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
Several years ago, I published a blog regarding the number of occurrences triggered under a liability policy for a motor vehicle accident in Florida. Other states also addressed this issue. Recently, the Federal District...more
As a contractor, you are familiar with working together with subcontractors — delegating project scope as part of the overall job. However, when a subcontractor’s work is defective, who is liable for the damage?...more
Arce v. Citizens Property Insurance Company, 3D22-0722 - The trial court granted the defendant’s motion for summary judgment by applying the presumption of prejudice in a case where the insureds submitted a claim for...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
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
Forfeiting insurance coverage on a covered claim is a quick way to ruin the holidays. Every year, tens of thousands of covered claims are left unpaid due to clerical mistakes by policyholders or their brokers. These unpaid...more
Hurricane Irma’s landfall in Florida produced an avalanche of property insurance claims throughout the state, the majority of which involved reported damage to roofs. Though many of these claims were legitimate, enterprising...more
Physical Alteration of Insured Property is not Required for Coverage Under a Communicable Disease Coverage Extension Where “Direct Physical Loss or Damage” Under the Terms of the Insurance Policy Includes Costs Incurred by an...more
While not from the California Supreme Court, we are reporting on a decision from the California Court of Appeal because of its importance to myriad COVID-19 insurance coverage actions currently being litigated in California. ...more
Hail damage is so typical in Texas that Chapter 542A of the Texas Insurance Code is known as the “Hail Bill.” Texas follows the concurrent cause doctrine. As the Texas Supreme Court held in Lyons v. Millers Casualty...more
A district court in Montana recently applied an anti-concurrent clause in a property insurance policy to preclude coverage based on an earth movement exclusion. In Ward v. Safeco Ins. Co. of Amer., No. 1:19-CV-0133-SPW, 2021...more
On September 27, 2021, Judge Jose Martinez of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida granted summary judgment in favor of Scottsdale Insurance Company in LMP Holdings Inc. v. Scottsdale Ins. Co., case...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
The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals recently held that, under Iowa law, an insurer is not liable for breach of contract or bad faith if its coverage decision was objectively reasonable at the time it was made. In Hallmark...more
A Florida court recently held that rust and corrosion of water pipes is an “act of nature,” and, thus, was excluded from coverage under a homeowner’s insurance policy. In Dodge v. People’s Trust Insurance Company, 2021 WL...more
On March 26, 2021, the Fourth District issued a ruling in the matter of Jennifer Mezadieu v. Safepoint Insurance Company, which critically cemented the principle that ‘intentionality’ on the part of an insured is not a...more
Florida Statute §627.70132 allows an insured to make a claim for an alleged hurricane loss within three years of the event. This statute, however, is not a waiver of the insured’s initial burden of proof to establish...more
California law generally requires that an insurer reject a reasonable settlement demand within the policy limits before it can be liable for a bad faith failure to settle. See Samson v. Transamerica Ins. Co., 30 Cal.3d 220,...more
In first-party breach of insurance contract actions, the parties oftentimes dispute whether the policyholder may seek damages that are not explicitly provided for in the policy, with the policyholder arguing such indirect...more
On January 21, 2021, the Supreme Court of Florida issued an important decision in Citizens Property Insurance Corp. v. Manor House, LLC, et. al., SC19-1394 (Fla. 2021), disallowing an insured to recover extra-contractual,...more
One way a CGL insurer can narrow otherwise broad bodily injury and property damage coverage is by activity. Activities that face similar risk can be grouped using an activity classification code, which can be incorporated...more
When an owner seeks the appraisal of a property insurance claim, insurers commonly object by demanding that the trial court must first rule on defenses to coverage before allowing appraisal panel to value the total claim...more
In a case in which Wiley represented the insurer, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, applying New York law, has held that three prior knowledge exclusions barred coverage under an...more
On July 29, 2020, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals issued its opinion in Southern Owners Ins. Co. v. MAC Contractors, of Fla., LLC, --- Fed. Appx. ---, 2020 WL 4345199 (11th Cir. July 29, 2020). While claiming to follow...more