The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a colorful opinion in a property insurance coverage dispute affirming a denial of coverage for loss arising out of an illicit marijuana growing operation in Michigan. The case is captioned K.V.G. Properties Inc. v. Westfield Ins. Co., No. 17-2421 (6th Cir. Aug. 21, 2018). The insured was the lessor of commercial properties, including a property leased to certain tenants who, unbeknownst to the lessor, built a large-scale ... Keep Reading »
Exclusions/Exceptions
Professional Services Exclusion Precludes Coverage for False Claims Act Suit
It is not unusual for a directors and officers liability policy to have an exclusion for professional services. A such, a question often arises regarding whether the claimed wrongful conduct involved the rendering or failure to render professional services in a particular context. In HotChalk, Inc. v. Scottsdale Ins. Co., No. 16-17287 (9th Cir. June 4, 2018), the Ninth Circuit found that coverage was precluded for a False Claims Act suit because the insured’s ... Keep Reading »
An Absolute Pollution Exclusion: Reading the ‘Fine’ Print
A federal judge recently relied on a pollution exclusion to find that Great American Insurance Company was not obligated to cover losses associated with the unintended distribution of rock fines into New Jersey’s Spruce Run reservoir. In Great American Ins. Co. v. ACE American Ins. Co., No. 4:18-CV-114-A (N.D. Tex. Jul. 10, 2018), the Northern District of Texas examined the scope of an absolute pollution exclusion and found that it applied to bar coverage, despite the ... Keep Reading »
Common Sense Prevails Over Dictionary Definitions: Rolling Trash Bins Are Not ‘Vehicles’ Judge Explains
A federal judge recently refused an insured’s attempt to escape a policy exclusion by contending that a large “storage bin” on wheels was a “vehicle” under an exception to the exclusion, which prohibited coverage for costs associated with gas system tests. In 1070 Park Ave. Corp. v. Fireman’s Fund Ins. Co., No. 17 CIV. 2474 (CM) (S.D.N.Y. June 19, 2018), appeal docketed No. 18-1961 (2d Cir. June 29, 2018), the judge ruled that the storage bin was not a “vehicle” as that ... Keep Reading »
The Sentinel Strike: The Hartford’s Gift to New York Insurers in the War to Stop Policyholder Experts from Claiming Ambiguities Exist in Clear Policy Exclusions
In this age of exponentially increasing technology, we can rely on one certainty in property casualty jurisprudence – that is, bold policyholder assertions supported by even bolder “expert” opinions. In BF Advance, LLC v. Sentinel Insurance Company, No. 16-cv-5931 (E.D.N.Y. Mar. 20, 2018), decided in New York federal court this past March, the policyholder argued that a CGL policy’s Software Exclusion does not apply to injuries caused by software, and hired an insurance ... Keep Reading »
An Expert Is Only as Good as His Actual Experience
Experts are often used to address issues of causation and scope of damages in insurance coverage matters. It is well established, however, that an expert must be qualified through specific training or actual experience. Without such training or experience, a purported expert’s affidavit may not be sufficient to create an issue of material fact sufficient to defeat summary judgment. Such was the lesson in Superhost v Selective Ins (NY App 2018-04-12), Case No. 525034 (NY ... Keep Reading »
Drawing a Line in the Sand: The Second Circuit Tries to Define Where D&O Coverage Ends and E&O Coverage Begins
Policyholders often obtain both errors and omissions (E&O) and directors and officers (D&O) liability insurance policies because they provide complementary coverage. E&O policies provide coverage for claims for wrongful acts arising from the provision of "professional services," and while D&O policies also provide coverage for claims for wrongful acts, they often exclude coverage for such claims arising from the provision of professional services. Despite ... Keep Reading »
AIG Won’t Have to Defend Carfax in $50 Million Antitrust Suit
On March 1, a New York appeals court ruled that American International Group, Inc. (AIG) need not defend Carfax, Inc. against a $50 million suit alleging the company monopolized the vehicle history report market. The decision affirmed the lower court’s determination that the matter did not fall within the insuring agreement and that, even if it did, it would be precluded from coverage based on the application of the policy’s antitrust exclusion. In May 2017, AIG ... Keep Reading »
When Relying on a Prior Acts Exclusion to Deny Coverage, Be Sure to Connect the Dots
In Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s of London v. Federal Deposit Ins. Corp., No. 16-16702 (11th Cir. Jan. 23, 2018), the Eleventh Circuit concluded that a “prior acts” exclusion in a D&O policy did not bar coverage where the insurer failed to prove a clear connection to events that occurred before inception of the insurance policy. As this case demonstrates, when an insurer relies on a prior acts exclusion to deny coverage, it not only must establish the wrongful ... Keep Reading »
Look Beneath the Surface: No Coverage for DC Row House Collapse Under Builder’s Risk Policy
The interpretation of a property insurance policy may seem like a dull endeavor, but courts sometimes face fundamental questions about what words mean, or how we conceptualize cause and effect. In Taja Investments LLC v. Peerless Ins. Co., No. 16-1854 (4th Cir. Oct. 11, 2017), the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals confronted both issues to determine that two exclusions in a builder’s risk policy applied to bar coverage for the collapse of a row house under renovation in ... Keep Reading »
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- …
- 14
- Next Page »