Out With a Bang: Current State of Play on Coverage for COVID-Related Losses
The Calm Before and After the Storm: How to Maximize Insurance Recovery for Catastrophic Weather Events
Protect Your Construction Project: Top 10 Insurance Provisions to Know
Filing Insurance Claims After the Texas Winter Storm
Subro Sense - The ABC's of RCV and ACV
K&L Gates Triage: Emergency Preparedness and Response in Long Term Care - Part II
What Money Damages Are Available In A Personal Injury Claim?
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 Life Skills, Inc. v. Harleysville Insurance Company, 2024 WL 3792261 (D. Mass. 2024), the District Court of Massachusetts found that “collapse” provisions within a commercial property policy were ambiguous where a floor...more
In construing policies that covered loss “caused by or resulting from water damage” but excluded coverage for loss caused by “dampness of atmosphere” or by “[e]xtremes or changes in temperature,” the United States Court of...more
The New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) previously circulated proposed guidance on using AI in underwriting and pricing to address discrimination. DFS requested public comment. Commenters expressed concern over: ...more
In Zurich American Insurance Company v. Medical Properties Trust, Inc., 2024 WL 3504060 (Mass. Jul. 23, 2024), the Supreme Court of Massachusetts held that the term “surface waters,” as used in a limitation contained in a...more
Submitting a proof of loss using a carrier’s approved proof of loss form may be a mandatory post-loss obligation when invoking appraisal in commercial claims. The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida...more
Storms and hurricanes, isolated but powerful tornados, earthquakes, fires, and floods—the question is not whether, but where and when policyholders will confront the next natural disaster. Climate change is clearly having an...more
On February 1, 2024, the Supreme Court of Florida issued its opinion in American Coastal Ins. Co. v. San Marco Villas Condominium Ass’n, Inc., 2024 WL 369079 (Fla. 2024), to address a persisting conflict on the timing of...more
On March 26, a containership struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, resulting in the collapse of the highway infrastructure and tragic loss of life. As communities grieve the loss of their loved ones,...more
On January 10, 2024, the New York State Court of Appeals – the state’s highest court – heard oral argument on an insurance coverage dispute for plaintiff Consolidated Restaurant Operations’ (CRO) business interruption claim...more
The Illinois Supreme Court handed down a big win for policyholders just in time for the holidays. In Acuity v. M/I Homes of Chicago, LLC, the court joined the mainstream of jurisdictions and reversed years-old precedent that...more
Illinois Appellate Court Holds that Insurer May Subrogate to the Rights of an Additional Insured Based on a Contractual Right to Subrogation and that Equitable Subrogation Principles Do Not Apply - In a recently decided...more
Sands Anderson’s Brian Pitney recently interviewed independent insurance agent Chris Hall, owner of The Halls of Insurance about recent changes in the insurance industry. They discussed increases in insurance premiums,...more
The Maui wildfires are now the deadliest—and certainly among the most destructive—in modern US history, already outpacing the loss of life and impact on critical wildlife habitat/species of the 2018 Camp fire in California....more
Whether it’s caused by nature, human or mechanical error, or an unfortunate combination of all three, property damage of any kind is stressful. You already know that prompt action can help mitigate any dangers to your...more
As summer vacation rolls around and hotels, restaurants and other hospitality companies gear up for a busy tourist season, coastal businesses in the U.S. Southeast, Puerto Rico and the Caribbean may be welcoming an unexpected...more
In a recent decision from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Tampa Division, styled KT State & Lemon, LLP et al. v. Westchester Fire Ins. Co. et al., the Court granted summary judgment to the...more
Ports and terminals serve as the primary infrastructure for movement of goods and commodities in and out of a country and therefore play a vital role in global trade. As well as facilitating trade, ports and terminals also...more
COVID-19 business interruption claimants have had few state appellate court decisions upon which to rely. Louisiana produced one such decision in Cajun Conti, LLC v. Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s, 2022 La. App. LEXIS 939...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
In a January 6, 2023 precedential decision, the Third Circuit ruled in a consolidated appeal of 14 cases that Pennsylvania and New Jersey businesses are not entitled to coverage for Covid-related business interruption losses,...more
Hurricane Ian struck Florida on September 28. By late afternoon, it was a Category 5 storm with top winds of 155 miles per hour, producing huge storm surges along a wide area of the state’s southwestern coast. Damage is...more
As this is being written, Hurricane Ian is bearing down on the west coast of Florida and is anticipated to wreak havoc across a wide swath of the Sunshine State from Ft. Myers to Orlando and then to Daytona Beach. The...more
There is a clear nationwide trend of federal courts disposing of COVID-19 business interruption suits. Insureds are not clearing their initial burden to establish direct physical loss or damage to property, or they are...more
On July 13, 2022, the California Second District Court of Appeal issued a published decision reversing a trial court’s dismissal of a policyholder’s COVID-19 coverage claim. In Marina Pacific Hotel & Suites, LLC v. Fireman’s...more