Automotive and Trucking Accidents in the U.S. with Foreign Defendants: What Insurers Need to Know
Butler's Thursday Tips | Little Black Box
Straight Talks: Autonomous regulations around the world
Straight Talks: Innovations in product liability for autonomous and connected vehicles
How Auto Defects Can Cause Passenger Injury
Understanding Supplemental Spousal Liability Insurance in NY
Hailey French’s Story – When millions barely cover the bills.
What happens if more than one person is responsible for an accident?
Catastrophic Impairment: What it means and why it's important to you if you've been hurt in a car accident
Several years ago, I published a blog regarding the number of occurrences triggered under a liability policy for a motor vehicle accident in Florida. Other states also addressed this issue. Recently, the Federal District...more
In a decision handed down last week in Nationwide Property and Casualty Insurance Company v. Elvia Castaneda and Christina Tapia Casteneda, a three-judge panel of the Pennsylvania Superior Court invalidated the “unlicensed...more
In Southern-Owners Insurance Co. v. Midnight Tires Inc., the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida granted an insurer’s motion for summary judgment after considering extrinsic evidence on the issue of the...more
In Neptune v. Indian Harbor Insurance Co., the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals recently addressed whether uninsured motorist (UM) coverage applied in an accident where there was no evidence of a “hit” from the uninsured...more
Does an insurer “open coverage” or “acknowledge coverage” for a claim by making a payment? No, it doesn’t. The Third DCA confirmed: an insurer does not waive its coverage defenses, such as policy exclusions or breaches of...more
Southern District Of New York Holds That Insured Not Entitled to Coverage For Losses Resulting From COVID-19- Sparks Steakhouse in New York City filed a coverage action against its insurer, Admiral Indemnity, alleging that...more
Insurance for food delivery drivers in Michigan is complicated. Many people who deliver food for a living do not realize there are differences in coverage between their personal auto No-Fault insurance policies and a...more
A federal district court has ruled that a third-party administrator’s professional liability policy does not afford coverage for a claim against the TPA arising from an excess judgment against the TPA’s...more
In Cawthorn v. Auto-Owners Insurance Co., No. 18-12067 (11th Cir. Oct. 25, 2019), the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida’s grant of summary judgment in favor of Auto-Owners...more
Booker v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, No. 17-cv-03133-MEH (D. Colo. May 6, 2019) - Stephanie Booker sustained injuries as a result of an automobile accident caused by another driver. ...more
Insurance companies can no longer breach the duty to defend believing that, as long as they act in good faith, their potential liability is capped at policy limits or any costs incurred by the insured in mounting a defense....more
Bazzi reversed. Innocent car accident victims protected. Bazzi v. Sentinel ruling stops auto insurance companies from automatically denying No-Fault benefits to blameless car crash victims based on fraud by an insured....more
In a highly anticipated decision, the Pennsylvania Superior Court vacated an eyebrow-raising $21 million award for an auto policyholder and found that the insurer did not act in bad faith....more
In Hyland v. Liberty Mutual Fire Ins. Co., No. 1:15-cv-01264-JES-JEH, 2017 WL 3388161 (C.D. Ill. Aug. 7, 2017), the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois granted plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment for...more
The Michigan Uniform Trade Practices Act (UTPA) provides for 12% penalty interest on certain no-fault insurance claims that are not timely paid by the insurer. For “third party tort claimants,” penalty interest only applies...more
In January, we reported that California’s Supreme Court had embraced a problematic approach to the state’s Unfair Insurance Practices Act—one that allows the Commissioner of Insurance to create new statutory torts by...more
Hit-and-run drivers don’t always hit; some motorists recklessly cause accidents without making contact, then vanish from the scene. Victims in such cases can often obtain coverage under the uninsured motorist (UM) provisions...more
2017 could be big for litigation over “Big Data” applications in insurance. This past year saw the filing of several “price optimization” class actions, and claims against a fraud detection tool, similar to the ones used by...more
In New York, uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage “does not function … to fully compensate … insureds for their injuries.” Weiss v. Tri-State Consumer Ins. Co., 98 A.D.3d 1107, 951 N.Y.S.2d 191 (2d Dep’t 2012). UIM...more
Where an automobile policy covers someone other than the named insured, a “step-down” provision may subject the amount of available coverage to the limit on “similar coverage” that is imposed by the injured person’s own...more
A Geico insured, with a $10,000/$20,000 liability policy, was involved in a three-car collision resulting in the death and serious injury of two occupants in one of the vehicles. The insured reported the accident to Geico the...more
Kennedy v. Allstate, No. 15-2221 (E.D. Pa. July 8, 2015). District Court recognizes possibility that insurance adjusters owe a duty of care to insureds that would be breached by failing to conduct a reasonable...more