We touch upon various issues in our August insurance update. The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts considers the meaning of “surface waters” and whether the sublimit for floods applies when pooled water on a roof...more
Southern District Of New York Holds That Insured Not Entitled to Coverage For Losses Resulting From COVID-19- Sparks Steakhouse in New York City filed a coverage action against its insurer, Admiral Indemnity, alleging that...more
In Jowite Limited Partnership v. Federal Insurance Company, the United States District Court for the District of Maryland issued a rare opinion addressing whether “collapse” is a covered “ensuing loss” under an all-risks...more
This 18th edition of Unprecedented, our weekly update on COVID-19-related litigation, sees us return to what, even in these early days of the pandemic, must be considered as some of the hottest topics. Thus, we discuss new...more
During the days and weeks following the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers, protests erupted in every state across the country. Although most of these protests remained peaceful, there were...more
As riots have swept across our cities, businesses have suffered direct property losses, including looting, broken storefront glass and signage, damaged inventory and business property, and smoke and fire damage. Businesses...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Government is taking steps to address the economic concerns of businesses across the nation through the proposal of legislation entitled the Pandemic Risk Insurance...more
When the National Weather Service names a storm heading in your direction, you know to expect wind and water. This can create a quandary for property insurers. Is water damage from a named windstorm caused by the flood or the...more
In S.O. Beach Corp. v. Great American Insurance Company of New York, No. 18-1967 (11th Cir. Oct. 31, 2019), the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the district court’s grant of summary judgment in full to the insurer, finding there...more
Subrogating insurers often address waiver of subrogation clauses in the form contracts drafted by the American Institute of Architects. In ACE Am. Ins. Co. v. Am. Med. Plumbing, No. A-5395-16T4, 2019 N.J. Super. LEXIS 45...more
In this episode of OnRisk, K&L Gates attorneys John Sylvester and Paul Fuener discuss business interruption insurance for hurricane losses, highlighting important steps that policyholders can take to protect their interests...more
In a rare foray into insurance law, London’s Privy Council considered the interpretation of a Contractors’ All Risk (CAR) policy in Sun Alliance (Bahamas) Ltd v Scandi Enterprises Ltd (Bahamas), and overturned the decision of...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
Cozen O’Connor attorneys Thomas McKay III, Richard Mackowsky, Charles Jesuit, and Melissa Brill recently secured summary judgment from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York in favor of Great...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
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
One coverage issue frequently arising under first-party property insurance policies entails a determination as to which party has the burden of proof to establish coverage, or to show the applicability and effect of a policy...more
Insuring property against loss creates an unavoidable moral hazard: policyholders often have an incentive to cause or allow their property to disappear. Early efforts to limit insurers’ exposure to that risk—such as requiring...more
Earlier this month a unanimous Florida appellate court joined a number of other states that have held that an all-risk policy exclusion for vandalism and malicious mischief operates to bar coverage for an arson loss. ...more
On November 26th, a unanimous panel of Florida’s Second District Court of Appeals held that a trial judge had erred in placing the burden of showing that loss was caused by covered sinkhole activity on the shoulders of the...more
Originally published in Insurance Law360 on February 21, 2013. Geomagnetic storms present a unique risk to power grids, power grid customers and insurers. The modern world, and particularly the East Coast of the U.S., is...more