordinary meaning includes the pathogen that underlies the disease.
March 21, 2024
Panel Affirms Ruling In Favor Of Insurer In Bad Faith Suit Over Woolsey Fire Damage

LOS ANGELES — A California appeals court held that a homeowners insurer did not breach the insurance contract or the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing and did not commit financial elder abuse because it paid the proper insureds “all (if not more than)” it had a duty to pay under the policy coverages for dwelling repairs, personal property damage and temporary additional living expenses, affirming a lower court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of the insurer in a coverage dispute arising from property damage cause by the Woolsey Fire.
March 20, 2024
8th Circuit Refuses To Rehear Coverage Suit Over Tax Revenue Losses Due To Closures

ST. LOUIS — The Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals denied a Missouri city’s request to reconsider its ruling that a commercial property insurer owes no coverage for the city’s tax revenue losses due to governmental closure orders in response to the coronavirus pandemic, refusing to address the city’s argument that the “inartful” policy is not clear and unambiguous.
March 19, 2024
Judge Grants Dismissal To Guaranty Association In Hurricane Ida Coverage Dispute

NEW ORLEANS — A Louisiana federal judge dismissed homeowners’ claims against the Louisiana Insurance Guaranty Association (LIGA) in a breach of contract and bad faith suit against it over liability for purported damages caused by Hurricane Ida, finding that because the homeowners voluntarily dismissed the related claims against LIGA, which was substituted for a now-insolvent insurer, LIGA’s motion for partial dismissal is moot.
March 19, 2024
Insurers Challenge Ruling That Tribal Court Has Jurisdiction Over Coronavirus Suit

SEATTLE — Insurers asked the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to reconsider its Feb. 29 opinion that affirmed a lower federal court’s finding that a tribal court has subject matter jurisdiction over a coronavirus coverage suit involving tribal properties on tribal land that the Suquamish Tribe brought against “nonmember, off-reservation” insurers that participate in a program that is tailored to and offered exclusively to tribes, arguing that the panel’s “unprecedented expansion of tribal-court jurisdiction warrants rehearing.”
March 15, 2024
5th Circuit Affirms Dismissal Of Coverage Suit Arising From Hurricanes Laura, Delta

NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a lower federal court’s dismissal without prejudice of a breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit arising from property damage caused by hurricanes Laura and Delta, finding that the court lacked subject matter jurisdiction.
March 15, 2024
Judge Adopts Report, Remands Hurricane Coverage Suit Against Guaranty Association

MOBILE, Ala. — An Alabama federal judge adopted a magistrate judge’s report and recommendation that a bad faith and breach of contract hurricane coverage suit against the Alabama Guaranty Association (AIGA) be remanded to state court, agreeing with the magistrate judge’s finding that the suit is “due to be remanded” because the court “lacks subject matter jurisdiction.”
March 13, 2024
Judge Strikes Expert Testimony, Denies Class Certification In Suit Against GEICO

CHICAGO — An Illinois federal judge on March 12 granted insurers’ motion to strike the insureds’ expert testimony and denied the insureds’ motion for certification of two classes in their lawsuit alleging that the 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, finding that the insureds failed to establish predominance to warrant class certification.
March 13, 2024
Colorado Majority: Notice-Prejudice Rule Applies To Policies In Hailstorm Dispute

DENVER — A majority of the Colorado Supreme Court concluded that “the notice-prejudice rule applies to occurrence-based, first-party homeowners' property insurance policies,” reversing two appeals courts’ rulings that affirmed summary judgment in favor of insurers in two coverage disputes arising from hailstorm damage and remanding.
March 12, 2024
Insurers Tell N.C. High Court To Apply 27-Year-Old Precedent To Coronavirus Dispute

RALEIGH, N.C. — Insurers argued to the North Carolina Supreme Court that it should affirm an appeals court’s reversal of a lower court’s grant of partial summary judgment in favor of restaurant insureds in a COVID-19 coverage dispute, responding to the insured’s appellant argument that the phrase “physical loss or physical damage” includes loss of the physical use of property under the state’s “long-standing principles of insurance contract interpretation.”
March 11, 2024
Florida Panel Affirms Ruling In Insurer’s Favor In Hurricane Irma Coverage Suit

MIAMI — A Florida appeals court affirmed a lower court’s final order denying insureds' motion for attorney fees and entering final summary judgment in favor of the insurer in a coverage dispute arising from Hurricane Irma property damage, finding that the undisputed evidence introduced at the attorney fees hearing demonstrated that there was no breakdown in the claims process that served as the catalyst for the insureds’ lawsuit and that the insurer timely complied with the policy's appraisal clause and made a loss payment pursuant to the policy.
March 11, 2024
Majority: Court Erred In Denying Insurer’s Motion To Dismiss COVID-19 Coverage Suit

RICHMOND, Va. — A majority of the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on March 8 held that a lower federal court erred when it denied an insurer’s motion to dismiss an insured’s coverage lawsuit arising from the coronavirus pandemic, reversing both the lower court’s order denying the insurer’s motion to dismiss and its class certification order and remanding with instructions to dismiss the lawsuit.
March 08, 2024
2nd Circuit Dismisses Coronavirus Coverage Suit After Appeal Withdrawn

NEW YORK — Four days after a commercial property insurer and a commercial landlord insured stipulated that the insured’s appeal in a coronavirus coverage suit was withdrawn with prejudice, the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal.
March 07, 2024
5th Circuit Affirms Arbitration Order In $7M Hurricane Ida Dispute

NEW ORLEANS — A Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on March 6 affirmed an order compelling arbitration of an insureds’ claims for $7 million in damages caused by Hurricane Ida and for bad faith against a group of foreign and domestic insurers that had provided it a surplus line policy.
March 06, 2024
5th Circuit Affirms Dismissal Of Coverage Dispute Arising From Hurricane Laura

NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held March 5 that a lower federal court did not err in not providing an insured leave to amend her breach of contract and bad faith complaint to add the correct insurer, affirming the lower court’s dismissal of the coverage lawsuit arising from Hurricane Laura.
March 06, 2024
Washington Judge Partly Grants Insurer’s Motion For Clarification In COVID-19 Suit

SEATTLE —Partly granting an insurer’s motion for partial clarification or reconsideration of a Jan. 4 order denying the insurer’s motion to dismiss the University of Washington’s lawsuit seeking coverage for losses allegedly incurred by its medical and athletic properties in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, a Washington judge held that the university has pleaded facts to trigger its medical centers’ policies’ communicable disease decontamination cost endorsements; its coverage claims under the athletic properties’ policies are not dismissed and its claims for coverage are not limited to the medical center policies’ time element losses due to contamination by communicable disease endorsements.