Hurricane Sandy, Insurance Litigation

The Connecticut Supreme Court Expands Test for Insurer’s Duty to Defend an Insured Contractor

Pullman & Comley, LLC on 12/10/2020

Connecticut’s trend of liberal, policyholder-oriented insurance coverage decisions continued apace with the recent Connecticut Supreme Court decision, Nash Street, LLC v. Main Street America Assurance Company et al. ...more

Flooded: Court Finds “Named Windstorm” Coverage, and Not Flood Sublimit, Applies to Superstorm Sandy Water Damage Claim

Carlton Fields on 2/28/2020

When the National Weather Service names a storm heading in your direction, you know to expect wind and water. This can create a quandary for property insurers. Is water damage from a named windstorm caused by the flood or the...more

New York Appellate Court Affirms Denial of Discovery Into Other Hurricane Sandy Claims

Carlton Fields on 1/24/2020

In Knickerbocker Village Inc. v. Lexington Insurance Co., New York’s Appellate Division, First Judicial Department, dictated a clear rule for single-insured cases regarding the discovery of an insurer’s treatment of insurance...more

The Southern District Finds Unambiguous Policy Language Controls NYU’s Superstorm Sandy Claim

Robinson+Cole Property Insurance Coverage... on 3/29/2019

The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York recently granted an insurer’s motion for summary judgment in a case arising from Superstorm Sandy based on unambiguous policy language providing a...more

District of New Jersey Applies Anti-Concurrent Causation Provision to Superstorm Sandy Claim

Robinson+Cole Property Insurance Coverage... on 3/28/2019

In a recent decision arising out of Superstorm Sandy, the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey confirmed the enforceability of anti-concurrent causation provisions. Zero Barnegat Bay, LLC v. Lexington...more

“Unnecessary and Inappropriate”: The declaration no one wanted

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on 9/7/2018

Your client wants to recover damages for breach of contract and demands that you assert as many causes of action as possible. In addition to the breach cause of action, you consider a declaratory judgment claim, right? ...more

Opening The Pandora’s Box Of Flood Policies, Or How Filing Suit Against Flood Insurers Can Effectively Reduce The Suit Limitations...

Carlton Fields on 2/19/2018

When is an insurer’s “Rejection of Proof of Loss” letter for flood insurance damage, which states on its face that it “is not a denial of your claim,” nevertheless a written denial of claim? According to the Third Circuit in...more

Flood Exclusion Unambiguously Excludes Coverage For $49.5M In Hurricane Sandy Losses Caused By Storm Surge

Cozen O'Connor on 10/10/2017

Cozen O’Connor attorneys Thomas McKay III, Richard Mackowsky, Charles Jesuit, and Melissa Brill recently secured summary judgment from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York in favor of Great...more

Eastern District of New York Upholds Flood Exclusion in Superstorm Sandy Case

Robinson+Cole Property Insurance Coverage... on 10/5/2017

Nearly five years after Superstorm Sandy, some consistent themes are beginning to emerge from the increasingly robust body of property coverage case law related to the storm. A recent decision from the Eastern District of New...more

District of New Jersey Dismisses Third Party Claims Sounding in Policy Handling on Preemption Grounds

Robinson+Cole Property Insurance Coverage... on 5/1/2017

A federal court in New Jersey recently dismissed state law claims brought by third party plaintiffs, including the insured’s broker, against a Write Your Own insurance carrier. The claims at issue in Residences at Bay Point...more

New York Court Upholds Suit Limitation Period, Ruling Appraisal is Not a Condition Precedent to Filing Suit

Carlton Fields on 4/24/2017

Courts will generally uphold reasonable suit limitation periods in property insurance policies, if the insurer does not affirmatively waive or extend them. In MZM Real Estate Corp. v. Tower Ins. Co. of New York, No....more

Appraisal Award Unenforceable Where Suit Limitation Period Expired Prior To Filing Suit: New York County Dismisses Storm Sandy...

Robinson+Cole Property Insurance Coverage... on 4/19/2017

Suit limitation provisions in insurance policies shorten the statutory period of time that a plaintiff may bring a suit against an insurer for certain causes of action. A New York court recently held that an appraisal award...more

New York Court of Appeals Holds That Tower Crane Damaged By Superstorm Sandy Is Not Covered by Project’s Builder’s Risk Insurance...

Troutman Pepper on 4/13/2017

Lend Lease (US) Constr. LMB Inc. v. Zurich Am. Ins. Co., No. 11, 2017 N.Y. LEXIS 112 (N.Y. Feb. 14, 2017) - Early, in its opinion, the New York Court of Appeals noted that “[o]ne of the most dramatic images of...more

New Jersey Appellate Division Applies Anti-Concurrent Causation Clause to Bar Combined Flood/Sewer Backup Claim

Robinson+Cole Property Insurance Coverage... on 3/3/2017

Frequent readers of the blog will appreciate that disputes involving the application of anti-concurrent causation language in the context of claims for flood or water damage have appeared with some frequency in recent years....more

Unequivocal Denial: District of New Jersey Court Outlines What is Not Necessary

Robinson+Cole Property Insurance Coverage... on 1/30/2017

We have previously featured New Jersey District Court decisions addressing “unequivocal” denials in the context of policies’ suit limitation provisions. In the latest, Ryan v. Liberty Mut. Fire Ins. Co., No. 14-6308...more

Hurricane Sandy, Flood, and Sewer Backup: New Jersey Federal Court Confirms Anti-Concurrent Causation Bars Insured’s Claim

Robinson+Cole Property Insurance Coverage... on 12/5/2016

As we have written about before on this blog, the water damage caused by Hurricane Sandy in October 2012 gave rise to important questions concerning the applicability of so-called “anti-concurrent causation” clauses. Such was...more

Title Bout: Second Circuit Limits Parties’ Control Over Construction Of Policies

Pullman & Comley, LLC on 11/18/2016

Like other contracts, insurance policies are divided into parts, and most of the parts appear under headings or captions. A separate contract term (known as a “titles clause” or a “headings clause”) sometimes specifies that...more

Postdiluvian Perils: Second Circuit Weighs Coverage For Losses Suffered After The Waters Recede

Carlton Fields on 9/26/2016

As this blog has reported, exclusions and limits for flood coverage have generally held up against the tide of claims arising from Superstorm Sandy. Now that the water is gone, however, new losses have been discovered, and...more

Ambiguity And Ensuing Loss: The Second Circuit Affirms The Southern District Of New York’s Holdings In a $675 Million Superstorm...

Robinson+Cole Property Insurance Coverage... on 9/8/2016

In National Railroad Passenger Corp. v. Aspen Specialty Ins. Co., 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 16074 (2d. Cir. Aug. 31, 2016), Amtrak sought the entire $675 million of available coverage from a number of its insurers for damages...more

A State Law Wolf in Federal Common Law Clothing: The Third Circuit Rejects Insured’s Attempt to Expand Causes of Action Under the...

Robinson+Cole Property Insurance Coverage... on 8/2/2016

Courts across the country (and particularly since Super Storm Sandy in 2012) have consistently held that, in litigation involving a dispute concerning the investigation, adjustment, or payment of a flood claim under the...more

Hurricane Sandy › Insurance Litigation