A recent Mississippi case reminds commercial and residential policyholders alike of the importance of updating insurance coverage when circumstances change to avoid a coverage dispute or the loss of coverage altogether....more
On December 31, 2021, New York imposed draconian new insurance disclosure requirements on defendants in New York state courts when Gov. Kathy Hochul signed the Comprehensive Insurance Disclosure Act (Senate Bill 7052) into...more
Nordstrom, like other retailers, sustained property damage and business interruption expenses as a result of protests arising out of the Black Lives Matter movement. Although the retailer supports BLM, its insurers do not...more
Notwithstanding insurers’ transparent attempts to convince you otherwise, policyholders may very well have coverage for business interruption losses from COVID-19 under their property policies. Since the start of the...more
Judge Stephen Bough and the federal court in the Western District of Missouri entered an important order yesterday in a case brought by Studio 417, a hair salon, and several restaurants against Cincinnati Insurance Company....more
The Panel on Multidistrict Litigation has rejected efforts to centralize pretrial proceedings in actions in Pennsylvania and Illinois seeking insurance coverage for business interruption losses resulting from COVID-19. The...more
Many of the early insurance-related COVID-19 lawsuits seek insurance coverage under the civil authority coverage grant in commercial property policies. Restaurants filed the first cases (Cajun Conti LLC, et al. v. Certain...more
Louisiana, like many other states, has proposed two insurance coverage bills in response to COVID-19’s devastating impact on businesses. While Louisiana’s House bill is limited to small businesses, the Senate bill is not....more
As COVID-19 leads to event cancellations worldwide, the insurance market is scrambling to minimize its financial exposure to event cancellation claims. Although we have seen event policies with COVID-19 exclusions and others...more
In a sweeping decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit extended the absolute pollution exclusion to the unplanned discharge of “rock fines,” pellets produced during quarry operations, and denied coverage for...more
1/31/2020
/ Appeals ,
Commercial General Liability Policies ,
Declaratory Judgments ,
Denial of Insurance Coverage ,
Department of Environmental Protection ,
Drinking Water ,
Duty to Defend ,
Environmental Violations ,
Insurance Industry ,
Insurance Litigation ,
Notice of Violation ,
Policy Exclusions ,
Policy Terms ,
Pollution Exclusion ,
Reversal ,
Statutory Violations ,
Umbrella Policies ,
Water Pollution
With the potential addition of autonomous cars and trucks to commercial fleets, commercial insureds should reassess coverage under their commercial auto, products liability and cyber insurance policies. Automation,...more
With the potential addition of autonomous cars and trucks to commercial fleets, commercial insureds should reassess coverage under their commercial auto, products liability, and cyber insurance policies. Automation,...more
4/5/2018
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Automation Systems ,
Cyber Insurance ,
Cybersecurity ,
Driverless Cars ,
Errors and Omissions Policy ,
Insurance Industry ,
Liability Insurance ,
Manufacturers ,
Policy Terms ,
Robotics ,
Technology Sector
Distributed Ledger Technology, commonly referred to as “blockchain,” is a secure way for companies and individuals to share information without third-party oversight. Blockchain decentralizes electronic record-keeping so...more
Due to the dramatic increase and changing nature of cyber risks, mergers and acquisitions due diligence should expand to address cyber risks, available risk mitigation practices, and available insurance. Acquiring companies...more
1/29/2018
/ Business Interruption ,
Computer Fraud Insurance ,
Cyber Insurance ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Data Protection ,
Due Diligence ,
Employee Training ,
Incident Response Plans ,
Information Technology ,
Insurance Industry ,
Malware ,
Policy Terms ,
Popular ,
Ransomware ,
Risk Management ,
Risk Mitigation
On November 17, 2017, a U.S. district court in Florida narrowly construed personal and advertising injury coverage for data-breach claims under a commercial general liability policy. In Innovak International, Inc., v. The...more
11/28/2017
/ Advertising Injury ,
Claim Denial Letters ,
Class Action ,
Commercial General Liability Policies ,
Cyber Insurance ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Duty to Defend ,
Insurance Industry ,
Negligence ,
Personally Identifiable Information
As every policyholder should know, purportedly “late” notice under claims-made insurance policies can eradicate coverage – even if the policyholder purchases successive policies from the same insurer. Alaska Interstate...more
Even as Hurricane Harvey’s effects continue to unfold, Texas policyholders face another imminent threat. On September 1, 2017, a new Texas law becomes effective that dramatically limits insurance recoveries for Texan...more
8/30/2017
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Denial of Insurance Coverage ,
Hurricane Harvey ,
Hurricane Season ,
Insurance Claims ,
Insurance Industry ,
Natural Disasters ,
New Legislation ,
Popular ,
Property Damage ,
Property Insurance ,
Severe Weather
A recent Minnesota coverage decision provides guideposts for a commercial policyholder’s proper handling of an insurance claim as well as a cautionary tale regarding an excess insurer’s attempt to readjudicate liability in a...more
Insurers’ exploration of distributed ledger technology (DLT), commonly referred to as blockchain, continues to expand. Last month, AIG announced a partnership with IBM and Standard Chartered Bank P.L.C. to test a “smart...more
7/28/2017
/ Bitcoin ,
Blockchain ,
Commercial Insurance Policies ,
Digital Currency ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Innovative Technology ,
Insurance Industry ,
Peer-to-Peer ,
Popular ,
Smart Contracts
Recent court decisions across a variety of industries highlight the importance of submitting accurate and complete insurance applications and renewals. When submitting an insurance application, the applicant should accurately...more
Part of Bradley Arant’s Policyholder Insurance Coverage Team’s six-part Maximize Your Company's Insurance Coverage Webinar Series, the “Understanding CIPs, Builder’s Risk, and Inland Marine Insurance Policies” webinar, led by...more
Insurance policies typically include a cooperation clause, which requires the insured to cooperate with the insurer in the defense of a covered claim. Insurers routinely use this clause as a sword against their insureds by...more
7/27/2015
/ Babcock & Wilcox Construction ,
Bad Faith ,
Class Action ,
Contract Terms ,
Duty to Defend ,
Fairness Standard ,
Insurance Industry ,
Policy Exclusions ,
Policy Limits ,
Reservation of Rights ,
Toxic Exposure