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 »
Arizona Federal Court Finds False Pretenses Exclusion Bars Coverage for Fraudulent Wire Transfer Under Professional Liability Policy
In Helms v. Hanover Insurance Group Inc., the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona weighed in on the issue whether a professional liability policy provided insurance for a fraudulent wire transfer. This decision is not the first to tackle this issue, and like the other opinions issued across the country, Helms demonstrates that the answer to this somewhat thorny question depends heavily on the specific policy wording at issue. The insured plaintiffs, a ... Keep Reading »
Consent to Settle: Third Circuit Reminds Insureds to Obtain Prior Written Consent Required by a Claims-Made Policy or Face Claim Denial, and Rejects Bad Faith Claim in Absence of a Finding of Coverage Under New Jersey Law
In a non-precedential decision, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a district court’s grant of summary judgment to an errors and omissions insurer that declined to indemnify a settlement because the insured had settled the underlying lawsuit without obtaining the insurer’s prior written consent, “an express condition of coverage under the policy’s consent clause.” Interestingly, the court noted that the E&O insurer had paid the insured’s “defense costs to the ... Keep Reading »
Eleventh Circuit Finds No Insurance Coverage for Dental Practice’s COVID-19 Business Income Loss Under Georgia Law
In a recent decision, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that an insured's failure to allege "direct physical loss or damage" to property was fatal to its COVID-19-related business interruption claim. Although addressed ad nauseam by the district courts - with the overwhelming majority finding no coverage - the Eleventh Circuit's unpublished decision appears to be just the second federal appellate opinion on this issue. The other, the Eighth Circuit's decision ... Keep Reading »
Sixth Circuit Determines the Term “Suspension of Operations” in Business Interruption Policy Requires “Complete Shutdown of Business Operations” Under Ohio Law
Hastings Mutual Insurance Co. v. Mengel Dairy Farms LLC arose out of a dispute over coverage between two commercial dairy farmers who manage and care for more than 1,000 cows across farms in Pennsylvania and Ohio, and their business interruption insurer, Hastings Mutual Insurance Co., which insured the farmers' cows against a number of unlikely events - including accidental shooting, attack by wild animals, and - most relevant here - electrocution. In 2018, the ... Keep Reading »
Delaware Court Finds Appraisal Proceeding Is Not a Claim “for a Wrongful Act” and Dismisses $177M Coverage Action
The Superior Court of Delaware rebuffed efforts by a policyholder to recover defense costs and interest it incurred in connection with an underlying appraisal proceeding, agreeing with the defendant-insurers that the proceeding did not seek redress “for a wrongful act.” The Appraisal Action Jarden LLC f/k/a Jarden Corp. was a holding company for a number of well-known consumer brands. In December 2015, Jarden agreed to merge with Newell Rubbermaid Inc. for cash ... Keep Reading »
Delaware Superior Court Finds Securities Class Action and Its Opt Outs’ Subsequent Class Action Are “Related Claims”
In First Solar Inc. v. National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh, the Delaware Superior Court held there was no coverage for a class action brought by the individuals who opted out of a prior class action that had been filed before the subject policies’ inception where both actions involved fundamentally identical allegations of wrongdoing. First Solar sought coverage for a class action lawsuit filed on June 23, 2015 (Maverick action) under primary and ... Keep Reading »
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