Merchants Preferred Insurance Company filed a declaratory judgment action in New York seeking a declaration that it had no duty to defend or to indemnify its insureds in an underlying Florida personal injury action arising...more
The recent decision of Marcantel v. State Farm Fire, No. 2:22-CV-01511, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 111077 (W.D. La. June 24, 2024) offers valuable lessons for policyholders regarding the importance of cooperation in the insurance...more
The parent of an infant sued Kim Eichle for Eichle’s alleged negligence in serving alcohol to her houseguest, Jacob Russo, who allegedly assaulted the infant, and for negligence in failing to keep the sidewalk at her...more
The Insurer issued an Auto Policy and an Umbrella Policy. The Auto Policy provided $100,000 of UIM coverage and the Umbrella Policy provided $2,000,000 of UIM coverage. Just like ARS § 12-555(C)(2),the Auto Policy barred UIM...more
We have written about class actions filed against State Farm and other carriers alleging systematic undervaluation of damaged vehicles. One of our articles focused on a decision by the Middle District of Georgia dismissing...more
New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) is concerned that AI’s self-learning behavior increases the risks of unlawful or unfair discrimination. DFS will audit insurers’ use of AI. Such insurers need to maintain...more
In our January insurance update, we include three state cases addressing some less common situations. It’s not often that a pollution exclusion is interpreted in the context of an auto policy. But the South Dakota Supreme...more
In State Farm Fire & Cas. Co. v. Tamagawa, Index No. 510977/2021, 2023 N.Y. Misc. Lexis 5434, the Supreme Court of New York considered whether an insurance carrier can settle its property subrogation lawsuit with the...more
The insureds owned a house covered by an all-risk homeowner’s insurance policy issued by Erie Insurance Company of New York that provided coverage for damage to the house unless specifically excluded. The policy contained an...more
We bring you our March Insurance Update. As college basketball programs embark on the road to the final four, we select our top four insurance cases from the past month. In a dispute over the priority of coverage, the...more
We have written about class actions filed against State Farm and other carriers alleging systematic undervaluation of damaged vehicles. See, e.g., Eleventh Circuit emphasizes the abuse of discretion standard in affirming the...more
In a recent unpublished opinion, the 11th Circuit upheld summary judgment for an auto insurer on claims of breach of contract, bad faith and outrage stemming from an underinsured motorist (UIM) claim. Voss v. State Farm Mut....more
First Department Affirms That Business Interruption From COVID-19 Not Covered- The insured purchased a commercial property policy that included business interruption coverage for its restaurants. The restaurants were...more
On April 8, 2022, the United States District Court, District of Delaware, granted defendant-insurers’ motion for a change of venue, transferring the directors and officers (D&O) insurance dispute originally filed in Delaware...more
Accepting coverage for part of a claim may subject an insurer to a policy’s appraisal process when the extent of covered damage is in dispute, according to a recent ruling issued by the Eastern District of Tennessee....more
The Supreme Court of Florida issued a significant decision regarding the calculation of personal injury protection (PIP) benefits in MRI Associates of Tampa, Inc., etc. v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company;...more
The New York Supreme Court – Appellate Division (Second Department) (“Court”) addressed in an October 20th Decision & Order (“Decision”) alleged damages associated with the remediation of oil contamination. See Bennett v....more
In our March Insurance Update, we discuss four state supreme court cases and four cybercrime cases. The state high courts address: •From whose perspective should a consent-to-settle provision be judged? •What standard...more
ADDITIONAL AND NAMED INSUREDS/PRIORITY- Court Rules “C/O” Company In Contract Not An Additional Insured- A construction worker sued Blue Woods Management Group, Inc. alleging that he was injured while working... ...more
In response to the wave of litigation over COVID-19-related business income claims, an overwhelming majority of courts considering the relevant policy language — approximately 80% — have found no coverage as a matter of law...more
In State Farm Fire & Cas. Co. v. Amazon.com, Inc., No. 3:18CV166-M-P, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 189053 (Oct. 31, 2019), the United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi considered a Motion for Judgment on...more
As most subrogation professionals know, Amazon has been fighting products liability claims across the country for some time now. While it has been largely successful in doing so in the past, in a recent decision, Wisconsin...more
First-party property policies typically include appraisal provisions requiring each party to appoint a “disinterested” or “impartial” appraiser. A Florida appellate court recently addressed the question of what makes a...more
On June 28, 2019, a divided Supreme Court of Texas issued a pair of important opinions addressing how an insurer’s timely payment of an appraisal award impacts the viability of a policyholder’s contractual and...more
The final quarter of 2018 witnessed a number of new twists on old theories in class actions involving auto and homeowners claims and coverages, as well as further activity in some long-running class actions. ...more