In Westminster Am. Ins. Co. a/s/o Androulla M. Toffalli v. Bond, No. 538 EDA 2023, 2023 Pa. Super. LEXIS 626, 2023 PA Super 272, the Superior Court of Pennsylvania (Appellate Court) recently discussed the impact of silence on...more
In a matter of first impression, the Supreme Court of Wyoming (Supreme Court), in West American Insurance Company v. Black Dog Consulting Inc., No. S-23-0052, 2023 WY 109, 2023 Wyo. LEXIS 111, examined whether a landlord’s...more
The insured, a jewelry business, filed a coverage action against Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s of London, which denied coverage to the insured under a policy purchased for the insured’s jewelry. The insured’s complaint...more
A recent ruling by the Tennessee Court of Appeals in Patton v. Pearson1 upheld the ‘Sutton Rule’ in a subrogation action following a house fire at a rental property. The court’s decision emphasizes the crucial role of lease...more
On November 28, 2022, the Illinois Supreme Court unanimously reversed the appellate court’s decision that an insurer would have to defend a rental property’s tenants against a third-party negligence claim arising from a fire....more
Did you know that unrelated third parties (like a landlord and a tenant) should not be named a “co-insured” or even a “named insured” on another party’s insurance policy? In fact, the coverage provided to an unrelated third...more
Sheckler v. Auto-Owners Insurance Company, 2021 WL 493226, 2021 Ill. App. LEXIS 593 (Oct. 23, 2021), a decision of the Appellate Court of Illinois, Third Judicial District, concluded that principles of equity justified...more
Pursuant to the Sutton Doctrine, first announced in Sutton v. Jondahl, 532 P.2d 478 (Okla. Ct. App. 1975), some jurisdictions consider a tenant a coinsured of its landlord absent an express agreement to the contrary. In Ro v....more
The determination of whether a tenant is also a coinsured under the landlord’s policy ultimately comes down to the language in the lease and relationship between the parties. In the absence of specific language or a unique...more
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court revisits the issue of innocent coinsured recovery....more
Alex Azar, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”), declared a public health emergency related to the coronavirus pandemic (“Emergency Declaration”) on January 31, 2020. ...more
In Joella v. Cole, 2019 PA Super. 313, the Superior Court of Pennsylvania recently considered whether a tenant, alleged by the landlord’s property insurance carrier to have carelessly caused a fire, was an implied co-insured...more
The Fifth Circuit overturned a U.S. District Court’s approval of a settlement between Ralph Janvey, the Receiver for Stanford International Bank, and various insurance company Underwriters, under which the Underwriters had...more
Historically, a tenant who pays towards its landlord’s insurance premiums, pursuant to the terms of the lease, is generally considered a “co-insured” under the landlord’s policy. See Lumber Mutual Insurance Co. v. Zoltek...more