Just like the tidal wave of trial court decisions in favor of insurers in COVID-19 business interruption insurance coverage lawsuits, a similar wave of appellate decisions is now forming. In Dakota Girls LLC v. Philadelphia Indemnity Insurance Co., the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, applying Ohio law, affirmed the dismissal of a lawsuit brought by private preschools seeking coverage for alleged COVID-19-related business interruption losses. The Sixth Circuit held there ... Keep Reading »
Sixth Circuit Affirms Ruling That Knowledge Exclusion Barred Coverage for Listeria Contamination Loss, Finds Green Bean Farmer Forfeited “Ambiguity” Argument
Invoking the legal equivalent of "you snooze, you lose," the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals found a farmer slept on its right to argue on appeal that an exclusion in its insurance policy was ambiguous. The decision, Arbre Farms Corp. v. Great American E&S Insurance Co., affirmed a district court ruling that the farmer was not entitled to coverage under its product recall policy based on a prior knowledge exclusion. Arbre Farms grows and sells vegetables. In 2019, ... Keep Reading »
Florida Appellate Court Rejects Third Party’s Attempt to Rewrite Appraisal Clause in Property Insurance Policy
On November 10, 2021, Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeal weighed in on a matter involving the interpretation of an appraisal clause for resolving disputes regarding the amount due for covered loss in First Call 24/7, Inc. v. Citizens Property Insurance Corp. In July 2018, Citizens Property Insurance insured a piece of property owned by the policyholder. The policyholder contacted First Call 24/7 Inc. to provide water mitigation services after her property ... Keep Reading »
10th Circuit Finds No Coverage Under All-Risk Policy for Building Damage Caused by Soil Collapse Triggered by Burst Water Pipe
In Naabani Twin Stars, LLC v. St. Paul Fire & Marine Insurance Co., the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals held that St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Co. has no duty to cover damage that occurred when a building’s underlying soil collapsed, but not the building itself, due to a burst water pipe under an adjacent parking lot. In July 2016, a waterline under a parking lot, near a building owned by Naabani Twin Stars LLC and Twin Stars Limited, ruptured. Two ... Keep Reading »
Virginia Federal Court Orders Suppliers of Contaminated Fruit to Reimburse Subrogated Insurer for Defense of Smoothie Cafes
Sentinel Insurance Co. v. VLM Foods Inc. arose after a hepatitis A outbreak was traced back to contaminated strawberries used and sold by several insured smoothie cafe franchises. The insured tendered all of the outbreak claims to its strawberry suppliers, pursuant to several hold harmless agreements. Although the suppliers paid a bulk of the claims, they refused to pay any of the insured’s attorneys’ fees and costs incurred in defending the outbreak claims, which were ... Keep Reading »
Florida Federal Court Affirms Insurer’s Denial of Hurricane Irma Claim Reported More Than Two Years Late
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida granted a motion for summary judgment in favor of the insurer in LMP Holdings v Scottsdale Insurance Co., holding that the insurer was prejudiced by the insured’s delayed reporting of the claim. The matter concerned a Hurricane Irma claim for a commercial property located in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The insurer, Scottsdale Insurance Co., issued LMP Holdings Inc., the insured, an all-risk commercial ... Keep Reading »
Workers Compensation Rate Hearing and Proposed Cat Fund
The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation conducted a rate hearing last week to discuss the National Council on Compensation Insurance's (NCCI) proposed overall average statewide workers’ compensation premium decrease of 4.9%. If approved, it would have an effective date of January 1, 2022, for new and renewal policies. COVID-19-related losses in Florida were excluded from the data used to determine the proposed decrease in order to better reflect conditions that will ... Keep Reading »
Florida’s “Totality of Circumstances” Bad Faith Analysis Should Consider Claimant’s Actions as a “Factor” but Not a “Focus”
A recent decision of the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals limits the Florida Supreme Court’s approach to evaluating whether an insurer committed bad faith in handling a claim against its insured. In Harvey v. Geico General Insurance Co., the Florida Supreme Court (in a 4–3 decision) stated, four times, that “the focus in a bad faith case is not on the actions of the claimant but rather on those of the insurer in fulfilling its obligations to the insured.” In the ... Keep Reading »
Fifth Circuit Finds Coverage for Untimely Fraudulent Wire Instruction Claim Is Not Barred Under D&O Policy
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals recently reversed a ruling that a directors and officers liability policy provided no coverage for an insured financial services firm that fell for a scam involving a fraudulent direction to wire $1 million from one of its customer’s accounts. After the customer threatened to file a negligence suit against the financial services firm, the firm submitted a claim for coverage under its D&O policy. The insurer declined to defend the ... Keep Reading »
California Federal Court Awards Insurer Reimbursement of Settlement Funds Paid on Insureds’ Behalf After Finding Insurer Has No Duty to Indemnify in Wrongful Death Suit Involving Wrecked Ferrari
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California recently ruled in United Specialty Insurance Co. v. Bani Auto Group Inc. that United Specialty Insurance Co. did not have a duty to indemnify its insureds in connection with litigation brought by the widow of a man killed while driving a car rented to him by the insureds, based on certain exclusions contained in an auto dealer policy issued by United, and awarded reimbursement of settlement funds advanced by ... Keep Reading »
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