In Helguera v. Mid-Century Insurance Co., California’s Fourth District Court of Appeal held that an intentional acts exclusion in the liability coverage part of a homeowners insurance policy issued by Mid-Century Insurance...more
In Nationwide Mutual Fire Insurance Co. v. Carmichael, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, applying Alabama law, entered summary judgment ruling that Nationwide Fire Insurance Co. had no duty to...more
9/11/2023
/ Appeals ,
Construction Defects ,
Construction Industry ,
Denial of Insurance Coverage ,
Duty to Defend ,
Fire Insurance ,
Homeowner's Insurance ,
Insurance Claims ,
Insurance Industry ,
Insurance Litigation ,
Property Damage
In Gold Coast Commodities, Inc. v. Crum & Forster Specialty Insurance Co., issued May 22, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that a pollution liability policy did not provide coverage for a negligence...more
In Family Security Insurance Co. v. Stein, No. 4D22-1468 (Fla. 4th DCA Feb. 8, 2023), Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeal confirmed that, in a coverage action where the issue of coverage is in dispute, an insurer’s...more
In Nautilus Insurance Co. v. Motel Management Services Inc., the Third Circuit Court of Appeals held that a commercial general liability policy’s assault or battery exclusion barred coverage for claims involving alleged sex...more
In Saoud v. Everest Indemnity Insurance Co., the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals held that an “unregistered security exclusion” barred coverage for various underlying lawsuits under a professional liability policy....more
In the recent decision of Korte & Luitjohan Contractors Inc. v. Erie Insurance Exchange, the Fifth District Appellate Court of Illinois reaffirmed that, under Illinois law: (1) construction defects generally do not trigger...more
Just like the tidal wave of trial court decisions in favor of insurers in COVID-19 business interruption insurance coverage lawsuits, a similar wave of appellate decisions is now forming. In Dakota Girls LLC v. Philadelphia...more
In what appears to be the first substantive appellate ruling in COVID-19-related insurance coverage litigation, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals in Oral Surgeons, P.C. v. Cincinnati Insurance Co. ruled in favor of the...more
Judge Raag Singhal in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida recently dismissed with prejudice a COVID-19 business interruption insurance coverage lawsuit brought by the owners of Anthony’s Runway 84 – a...more
The tidal wave of favorable rulings for insurers in COVID-19 business interruption insurance coverage lawsuits that started in 2020 is continuing in 2021. As this blog has previously explained, commercial property insurance...more
In Julien v. United Prop. & Casualty Insurance Company, 45 Fla. L. Weekly D2199 (Fla. 4th DCA Sept. 23, 2020), Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal of a first-party bad faith lawsuit due to the...more
In Greene v. Westfield Insurance Co., the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals recently affirmed summary judgment finding that commercial general liability policies issued by Westfield Insurance Co. did not cover a $50.56 million...more
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court recently issued two of the first substantive rulings in COVID-19-related insurance coverage lawsuits. Both rulings were in favor...more
Claims-made liability insurance policies typically require the policyholder to notify the insurer of a claim within a set amount of time — typically during the policy period, or within a specific period of time after the end...more
1/13/2020
/ Breach of Duty ,
Claims Made Policy ,
Consumer Insurance Products ,
Denial of Insurance Coverage ,
Dismissal With Prejudice ,
Duty to Defend ,
Failure to Notify ,
Indemnification ,
Insurance Claims ,
Insurance Litigation ,
Insurance Regulations ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Notice Prejudice Rule ,
Notice Provisions ,
Policy Terms ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Statute of Limitations
Many homeowners insurance policies allow the insurer or the insured to invoke appraisal to resolve disagreements about the amount of the loss. Nonetheless, when one party invokes appraisal, the other party will sometimes...more
9/25/2019
/ Appraisal Rights ,
Consumer Insurance Products ,
Deductibles ,
Homeowner's Insurance ,
Hurricane Irma ,
Insurance Claims ,
Lloyds of London ,
Loss Coverage ,
Motion to Compel ,
Policy Terms ,
Property Damage
Significant changes appear to be in the pipeline for Florida property insurers after the Florida legislature passed sweeping assignment of benefits (AOB) reform legislation last week....more
4/30/2019
/ Assignment of Benefits (AOB) ,
Commercial Insurance Policies ,
Commercial Property Owners ,
Contract Terms ,
Fee-Shifting ,
Florida ,
Insurance Claims ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Negotiations ,
Pre-Suit Notice ,
Property Insurance ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Real Estate Market ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Residential Property Owners
Can the terms of a warranty impact the scope of coverage provided by an insurance policy even if the policy does not explicitly incorporate the terms of the warranty? The answer to this question appears to be yes, at least...more
1/21/2019
/ Appeals ,
Contract Terms ,
D&O Insurance ,
Denial of Insurance Coverage ,
Government Investigations ,
Insurance Claims ,
Insurance Litigation ,
Policy Terms ,
Scope of Coverage ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Warranties
While the rules for determining whether a liability insurer has a duty to defend a lawsuit are generally well-known, questions can arise when an insurer is asked to defend an arbitration....more