The Standard Formula Podcast | Understanding Insurance Resolution Regimes
In Gharibian et al., v. Wawanesa General Insurance Company, the California Second District Court of Appeal found that, under California law, the insureds failed to prove smoke, soot, ash and fire debris on covered property...more
The Los Angeles wildfires, which began on January 7, 2025, have caused widespread devastation, destroying homes, businesses, and communities, while displacing thousands of residents. Insured loss estimates currently exceed...more
In this month’s update, we’re discussing cases involving climate change, hurricanes, cryptocurrency, and aerial spraying. We begin in Hawaii where that state’s high court became the first to decide whether greenhouse gas...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 most property insurance coverage litigation, the parties engage experts to elucidate the issues in the case. This is particularly true when there are multiple causes of loss, covered and not covered, that combine to cause...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
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
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
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
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
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
In Lee v. California Capital Insurance Co. (No. A136280; filed 6/18/15), a California Court of Appeal held that it was error for an appraisal panel to assign loss values to items simply because they were listed in the...more