We touch upon several topics in our September Insurance Update. We begin with two federal circuit court rulings on late notice – one involving a claims-made policy and the other an occurrence policy. In these cases, the...more
It was a busy end to the year, as courts handed down several key insurance decisions before ringing in 2023. The Ohio Supreme Court considered the contours of “direct physical loss or damage” in two separate decisions –...more
Burlington Insurance Company issued primary policies to a contractor in 2013-14 and 2014-15, and Century was the excess insurer for 2013-14. The contractor was sued for property damage resulting from its construction work...more
On December 16, 2022, the North Carolina Supreme Court decided Radiator Specialty Co. v. Arrowood Indem. Co., 2022 N.C. LEXIS 1122 (Dec. 16, 2022), in which it addressed coverage issues arising out of claims by individuals...more
Long-tail claims involve continuous or progressive injuries that occur over the course of multiple years. Often these claims occur in the context of long-latency diseases, such as those arising from asbestos exposure, or...more
The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, applying Michigan law, has held that irreconcilable “other insurance” provisions in two polices, each with a concurrent duty to defend, cannot be given...more
On March 22, 2022, the Supreme Court of New York Appellate Division, First Department reversed a trial court order which had held an insurer—ordered to accept service on behalf of a defunct policyholder—was liable for the...more
In Liberty Mut. Ins. Co. v. Jenkins Bros., 2022 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 1846 (App.Div. 1st Dept. March 22, 2022), the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department, issued a ruling reversing the trial court and...more
On November 23, 2021, the Montana Supreme Court issued an almost unanimous decision in National Indemnity Company v. State of Montana, a ten-year-old coverage dispute arising from claims against the State of Montana alleging...more
Although many companies that historically used asbestos in their products have gone bankrupt, there are still many that have managed to survive. How? In some — perhaps many — cases, the answer may be due in no small part to...more
Welcome to CICR’s annual review of insurance cases. Here, we spotlight decisions from the last year that you should know about — and a few pending cases to watch. As our picks for “Cases to Know” (below) indicate,...more
The high court of Maryland has endorsed pro rata allocation under CGL policies in an asbestos bodily injury case, affirming the lower court and stating that “[t]he pro rata allocation approach—a longstanding precedent adopted...more
On August 18, 2018, the New York Supreme Court, New York County, confirmed a referee’s finding that “all sums” allocation was required under excess policies issued by Midland Insurance Company because they included a...more
The conflict between policyholders and insurers over “long-tail” insurance coverage took an unfortunate turn with a recent decision by the New York Court of Appeals on the issue of allocation for long-tail claims. On March...more
On March 27, the New York Court of Appeals unanimously ruled that under a “pro rata time on the risk allocation,” insurers are not liable for years outside their policy periods when there was no insurance available to the...more
On March 27, 2018, the New York Court of Appeals issued its widely anticipated decision in Keyspan Gas East Corp. v. Munich Reinsurance America, Inc. The issue before the court was whether New York law supports the adoption...more
“Long-tail” claims involve personal injury or property damage from alleged exposure to injury-causing products, such as asbestos or PFCs, over a number of years and multiple policy periods. Courts in various jurisdictions use...more
The Supreme Court of Delaware issued its decision in the long-standing dispute in In re Viking Pump, Inc. and Warren Pumps, LLC. The appeal arose out of several rulings in the Court of Chancery and after a jury trial in the...more
On September 7, 2016, the Louisiana Supreme Court applied, for the first time, a pro rata allocation method to defense costs where commercial general liability policies provided coverage during a portion of the time of...more
The Louisiana Supreme Court has endorsed pro rata allocation of defense costs associated with hearing loss cases across triggered policy periods. The decision reversed a 2015 appellate ruling that pro rata allocation applied...more
In Viking Pump, Inc., et al. v. TIG Insurance Co., et al., 2016 N.Y. LEXIS 1018 (N.Y. May 3, 2016), policyholders scored a victory when New York’s highest court applied “all sums” allocation and vertical exhaustion. The...more
On May 3, the New York Court of Appeals unanimously held that an “all-sums” method of allocation should be used to apportion liability among excess insurers based on the policy language at issue in the case. Contrary to...more
The New York Court of Appeals recently answered two certified questions from the Delaware Supreme Court concerning insurance allocation, and the Court’s answers may impact significantly policyholders litigating “long-tail”...more
On May 3, 2016, the New York Court of Appeals answered two certified questions posed by the Delaware Supreme Court regarding the appropriate allocation method for long-tail claims among successive excess carriers. The first...more
On May 3, 2016, the Court of Appeals of New York issued its opinion in In re Viking Pump, No. 59, 2016 WL 1735790, and found that “all sums” allocation and vertical exhaustion applied to the insureds’ claims to excess...more