In an effort to promote early resolution of claims and remove ambiguity in bad faith litigation, the California legislature recently passed Senate Bill 1155. Effective January 1, 2023, the bill creates California Code of Civil Procedure Section 999 et seq., a set of rules detailing form requirements for time-limited demands, demand delivery procedures, and steps needed to accept or deny the demand. The scope of Section 999 is limited to demands brought prior to any suit ... Keep Reading »
NY Federal Court Finds “Insured v. Insured” Exclusion in D&O Policy Trumps General Allocation Clause
On December 9, 2022, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York considered whether an “insured v. insured” (IvI) exclusion applied to bar coverage for an underlying lawsuit brought against insureds under a directors & officers (D&O) liability policy by another insured under the same policy, and another noninsured party. Thomas L. Gregory v. Navigators Insurance Company, Case No. 1:22-cv-04834. Thomas Gregory was an employee of Tarter Gate ... Keep Reading »
Florida Insurance Reform Special Session 2 – This Time Means Business
Between 2017 and 2022, 11 property & casualty insurers domiciled in Florida were declared insolvent and placed into liquidation. In an attempt to restore stability to the marketplace, Governor Ron DeSantis issued a proclamation on April 26, 2022, calling the Florida Legislature into special session to reform Florida’s Insurance Code. While the ensuing May special session yielded significant changes, including amendments designed to reduce fraudulent roof claims and ... Keep Reading »
New York Federal Judge Finds No Duty to Defend Based on War Exclusion’s Insurrection Clause
In Hartford Fire Ins. Co. v. The Western Union Co. et al., No. 22-CV-0557 (JMF) (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 22, 2022), a federal judge in New York granted Hartford Fire Insurance Company’s motion for judgment on the pleadings and motion to dismiss Western Union’s counterclaims, ruling that the war exclusion and financial services exclusion in its commercial general liability insurance policy both independently operated to bar coverage for the underlying lawsuit. Underlying ... Keep Reading »
Massachusetts Federal Court Affirms Coverage Disclaimer Based on Excess Carrier’s Strict Enforcement of Notice Requirement
In President and Fellows of Harvard College v. Zurich American Insurance Company, the U. S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts discussed the basis for its strict enforcement of an excess insurance policy’s notice requirement. Harvard sought coverage from its excess insurer, Zurich, under a “claims-made-and-reported insurance policy” for an underlying lawsuit against Harvard regarding challenges to its admission policies. The underlying suit was filed in ... Keep Reading »
Seventh Circuit Holds Insurer Had No Duty to Defend or Indemnify Fireworks Distributor Following Fourth of July Fireworks Explosions That Injured Two Volunteers
In T.H.E. Insurance Company v. Trey D. Olson, et. al., the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with the U. S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, holding that the insurer had no duty to defend or indemnify its insured based on a policy exclusion for injuries to any persons assisting or aiding in the display of fireworks. This case arose out of fireworks explosions at separate fireworks displays that injured Timothy Olson and Todd Zdroik, two ... Keep Reading »
Third Circuit Holds Assault or Battery Exclusion Bars Coverage for Sex Trafficking Claims
In Nautilus Insurance Co. v. Motel Management Services Inc., the Third Circuit Court of Appeals held that a commercial general liability policy’s assault or battery exclusion barred coverage for claims involving alleged sex trafficking. Motel Management was a declaratory judgment action filed by an insurer against its insured, a motel, under a CGL policy issued by the insurer to the motel. The policy provided defense and indemnity coverage for certain bodily injury ... Keep Reading »
Seventh Circuit Finds Pleadings in Same Lawsuit Are “Related Claims,” Despite Addition of New Allegations and Defendants
In a recent decision, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals found an amended complaint filed in an underlying action was a “related claim” with respect to the original complaint filed in the same suit and thus that the matter should have been reported to the insurer during the policy period in effect at the time of the original pleading. The dispute in Hanover Insurance Co. v. R.W. Dunteman Co. arose from a conflict among family members over the ownership interests in ... Keep Reading »
Eleventh Circuit Holds Buzz Words in Arbitration Demand Insufficient to Trigger Duty to Defend
On November 8, 2022, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida that Mount Vernon Fire Insurance Co. did not have a duty to defend Global Travel International Inc. in an arbitration between Global Travel and Qualpay Inc. despite Global Travel’s best efforts to bring the claim within coverage. Global Travel and Qualpay entered into a merchant card processing agreement pursuant to which Global Travel ... Keep Reading »
Eleventh Circuit Finds Claims-Made Policy’s “Correlating Claims” Provision Substantially Similar to “Related Claims” Provisions
In Datamaxx Applied Technologies Inc. v. Brown & Brown Inc., the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the district court’s grant of summary judgment to the insurer, finding no merit in the insured’s argument that the analysis for construing a “correlating claims” provision differed substantially from the analysis in construing a “related claims” provision. In doing so, the Eleventh Circuit found that the insurer owed no duty to indemnify the insured for a claim ... Keep Reading »
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