Over the last month, there have been numerous lawsuits across the country by policyholders seeking insurance coverage for losses they claim are resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the last two weeks, the new trend has...more
Insurance policies are designed to indemnify an insured by putting the policyholder in the same position he or she would have been in had no loss occurred. In the context of property insurance policies, damaged property is...more
In ACE American Ins. Co. v. Exide Technologies, Inc. and The Wattles Co., No. 1:16-CV-1600-MHC (N.D. Ga. Sept. 20, 2017), the Federal District Court for the Northern District of Georgia applied a continuous trigger theory to...more
10/10/2017
/ All-Risks Insurance ,
Breach of Contract ,
Continuous Trigger Theory ,
Damages ,
Denial of Insurance Coverage ,
Insurance Industry ,
Insurance Litigation ,
Negligence ,
Policy Exclusions ,
Policy Terms ,
Property Damage ,
Property Insurance ,
Proximate Cause
Because Hurricane Harvey claims may be taking you and your colleagues to different states, we thought it might be helpful to bear in mind the claims adjusting standards and regulations in those states that will likely be...more
In Erie Insurance Property and Casualty Company v. Chaber, No. 16-0490 (W. Va. June 1, 2017), the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia reversed a lower court’s decision, holding that damage caused by a landslide was...more
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
It’s said that “defeat is an orphan,” but insurable losses often have multiple, concurrent causes. In some cases, one or more of those causes might be outside the scope of coverage, either by omission or exclusion. In Sebo v....more
12/5/2016
/ All-Risks Insurance ,
Appeals ,
Construction Defects ,
Denial of Insurance Coverage ,
FL Supreme Court ,
Florida ,
Insurance Industry ,
Insurance Litigation ,
Policy Exclusions ,
Policy Limits ,
Policy Terms ,
Property Damage ,
Property Insurance ,
Severe Weather ,
Toxic Mold
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
9/26/2016
/ All-Risks Insurance ,
Amtrak ,
Demolition ,
Flood Insurance ,
Flooding ,
Hurricane Sandy ,
Insurance Industry ,
Insurance Litigation ,
Natural Disasters ,
Policy Limits ,
Property Damage ,
Property Insurance ,
Railways ,
Severe Weather ,
Summary Judgment ,
Transportation Industry
A recent article in the Sports section of The Miami Herald read “Shooting coach helps Winslow.” Perhaps, but it probably didn’t help the coach much. The admonition to “eat every carrot and pea on your plate” undoubtedly...more
9/12/2016
/ Airports ,
Declaratory Judgments ,
Denial of Insurance Coverage ,
Duty to Defend ,
Insurance Industry ,
Insurance Litigation ,
PCBs ,
Policy Exclusions ,
Policy Terms ,
Pollution Exclusion ,
Summary Judgment
The land in Florida is prone to sinking and insurance companies must often scramble for solid footing on which to anchor the scope of coverage for sinkhole losses. In Hegel v. First Liberty Insurance Corporation (11th Cir....more
Last month, in In re Deepwater Horizon, Relator, the Supreme Court of Texas applied a fundamental principle of insurance law to a case with enormous financial implications. The owner of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig had...more
Property damage can be sudden and dramatic, but it can also be subtle and insidious, and that can make it hard to identify the moment when properly coverage is implicated. As a result, courts have recognized several...more