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Mealey's Insurance

May 06, 2024
Insurer, Insureds Settle Water Damage Coverage Suit; Stipulation Of Dismissal Filed

DENVER — A homeowners insurer and its insureds filed a stipulation of dismissal in Colorado federal court following the settlement of the insureds’ breach of contract and bad faith suit arising out of the insureds’ water damage coverage claim.
May 06, 2024
Question Of Law Exists On Communicable Disease Exclusion, Insurer Says

NEW YORK — A commercial lines insurer filed a motion for interlocutory appeal to the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, arguing that a question of law exists as to whether a policy’s communicable disease exclusion applies as a bar to coverage for three underlying lawsuits alleging that residents of the insured properties contracted Legionnaires’ disease.
May 06, 2024
Interlocutory Appeal Sought On Choice-Of-Law Ruling In Contamination Coverage Suit

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. — Insurers filed a motion to certify an Illinois federal judge’s choice-of-law ruling for interlocutory appeal to the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, contending that an interlocutory appeal will advance the environmental contamination coverage suit toward resolution.
May 06, 2024
Insured Files Notice Of Appeal To 7th Circuit In Radiation Exposure Coverage Suit

MILWAUKEE — An insured filed a notice of appeal to the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, seeking review of a Wisconsin federal judge’s ruling that breach of contract and bad faith claims cannot proceed against two commercial general liability insurers because coverage is barred pursuant to the policies’ radioactive materials exclusion for an underlying suit seeking damages for bodily injuries caused by exposure to electromagnetic (EMF) radiation from the insured’s electric transformers.
May 02, 2024
Insurers Seek Dismissal Of BASF’s Coverage Action Tied To AFFF Injury Claims

CHARLESTON, S.C. — Multiple insurers have filed a brief in support of a motion to dismiss an insurance coverage action filed by BASF Corp. in South Carolina federal court related to claims arising from exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), arguing that there is a “more comprehensive” action BASF has already filed in New Jersey state court.
May 01, 2024
10th Circuit: Insurer’s Coverage Denial For Steel Collapse Not In Bad Faith

DENVER — A 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on April 30 affirmed a Wyoming federal judge’s finding that a building owner insured is owed no coverage under an insurance policy’s additional abrupt collapse coverage, finding that the building owner did not show that the insurer or its claims service manager acted in bad faith.
May 01, 2024
9th Circuit Denies Insureds’ Request To Remand Pollution Coverage Suit

SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on April 30 denied a motion filed by insureds for a limited remand to allow a district court to rule on a post-judgment motion in an environmental contamination coverage suit, noting in its order that a review of the record shows that the district court denied the parties’ post-judgment motions without prejudice and that the parties did not file a renewed motion.
April 30, 2024
Insurer Urges 11th Circuit To Affirm Ruling That Pollution Exclusion Bars Coverage

ATLANTA — The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals should uphold a district court’s ruling that an insurer owes no coverage for underlying suits filed by residents of a condominium building who claim that they were injured as a result of fumes exhausted from a backup power generator because the policies’ pollution exclusions bar coverage as the generator was stored in a utility closet that was occupied or owned by the insured, the insurer contends in its appellee brief.
April 30, 2024
Insurer, Insured Reach Settlement In Water Damage Coverage Suit

SAN FRANCISCO — An insurer filed a notice of settlement in California federal court after reaching a settlement with its insured in a suit seeking coverage for water damages to the insured’s business.
April 30, 2024
Water Damage Coverage Suit Dismissed Following Parties’ Settlement

SCRANTON, Pa. — A Pennsylvania federal judge dismissed a suit filed by insureds seeking coverage for water damage after the insureds notified the court that they reached a settlement with the insurer.
April 30, 2024
Settlement Reached In Pollution Exclusion Suit; Stipulation Of Dismissal Filed

WASHINGTON, D.C. — An insured and its insurers filed a stipulation of dismissal in the District of Columbia federal court after reaching a settlement in a dispute over whether a pollution exclusion bars coverage for an underlying class action alleging that the insured restaurant’s grain and salad bowls contain harmful levels of fluorine and biocides.
April 29, 2024
Insurer’s Duty To Defend Foreclosed By Fungi, Bacteria Exclusion, 7th Circuit Says

CHICAGO — An insurer is not liable for an underlying state court judgment entered against an insured in a suit filed by a dialysis patient who claimed that the insured’s failure to properly clean a dialysis facility caused the patient to contract bacterial sepsis because the insurer had no duty to defend the insured pursuant to the policy’s fungi or bacteria exclusion, the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeal said in affirming a district court’s ruling for the insurer.
April 26, 2024
Insured Files Notice Of Cross-Appeal To 7th Circuit In Environmental Coverage Suit

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — An insured that was awarded more than $115 million by an Indiana federal jury on breach of contract and bad faith claims in a coverage suit stemming from the insured’s request for coverage costs related to the cleanup of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) filed a notice of cross-appeal to the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
April 25, 2024
Pollution Exclusion Bars Coverage For Claims Based On Release Of Pollutants

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — An insurer has no duty to defend or indemnify its insured against underlying counterclaims in an environmental contamination coverage dispute because the policies’ pollution exclusion clearly bars coverage for the counterclaims, which are based on the release of threatened release of pollutants as defined in the policies at issue, a West Virginia federal judge said in granting the insurer’s motion for summary judgment.
April 23, 2024
Insured Files Complaint, Says Additional Coverage Owed For Asbestos Suits

PHILADELPHIA — An insured filed suit in Pennsylvania federal court against its insurer, seeking a declaration that the insurer owes coverage for underlying asbestos bodily injury and alleging that the insurer breached the insurance policies at issue by terminating the insured’s defense and indemnity costs based the insurer’s belief that the underlying suits constitute one occurrence under the policies at issue.
April 22, 2024
Question Of Fact Exists On Insured’s Knowledge Of Contamination, Insured Says

ATLANTA — A district court’s ruling that no coverage is owed to an insured for contamination cleanup costs caused by the release of petroleum and other contaminants from an underground storage tank at a gas station should be reversed because a disputed issue of fact exists as to whether the insured knew about the contamination before the issuance of the policy, the insured says in its April 19 appellant reply brief filed in the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
April 19, 2024
Insurers File Notices Of Appeal To 7th Circuit In Contamination Coverage Suit

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — A number of insurers on the hook for a more than $115 million award entered by an Indiana federal jury in favor of the insured in a breach of contract and bad faith suit stemming from the insured’s request for coverage costs related to the cleanup of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) filed notices of appeal to the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on April 18.
April 19, 2024
Question Of Fact Exists On Cause Of Injuries Suffered By Airline Employees

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge denied motions for summary judgment filed by a primary insurer and an excess insurer on the issue of the number of occurrences because a question of fact exists on what caused the injuries of underlying American Airlines’ employees who claim they suffered health ailments after wearing uniforms manufactured by the insured.
April 18, 2024
No Additional Coverage Owed For Water Damages Caused By Sewer, Drain Backup

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — An insured is not entitled to additional coverage for water damage incurred at its property because the policy at issue provides only $5,000 in coverage for water damage caused by sewer or drain backups, a Tennessee federal judge said in granting the insurer’s motion for summary judgment on claims for breach of contract, bad faith, misrepresentation and negligent actions.
April 18, 2024
Primary Insurer Seeks Review From Oregon High Court In Contribution Coverage Suit

SALEM, Ore. — A primary insurer filed a petition for review in the Oregon Supreme Court, seeking review of the Oregon Court of Appeals’ reversal of a trial court’s ruling in favor of the primary insurer in a contribution coverage dispute between primary and excess insurers over the environmental contamination cleanup costs incurred by the insureds.
April 16, 2024
Parties In Mold, Construction Defects Suit File Supplemental Authorities In 11th Circuit

ATLANTA — An insurer and insureds involved in a dispute over coverage for mold damage discovered in an insured hotel filed supplemental authorities on April 15 in the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, citing cases that each side claims are relevant to the issue of whether the policy at issue provides coverage for losses caused by a construction defect even if the cost to fix the defect is not covered.
April 16, 2024
Primary Insurer Files Suit, Seeks Declaration On Policies’ Remaining Aggregate Limits

PORTLAND, Ore. — A primary insurer filed suit in Oregon federal court against its insured and the insured’s excess insurers, seeking a declaration as to whether the aggregate limits of its policies have been exhausted by payments made on behalf of the insured for environmental contaminations claims.
April 16, 2024
Excess Policies Provide Only 1 Limit For Each Occurrence During Policy Term

PITTSBURGH — Three excess insurance policies implicated in an asbestos coverage dispute provide aggregate limits on an annualized basis but provide only one limit for each occurrence during the applicable policy term, a Pennsylvania federal judge said in ruling on a number of motions for summary judgment filed by insurers involved in the coverage dispute.
April 15, 2024
Pollution Exclusion Does Not Bar Coverage For Carbon Monoxide Claim, Insureds Say

BISMARCK, N.D. — A pollution exclusion does not bar coverage for an underlying bodily injury claim stemming from carbon monoxide exposure because the pollution exclusion in the insurer’s policy applies only to traditional environmental pollution claims, the insureds contend in an April 12 appellant brief filed in the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
April 11, 2024
11th Circuit Upholds Denial Of New Trial In Insurance Dispute Over Damage

ATLANTA — In an unpublished April 10 opinion, a panel of the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals upheld a federal judge’s denial of an insurer’s request for judgment as a matter of law or a new trial, finding that there was sufficient evidence to support the jury’s nearly $170,000 verdict that established damage to a church’s buildings was caused by a hurricane and not faulty work.