The Standard Formula Podcast | Understanding Insurance Resolution Regimes
Steven Hix and G. Benjamin Milam of Bradley discuss a pair of recent North Carolina Supreme Court rulings on coverage for pandemic-related losses, one of which gave policyholders a rare win. On December 13, the North...more
Wilson et al v. USI Insurance Services, LLC, et al., - In Wilson et al v. USI Insurance Services, LLC et al., No. 20-3124 (3d Cir. Oct. 8, 2024) the Third Circuit recently denied a petition for rehearing on COVID-19 related...more
In this month’s update, we discuss Russian-seized planes, Starbucks-caused traffic jams, a squabble over the use of a family name, a restaurant’s pandemic-based loss, a poorly built house, and whether insurance covers any of...more
In a recent New York Court of Appeals opinion, the court found that business losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic were not covered under an “all-risk” commercial property insurance policy. In Consolidated Rest. Operations,...more
In a unanimous opinion issued yesterday, the New Jersey Supreme Court joined the majority of other courts to hold that business interruption losses related to the COVID-19 pandemic are not covered under the standard language...more
Insurance partner Rob Chaplin is joined by colleague Lamya Al-Yazdi as they introduce our “Standard Formula” listeners to the three emergent insurance resolution regimes that deal with the failure, or potential failure, of...more
All eyes are on the New Jersey Supreme Court as we await oral arguments on the latest business interruption coverage dispute. In the lawsuit, an Atlantic City casino, Ocean Walk, seeks reimbursement for costs incurred during...more
“Highly protected risk” (HPR) is an insurance industry term referring to a risk that has been controlled and managed through various measures....more
When COVID-19 ground the world to a halt, policyholders and insurance-coverage attorneys made predictions about the effectiveness of insurance against coronavirus-related losses. And the outlook wasn’t great. This article...more
Along with seeking to analogize COVID-19 physical loss or damage to that in the fumes or contaminants context, policyholders are now also attempting to rely on cases discussing the bounds of physical loss or damage in the...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit recently affirmed the dismissal of a policyholder’s COVID-19 insurance coverage action in Santo’s Italian Café LLC v. Acuity Insurance Co., No. 21-3068 (6th Cir. Sept. 22,...more
One year ago, when the COVID-19 pandemic ground the world to a halt, our firm’s virtual offices were inundated with calls from policyholders, asking if their current and projected losses due to the pandemic would be covered...more
The tidal wave of favorable rulings for insurers in COVID-19 business interruption insurance coverage lawsuits that started in 2020 is continuing in 2021. As this blog has previously explained, commercial property insurance...more
Following up on our prior discussion of Studio 417, Inc., et al. v. The Cincinnati Ins. Comp., a different federal judge in the Western District of Missouri recently ruled in Zwillo V, Corp. v. Lexington Insurance Co. that a...more
As we wrote about in a recent article, the trends in insurance coverage for COVID-19 related losses are: 1) so far insurers are winning, and 2) the cases are fact intensive and turn on policy and pleading language. As we...more
Companies in the United States continue to file business interruption lawsuits against their insurers for claims arising from state and local government shutdown orders in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. At least 1,250...more
The stark effects of the coronavirus pandemic are conspicuously clear in downtown Chicago: Shuttered businesses that once catered to throngs of commuters and office workers loom over bare sidewalks, while trains fly by with a...more
In Balfour Beatty Construction, LLC v. Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Company, No. 19-20216 (August 3, 2020), the Fifth Circuit determined that Liberty Mutual’s policy does not cover a construction company’s claim for window...more
Two recent opinions addressed the trigger of coverage language requiring a “direct physical loss.” In Mama Jo’s Inc., d.b.a Berries v. Sparta Insurance Company, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed summary judgment...more
For businesses that were shut down by COVID-19 a common question is whether there is coverage for business interruption. In New York, the answer is no. This should be the answer nationwide. Coverage for business interruption...more
Key Points - - Several courts have concluded that government-mandated shutdown orders during COVID-19 do not constitute "direct physical loss," a pre-requisite for insurance coverage that is outlined in insurance policies....more
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, so does the deluge of litigation stemming from property insurers’ denials of COVID-19 business interruption claims. Much of the debate between carriers and policyholders concerns whether...more
In the context of the numerous lawsuits have recently filed by policyholders seeking compensation for lost business income occasioned by the pending pandemic, a key issue will be whether those policyholders have suffered...more
On August 12, 2020, a federal district court delivered a big win for businesses that were shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, holding that the presence of COVID-19 on insured property can constitute “direct physical loss”...more
The Situation: This month, a Michigan state trial court dismissed the COVID-19-related business interruption coverage lawsuit filed by two policyholder restaurants on the pleadings, finding that they had failed to allege any...more