With increasing frequency, insurers are challenging the sufficiency and clarity of settlement demands they failed to previously accept. The insurer’s challenges can take many forms but most focus on a demand not being written...more
Insurers are frequently asked to satisfy their duty of good faith and fair dealing by entertaining reasonable settlement offers within the combined limits of the policies. However, primary and excess insurers do not always...more
What happens between a primary and excess liability insurer when their mutual insured is hit with a verdict $2.15 million over the primary limit and the excess insurer was not put on notice until after the verdict? This was...more
In Vizio Inc. v. Arch Insurance Co., a case stemming from a class action settlement, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals clarified several areas of California law involving the interaction of primary and excess insurance...more
In Axis Reinsurance Co. v. Northrop Grumman Corporation, 2020 DJDAR 10114 (9th Cir. Sept. 14, 2020), a case of first impression under California law, the Ninth Circuit held that an excess insurer may not dispute exhaustion of...more
In Ironshore Specialty Insurance Co. v. Conemaugh Health Systems, Inc., No. 3:18-cv-153 (W.D. Pa. Feb. 28, 2019), the Western District of Pennsylvania refused to dismiss an excess carrier’s suit seeking reimbursement from its...more
Satterfield & Pontikes Constr., Inc. v. United States Fire Ins. Co., 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 21488 (5th Cir. Aug. 2, 2018) - This case arises out of an excess insurance provider’s refusal to cover damages incurred by the...more
Disputes between policyholders and excess insurers often involve events that occurred before the underlying defense costs or indemnity payments reached the excess layer. In Stryker Corp. v. Nat’l Union Fire Ins. Co. of...more
The court’s decision in Axis Specialty Insurance Company v. New Hampshire Insurance Company highlights the scope of recovery available for an excess carrier seeking to recover against a primary carrier. Emboldened by the...more
In a recent decision, the Fifth Circuit held that a primary policy was not exhausted, after the primary insurer made settlement payments that did not exceed the primary policy limits, even though the insured contributed...more
Claims against insured businesses sometimes implicate multiple liability policies issued by several different carriers, and it is sometimes prudent for some of those carriers to settle the underlying action, even if others...more
When faced with a catastrophic loss triggering multiple layers of coverage and recalcitrant insurers at the primary layer, a policyholder has strong incentives to settle with the first-layer carriers for less than the full...more
Recently, a Texas Court of Appeals handed down a pro-policyholder opinion in the case of Plantation Pipe Line Co. v. Highlands Insurance Co., in Receivership, Case No. 11-12-00029-CV (Tex. App. Aug. 29, 2014). The issue...more
U.S. Bank Wins Coverage Under Delaware Law For $55 Million Overdraft-Related Settlement - Why it matters: In a victory worth tens of millions of dollars, a Minnesota federal court ruled that U.S. Bank is...more
Westchester Fire Insurance Co. v. Mid-Continent Casualty Co., No. 13-12932, 2014 WL 2766764 (11th Cir. Jun. 19, 2014) - The Eleventh Circuit finds that a primary insurer did not act in bad faith by failing to inform...more
The decision in Quellos Group LLC v. Federal Insurance Co., No. 68478-7-1 (Wash. Ct. App. Nov. 12, 2013) is a reminder that vague policy language can be costly. You may not have access to your excess insurance funds. The...more
On November 12, 2013, in Quellos Group LLC v. Federal Insurance Company, the Washington Court of Appeals affirmed summary judgment in favor of two excess professional liability insurers because the excess policies “require[d]...more
Getting Over the Bar: Second Circuit Requires Actual Payment of Underlying Limits In Order to Trigger Excess D&O Policies - In June, the Second Circuit held that two Federal Insurance Company ("FIC") excess D&O...more
When an employer is vicariously liable to a third party for its employee’s negligence, and both the employer and employee have primary and umbrella policies covering liability to the third party, the employee’s primary and...more
In This Issue: CONTENTS - Southern District Of California: Excess Insurer Liable For Bad Faith For Two Month Delay In Responding To Insured’s Demand To Either Pay Negotiated Settlement Or To Take Over Insured’s...more