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Real Estate Market Insurance Litigation

Cozen O'Connor

Court in Montana Applies Anti-Concurrent Causation Clause to Earth Movement Exclusion

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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

Cozen O'Connor

Louisiana Federal Court Upholds Applicability of Anti-Concurrent Causation Exclusion for Hurricane Damage

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In a timely reaffirmation of the Fifth Circuit’s 2007 ruling in Leonard v. Nationwide Mut. Ins. Co., a Louisiana federal court recently upheld the application of an insurance policy’s Anti-Concurrent Causation Clause (“ACC”)...more

Cozen O'Connor

Ensuing Loss Clause Does Not Create Coverage for “Collapse” Inseparable from Damage Caused by Excluded Perils

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     In Jowite Limited Partnership v. Federal Insurance Company, the United States District Court for the District of Maryland issued a rare opinion addressing whether “collapse” is a covered “ensuing loss” under an all-risks...more

Butler Weihmuller Katz Craig LLP

Heads I win, Tails You Lose: Southern Owners Insurance Company v. MAC Contractors

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

Butler Weihmuller Katz Craig LLP

Pretzel Logic: Cheetham V. Southern Oak And Its Ill-Begotten Progeny

The standard ISO homeowners insurance policy contains an exclusion for damage caused by water which backs up through sewers or drains.  While this appears to be an unambiguous exclusion, using twisted logic, the Third...more

Robinson+Cole Property Insurance Coverage...

Assignments of Benefits Under Homeowners Insurance Policies: Iowa Supreme Court Rules that Assignment Was Void Because Contractor...

One practice that has plagued the insurance industry in recent years has been contractors soliciting homeowners to make insurance claims after a hailstorm, for example, and then obtaining an assignment of rights to the claim...more

Carlton Fields

New York Appellate Court Affirms Denial of Discovery Into Other Hurricane Sandy Claims

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In Knickerbocker Village Inc. v. Lexington Insurance Co., New York’s Appellate Division, First Judicial Department, dictated a clear rule for single-insured cases regarding the discovery of an insurer’s treatment of insurance...more

Carlton Fields

Connecticut Supreme Court Fortifies Crumbling Foundation Claim Denials in Trio of Insurer Victories

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A year ago, we wrote about a rapidly emerging area of insurance litigation in Connecticut: crumbling foundations. As a quick recap, tens of thousands of homes in northeastern Connecticut built over a span of more than 30...more

Butler Weihmuller Katz Craig LLP

A Brief Refresher On Appraisal In North Carolina, South Carolina, And Georgia

Most first party property coverage policies contain an appraisal provision that allows either the insured or the insurer to make a written demand for appraisal when the parties agree that covered property was damaged by a...more

Cozen O'Connor

Failure of Insured to Provide Requested Documents Triggers Appraisal Under First Party Insurance Policy

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Those familiar with first party insurance policies have undoubtedly encountered a recurring issue with the interpretation of appraisal provisions – what does it mean to disagree on the amount of loss?  ...more

Butler Weihmuller Katz Craig LLP

The Evolving Limitations on Appraisers in Florida: Analyzing State Farm Florida Ins. Co. v. Sanders

Appraisers are frequently involved in Florida property claims. Accordingly, Florida courts continue to refine the roles and limitations with respect to appraisers and the appraisal process as a whole. ...more

Cozen O'Connor

Insured Made Whole After Subrogation Recovery

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A property insurer, having paid for covered damage, can recover the loss by seeking reimbursement from its insured where the insured has recovered funds from a responsible third-party, or the insurer may pursue a claim...more

Cozen O'Connor

Free Ride on RCV? Not So Fast!

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Most property insurance policies condition the payment of replacement cost value (RCV) on the property first being replaced or repaired, and courts typically enforce that requirement. ...more

Butler Weihmuller Katz Craig LLP

What Baseball Has Taught Me About The Insurance Appraisal Process

Anyone who has ever watched baseball knows that umpires sometimes make an incorrect call. In appraisal of a property insurance claim, sometimes the umpire can make a mistake as well....more

Cozen O'Connor

Eleventh Circuit Holds Attorneys’ Fees Are Not Warranted Where Policyholder Filed Suit Instead of Undergoing Appraisal

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The Eleventh Circuit, in J.P.F.D. Investment Corp. v. United Specialty Insurance Co., recently affirmed a district court’s denial of statutory attorneys’ fees to a policyholder that, to resolve a disagreement over the amount...more

Robinson+Cole Property Insurance Coverage...

District of New Jersey Applies Anti-Concurrent Causation Provision to Superstorm Sandy Claim

In a recent decision arising out of Superstorm Sandy, the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey confirmed the enforceability of anti-concurrent causation provisions. Zero Barnegat Bay, LLC v. Lexington...more

Butler Weihmuller Katz Craig LLP

Pennsylvania court rules insurer may still be responsible to pay RCV even if repairs never completed.

In situations where a property insurer denies coverage, the insured often complains that it is faced with a difficult dilemma – use its own money to fund repairs or avoid making repairs and risk having its recovery limited to...more

Carlton Fields

Court Enforces Policy’s Crumbling Foundation Plain Language in Dismissing Claims Against Insurers

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A federal judge in Connecticut recently dismissed claims against insurers related to their denial of a claim by two homeowners whose home’s foundation was crumbling. The case, Hyde v. Allstate Ins. Co., No. 3:18-cv-00031 (D....more

Cozen O'Connor

Florida Supreme Court Invited to Resolve Assignment-Of-Benefits Controversy

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At least two Florida appellate courts have directly contradicted each other on an increasingly-important question facing Floridians and the insurance industry. The question is as follows: “Are insurance provisions valid which...more

Robinson+Cole Property Insurance Coverage...

Failure to Cooperate and Misrepresentation: New York Federal Court Grants Summary Judgment Finding Insured Explanations for False...

While issues of fact can preclude summary judgment in some cases involving failure to cooperate and misrepresentation, a New York federal court recently granted summary judgment to an insurer in this context. ...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

“Unnecessary and Inappropriate”: The declaration no one wanted

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Your client wants to recover damages for breach of contract and demands that you assert as many causes of action as possible. In addition to the breach cause of action, you consider a declaratory judgment claim, right? ...more

Butler Weihmuller Katz Craig LLP

Full Consent to Assignments

Because there can be more than one individual or entity that holds an interest in property, a property insurance policy is generally drafted in such a way to identify and protect all the individuals or entities who have an...more

Rumberger | Kirk

Fifth DCA Strikes Blow To Popular Policy Exclusion

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The Fifth District Court of Appeal recently issued a decision that will likely force homeowners insurance carriers to rewrite one of their stalwart policy exclusions that pertains to “constant or repeated seepage or leakage”...more

Butler Weihmuller Katz Craig LLP

The Eleventh Circuit Strengthens the Third District Court of Appeal's Decision in Cheetham: Know Thy Policy Terms

In Cameron v. Scottsdale Insurance Company, No. 17-11907, 2018 WL 1791889, at *1 (11th Cir. Apr. 16, 2018), the Eleventh Circuit vacated the lower court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the insurer and relied on...more

Robinson+Cole Property Insurance Coverage...

The Protective Safeguards—Heat Maintained Endorsement Means What it Says: Eastern District of New York Grants Summary Judgment...

Typical first party property policies include provisions that address failure to maintain heat as excluded losses. The Eastern District of New York recently analyzed a specific endorsement requiring that heat be maintained at...more

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