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Occurrence

Insured’s Leaky “Abrupt” Interpretation of All-Risk Insurance Collapses Under Eleventh Circuit Scrutiny

January 7, 2020 by D. Barret Broussard

In S.O. Beach Corp. v. Great American Insurance Company of New York, No. 18-1967 (11th Cir. Oct. 31, 2019), the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the district court’s grant of summary judgment in full to the insurer, finding there was no ambiguity in the all-risk policy’s definition of a “collapse” as “an abrupt falling down or caving in of a building or any part of a building with the result that the building or part of the building cannot be occupied for its intended purpose” ... Keep Reading »

Missouri Appeals Court Rules That Insurer Must Pay Double Policy Limits in Medical Malpractice Claim Involving Birth Injuries

May 31, 2019 by Kelley Godfrey

In John Patty, D.O., LLC v. Missouri Professionals Mutual Physicians Professional Indemnity Association, No. ED106747 (Mo. Ct. App. Apr. 23, 2019), a Missouri appellate court rejected the lower court’s decision regarding liability limits in a medical malpractice suit involving injuries to both mother and baby. Specifically, the court held that because allegations of a physician’s negligence included acts and omissions, which occurred not only before and during a cesarean ... Keep Reading »

Homeowners Insurance Has Unintended Consequence, Insurer Must Defend Teen in Cyberbullying Suit

March 25, 2019 by Emma Mintz

Young girl viewing unpleasant message on cell phone

In State Farm Fire and Casualty Co. v. Motta, et al., No 18-cv-3956 (E.D. Pa. Dec. 11, 2018), the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Court held that State Farm Fire and Casualty Co. had a duty to defend a teenage boy against a lawsuit accusing him of cyberbullying one of his classmates that led her to commit suicide, under the boy’s mothers’ homeowners insurance policy. Julia Morath died by suicide within a couple of days of Zach Trimbur attacking her, via text message ... Keep Reading »

‘Me Too’ Coverage Implications for Employers

March 9, 2018 by Jillian Orticelli

Sexual Harassment Complaint Form

When an employer negligently supervises an employee who commits separate acts of sexual harassment against three different co-workers on separate occasions, how many "occurrences" are there under a standard commercial general liability policy? The Northern District of Ohio, Eastern Division, considered this question in Scott Fetzer Co. v. Zurich Am. Ins. Co., No. 16 CV 1570 (N.D. Ohio Dec. 18, 2017), and concluded that the answer is three. Three Times the Harassment In ... Keep Reading »

Georgia Federal Court Rules on Questions of Efficient Proximate Cause, Manifestation/Continuous Trigger and Pro Rata Allocation of Damages

October 6, 2017 by Heidi Hudson Raschke and Nancy Faggianelli

Corroded Metal Building

In ACE American Ins. Co. v. Exide Technologies, Inc. and The Wattles Co., No. 1:16-CV-1600-MHC (N.D. Ga. Sept. 20, 2017), the Federal District Court for the Northern District of Georgia applied a continuous trigger theory to an all risk property policy and declined to allocate damage, resulting in a single first-party property carrier being responsible for several years of damage. This case demonstrates that courts in some jurisdictions may require that policy language ... Keep Reading »

Connecticut Appellate Court Addresses Trigger, Allocation, Exclusions, and Other Issues of First Impression in Coverage Litigation Over Long-Latency Asbestos Injury Cases

June 2, 2017 by John C. Pitblado

Connecticut’s intermediate appellate court addressed a number of novel issues in a wide-ranging opinion regarding primary and excess insurers’ respective duties to defend and indemnify their common insured for long-tail asbestos-related injury claims. The opinion was rendered unanimously and authored collectively by the three-judge panel of Robert Beach, Douglas Lavine, and Stuart Bear (ret.). The case, styled R.T. Vanderbilt Company, Inc. v. Hartford Accident and ... Keep Reading »

Multiple Instances of Defectively Designed, Manufactured, or Installed Windows Does Multiple Occurrences Make

May 12, 2017 by Nora Valenza-Frost

Damaged Windows

After previously holding that various claims against the insured, Pella, alleged property damage caused by an “occurrence,” thus triggering Liberty Mutual Insurance Company’s (“Liberty”) coverage obligations under various CGL policies, in Pella Corp. v. Liberty Mut. Ins. Co., No. 4:11-cv-00273 (S.D. Mar. 31, 2017), the Southern District of Iowa was then tasked with determining the number of “occurrences.” Pella purchased annual liability policies – CGL policies (with ... Keep Reading »

Subcontractor Exception Torpedoes Insurers’ Defense To Faulty Workmanship Claim

September 16, 2016 by Daniel G. Enriquez and Robert D. Helfand

Cypress Point Condominium Ass’n, Inc. v. Adria Towers, L.L.C.

As this blog has reported, a line of cases deciding coverage disputes over faulty workmanship runs against (or, at least, around) a basic rule for interpreting insurance policies.  Under that rule, the scope of coverage is determined by a policy’s insuring clause, which may be narrowed by one or more exclusions.  Exceptions to the exclusions can add back coverage that the exclusions remove, but they cannot create coverage beyond the ambit of the insuring clause.  E.g., ... Keep Reading »

Washington Court Finds Coverage For “Collapse” Is Not Set In Stone

August 5, 2016 by Mariko Shitama Outman

As this blog has documented, the language of insurance policies evolves; it changes to address new risks, and it also responds to new interpretations of old policy provisions. Even if a policyholder maintains a long-standing relationship with a single carrier, the availability of coverage might turn on whether the loss occurred in a particular policy term. Property coverage for “collapse” provides an example of this development. After a number of courts found that the ... Keep Reading »

Grateful Marijuana Grower Scores Coverage Victory in Colorado Federal Court

April 20, 2016 by John C. Pitblado

The refusal of the Senate to fill a Supreme Court vacancy has put gridlock back on the front page, as it leaves important questions about immigration and clean energy unresolved. Uncertainty about federal policy is also affecting other areas of American life, including one of our most popular pastimes. Recently, in The Green Earth Wellness Center, LLC v. Atain Specialty Ins. Co., No. 13-cv-03452-MSK-NYW (D. Colo. Feb. 17, 2016), a federal court in Colorado held that the ... Keep Reading »

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Recent Articles

  • Connecticut Federal Court Construes Ambiguous Policy Exclusion in Favor of Coverage, but Rejects Bad Faith Claim
  • Third Circuit Holds Harassment Exclusion Bars Coverage for Sexual Assault Suit Under Pennsylvania Law
  • Tenth Circuit Interprets Excess Policy’s Definition of “Medical Incident” as Applying to the Injuries of One Single Person

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