SPOTLIGHT: Third Circuit Court of Appeals Affirms No Coverage for Sex Trafficking Claims -
In Nautilus Insurance Co. v. Motel Management Services Inc., the Court of Appeals granted a motion for judgment on the pleadings...more
In situations where there is a dispute over a duty to defend, an insurer may provide a defense to its insured, subject to a reservation of rights, to not only deny coverage for a defense, but also to file a declaratory...more
It’s common knowledge that a lawsuit must be timely reported to an insurer. But what exactly constitutes timely notice? The United States Court for the Middle District of Florida recently examined this question in National...more
Under a claims-made-and-reported insurance policy, an insurer may disclaim coverage if the insured fails to report a claim made against it to its insurer during the policy period (or extended reporting period). What happens,...more
On September 7, 2021, in one of the few decisions addressing the scope of coverage for faulty workmanship under Delaware law, the Delaware District Court denied an insurer’s motion seeking a declaration that it neither needed...more
In Florida, an insurer is required to “settle, if possible, where a reasonably prudent person, faced with the prospect of paying the total recovery, would do so[.]” Harvey v. GEICO General Insurance Company, 259 So.3d 1 (Fla....more
In Florida, an insurer is required to work diligently on the insured’s behalf to avoid an excess judgment, with the “same haste and precision as if it were in the insured’s shoes”. Harvey v. GEICO General Insurance Company,...more
A primary insurer has a duty of good faith to an excess insurer to attempt to negotiate a settlement with a third-party claimant within the primary insurer’s limits. However, determining whether that duty of good faith was...more
Michigan Circuit Court Judge Joyce Draganchuk (Ingham County) granted the insurer’s motion for summary disposition in Gavrilides Management Company v. Michigan Insurance Company. At issue was coverage for restaurants that...more
There are certain generally held principles regarding an insurer’s duty to defend. One of these principles is that an insurer has a duty to defend its insured if the complaint states a claim that potentially falls within the...more
A homeowner’s insurer sought to recover amounts the homeowner insurer paid with respect to construction and renovation work performed on a home (two combined residential co-op units) from the CGL carrier of a general...more
On Friday, March 27, 2020, New York joined the growing chorus of states that have introduced legislation requiring first-party property policies to insure business interruption losses due to COVID-19 – notwithstanding policy...more
Before the ink could even dry on our latest alert, regarding Ohio's proposed bill, we learned that Massachusetts legislators had introduced their own COVID-19 bill — making it the third such bill in the span of about two...more
Yesterday, on March 24, 2020, following in New Jersey’s footsteps, the Ohio legislature introduced a bill, H.B. No. 589, “[t]o require insurers offering business interruption insurance to cover losses attributable to viruses...more
An insurer’s duty to defend generally is based on a comparison of the complaint against the insured and the insurance policy language. However, in some jurisdictions, an insurer may consider "extrinsic" evidence — information...more
The 10th Circuit endorsed a clever way for an insurer to avoid a bad faith claim where there were potential misrepresentations in the policy application. In Evanston Insurance Company v. Aminokit Labs, Inc., the court...more
As economic losses from the COVID-19 pandemic continue to mount, there has been much discussion about the potential availability of insurance, especially under Business Interruption policies. In 2006, ISO adopted a mandatory...more
The proper trigger of coverage in construction defect disputes has been addressed on several occasions by New Jersey courts. Most notably, in Air Master & Cooling, Inc. v. Selective Insurance Company of America, 452 N.J....more
It has long been the rule in Pennsylvania that a mental or psychological injury generally does not constitute “bodily injury,” as defined in most standard insurance policies, unless that mental or psychological injury results...more
In Harleysville Preferred Insurance Company v. East Coast Painting & Maintenance, LLC, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 135295 (D.N.J. Aug. 12, 2019) (East Coast Painting), the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey held...more
In Greene v. Kenneth R. Will, a CGL insurer recently prevailed in a declaratory judgment action arising from an underlying class action alleging pollution and nuisance claims against the insured, VIM Recycling LLC, an...more
6/7/2019
/ Appeals ,
Attorney's Fees ,
Class Action ,
Commercial General Liability Policies ,
Declaratory Judgments ,
Default Judgment ,
Dismissals ,
Duty to Defend ,
Environmental Violations ,
Indemnification ,
Insurance Industry ,
Nuisance ,
Remand
In Keodalah v. Allstate Insurance Company, the Washington Supreme Court is set to determine whether individual insurance adjusters (as distinguished from the insurers for which they work) may be sued for bad faith and...more
12/12/2018
/ Bad Faith ,
Consumer Protection Laws ,
Errors and Omissions Policy ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Insurance Adjusters ,
Insurance Industry ,
Insurance Litigation ,
Jurisdiction ,
Split of Authority ,
Uninsured and Under-Insured Motorists ,
WA Supreme Court
A recent opinion by the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division (Second Department) highlights the potential risks for an insurer leaving an insured unrepresented while the insurer pursues other parties or insurers who may...more