With increasing frequency, insurers are challenging the sufficiency and clarity of settlement demands they failed to previously accept. The insurer’s challenges can take many forms but most focus on a demand not being written...more
Insurance laws may vary slightly between jurisdictions but major principles are nearly uniform. These include requirements that an insurer should draft clear and unambiguous exclusions and should identify and fully inform the...more
In the intricate landscape of catastrophic trucking cases and the interplay of multiple layers of liability insurance can resemble a precarious game of Jenga. Each move carries the potential to destabilize the structure,...more
Insurers are frequently asked to satisfy their duty of good faith and fair dealing by entertaining reasonable settlement offers within the combined limits of the policies. However, primary and excess insurers do not always...more
On June 7, the California Supreme Court issued an important opinion clarifying the circumstances under which an insured may trigger coverage under an excess policy in relation to a loss spanning multiple policy periods. This...more
Join Goldberg Segalla attorneys Zachary D. Oliva and Thomas M. Wester for a free interactive webinar as they discuss the duties and obligations of excess insurers when presented with high-value claims....more
Excess insurers facing claims should heavily scrutinize their policies for conditions that may be unsatisfactory —even if seemingly immaterial— because they can provide a complete defense to coverage. In a recent case, an...more
Hosts Lynda A. Bennett and Eric Jesse of Lowenstein Sandler discuss how to access a tower of insurance coverage in light of the recent decision in Pharmacia Corporation v. Arch Specialty Insurance Company, where an...more
The excess and surplus lines insurance market is a rapidly-growing avenue for the placement of insurance policies in the United States. Many alien (non-U.S.) insurance carriers write surplus lines insurance coverage via...more
In a cautionary tale for insurers everywhere, a California court recently ordered two excess carriers to pay their policy limits twice for a single policy term. Why? Because in the policies at issue, the policy limits paid...more
Applying well-settled Wisconsin law, a federal district court found that an insurer had no duty to indemnify an oral hygiene product manufacturer for tainted products after determining that the losses did not result from an...more
In PCS Nitrogen, Inc. v. Cont'l Cas. Co., 436 S.C. 254, 871 S.E.2d 590 (2022), the Supreme Court of South Carolina formally adopted the “post-loss exception” - a common law rule providing that insurer consent is not required...more
Frequency of severity is back. Insurance buyers need to approach excess casualty renewals carefully to mitigate for loss trends and take advantage of a changing insurance market....more
Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co. sued OneBeacon Insurance Co. for breach of a facultative reinsurance certificate. Fireman’s Fund settled claims with its insured and allocated a portion of the settlement to a Fireman’s Fund...more
The plaintiffs, U.S. Fire Insurance Co. and North River Insurance Co., issued 12 umbrella and excess umbrella liability policies for a combined coverage of $244 million to a manufacturer of respiratory protection equipment...more
The 2012 Macondo Well blowout and Deepwater Horizon rig explosion gave rise to a slew of lawsuits. Our subject today is one of them. ...more
Satterfield & Pontikes Constr., Inc. v. United States Fire Ins. Co., 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 21488 (5th Cir. Aug. 2, 2018) - This case arises out of an excess insurance provider’s refusal to cover damages incurred by the...more
In Montrose Chemical Corporation of California v. Superior Court , ___ Cal. App. 4th ___, No. B272387, 2017 WL 3772568 (Cal. Ct. App. Aug. 31, 2017), the California Court of Appeal issued a decision that has the potential to...more