Mealey's Insurance Pleadings : Mealey's : Legal News & Analysis

Mealey's Insurance Pleadings

January 25, 2024
Homeowners Again Appeal Dismissal Of Defects Coverage Suit To 9th Circuit

TACOMA, Wash. — More than seven months after the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals dismissed for failure to prosecute homeowners’ appeal of various rulings in their suit against insurers in a coverage dispute stemming from a construction defects lawsuit over the construction of homes in a housing development, the homeowners filed a new notice of appeal in a federal court in Washington, appealing the same rulings as well as a December order dismissing the case with prejudice.
January 24, 2024
Dismissal Of Construction Defects Suit Again Appealed After Reconsideration Denied

PHILADELPHIA — A property owner has appealed to the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals a district court’s second denial of his motion for reconsideration of a ruling dismissing his suit against the commercial general liability insurer of a construction company found to have performed defective renovation work on his property, adding the reconsideration denial to the appeal he filed of the lower court’s ruling granting the insurer’s motion for summary judgment.
January 24, 2024
Viacom Dismisses Another Insurer From D&O Coverage Dispute In Delaware Court

WILMINGTON, Del. — Viacom Inc. and QBE Insurance Corp. stipulated and agreed to dismiss without prejudice all claims against QBE in Viacom’s lawsuit seeking directors and officers liability coverage for underlying claims that its directors, officers and controlling shareholders breached their fiduciary duties in connection with a 2019 merger with CBS Corp.
January 24, 2024
Doctors, Practices Seek Denial Of Reconsideration Or Appeal In GEICO’s RICO Suit

TRENTON, N.J. — Doctors and their practices asked a New Jersey federal court to deny GEICO’s motion for reconsideration or interlocutory appeal of the court’s order dismissing in part GEICO’s suit alleging fraudulent billing for unnecessary medical and chiropractic services for people injured in auto accidents and eligible for no-fault coverage.
January 24, 2024
Insurers Seek Interlocutory Appeal Of Delaware Judge’s Ruling Granting New Trial

WILMINGTON, Del. — Insurers applied for certification of an interlocutory appeal of a Delaware judge’s ruling that granted the insured’s motion for a new trial in a professional liability coverage dispute arising from a Medicaid fraud investigation, arguing that the judge’s stated bases for her “extraordinary” order are both “unprecedented and at odds with settled law.”
January 23, 2024
Dismissal Stipulated In Asbestos Coverage Dispute Involving Guaranty Association

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Remaining defendant insurers stipulated to dismissal in a South Carolina federal court of cross-claims by or against two defendant insurers that were previously dismissed from a receiver’s asbestos coverage suit against insurers and the South Carolina Property and Casualty Insurance Guaranty Association.
January 23, 2024
Homeowner Sues Insurer, Guaranty Association, Seeks Coverage For Hurricane Damage

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A Florida homeowner sued his now-insolvent insurer and the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association (FIGA) in a Florida state court, asserting claims for breach of contract and violations of Florida law for failure to adequately cover purported losses related to Hurricane Ian.
January 23, 2024
CGL Insurer Seeks Panel Rehearing Of Coverage Dispute Arising From Bodily Injuries

CHICAGO — A commercial general liability insurer on Jan. 22 filed a petition for panel rehearing asking the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to reconsider its ruling earlier this month that held that it has a duty to defend against an underlying bodily injury lawsuit arising from a construction site accident, challenging the panel’s ruling that an operations exclusion relieves a commercial auto insurer from defending their mutual insured.
January 23, 2024
Insurer Removes Insured’s Complaint Seeking Coverage For Contamination Costs

TACOMA, Wash. — An insured alleges in an amended complaint, recently removed to Washington federal court, that its insurer breached its contract, acted in bad faith and violated Washington law by denying coverage for environmental liabilities and defense costs incurred as a result of contamination allegedly caused by the insured’s marine operations.
January 22, 2024
Insured: High School Shooting Suits Seek Damages Caused By Multiple Occurrences

PONTIAC, Mich. — A public school district insured sued its insurer in a Michigan court, seeking a declaratory judgment that underlying lawsuits arising from a high school shooting seek damages for “bodily injury” that was caused by multiple “occurrences” under the policy and, therefore, the insured is not limited to $5 million in commercial general liability and excess coverage.
January 22, 2024
Insurer Asks 5th Circuit To Reconsider Affirmation Of $502,172 Bad Faith Judgment

NEW ORLEANS — An insurer on Jan. 19 asked the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to reconsider its ruling that there was no reversible error in a jury’s conclusion that it acted in bad faith and underpaid its church insured for property damage that was caused by Hurricane Laura, challenging the panel’s ruling that affirmed the trial court’s $502,172.16 award in favor of the insured for damages, penalties and fees.
January 22, 2024
Insolvent Insurers’ Owner Opposes Injunction After Ordered To Pay $576M Judgment

GREENSBORO, N.C. — The owner of insolvent insurers filed a brief in a North Carolina federal court, opposing an insurer’s motion for an injunction to prevent the owner from transferring assets after a North Carolina federal judge issued a judgment requiring the owner to pay more than $576 million pursuant to a personal guaranty for a reinsurance agreement.
January 22, 2024
Insureds Failed To Show Valid Basis For N.C. High Court Review, Insurer Argues

RALEIGH, N.C. — An insurer argued to the North Carolina Supreme Court that an appeals court’s ruling that affirmed a lower court’s dismissal of a clothing retailer insured’s lawsuit seeking coverage for its losses arising from the coronavirus pandemic “presents no precedent-setting error that warrants intervention” by the North Carolina Supreme Court.
January 22, 2024
Bridgebuilder, Insurer Stipulate To Dismissal Of Damage Coverage Claims

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A bridgebuilder and its builders risk insurer have agreed to the dismissal with prejudice of the builder’s breach of contract and bad faith suit against the insurer; the builder last year had been granted summary judgment on the breach of contract claim after a federal judge in the District of Columbia found that the policy’s definition of “damage” includes the builder’s claim for reimbursement for repair costs necessitated by defects in the concrete of the bridge and that the insurer failed to demonstrate that any exclusions apply.
January 22, 2024
Contractor, Insurer Settle Construction Defects Suit, File Stipulation Of Dismissal

GREENBELT, Md. — A general contractor and its professional liability insurer filed a corrected stipulation of dismissal with prejudice on Jan. 18 in a Maryland federal court after reaching a settlement in the suit filed by the insured general contractor and alleging that the insurer breached its contract and acted in bad faith by failing to pay the insured for rectification expenses related to a faulty wall system installed as part of a construction project.
January 19, 2024
Court Ignored Ordinary Meaning Of Physical Loss, Insureds Tell N.C. High Court

RALEIGH, N.C. — Restaurant insureds tell the North Carolina Supreme Court that it should reverse an appeals court’s reversal of a lower court’s grant of partial summary judgment in their favor in a coronavirus coverage dispute, arguing that the phrase “physical loss or physical damage” includes loss of the physical use of property under the state’s “long-standing principles of insurance contract interpretation.”
January 16, 2024
Engineer Tells 10th Circuit Insurer’s Negligence Claim Was Time-Barred

DENVER — A Wyoming federal judge’s order granting summary judgment in an engineering firm’s favor should be affirmed, the firm tells the 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in an appellee brief, saying the judge correctly found that an insurer’s claim against the engineer that designed a home’s plumbing that allegedly caused water damage to the home is time-barred by the two-year statute of limitations for professional negligence claims.
January 12, 2024
Insured Asserts Insurer Fraudulently Down-Coded Electrotherapy Medical Devices

MINNEAPOLIS — The manufacturer and seller of an electrotherapy medical device sued its insurer in a Minnesota federal court for breach of contract and deceptive trade practices, alleging that the insurer has a “blanket corporate policy” of fraudulently down-coding and short-paying for the insured’s H-Wave medical devices that has resulted $1.3 million in injuries to the insured.
January 10, 2024
Reinsurer Tackles Third-Party Beneficiary Theory In Cleanup Costs Coverage Row

PADUCAH, Ky. — Arguing in part that what it calls a newly asserted third-party beneficiary theory fails as a matter of law, a reinsurer filed a reply brief on Jan. 9 urging a Kentucky federal court to grant its summary judgment motion in a dispute over pollution-related cleanup costs.
January 05, 2024
Merck, Insurers Ask N.J. High Court To Dismiss Cyberattack Coverage Dispute

TRENTON, N.J. — Merck & Co. Inc. and certain insurers filed stipulations in the New Jersey Supreme Court seeking dismissal of the insurers from Merck’s lawsuit seeking coverage for its losses arising from a June 2017 malware/cyberattack.
January 05, 2024
Clothing Retailer Asks North Carolina High Court To Review COVID-19 Coverage Suit

RALEIGH, N.C. — A clothing retailer insured petitioned the North Carolina Supreme Court to review an appeals court’s ruling that affirmed a lower court’s dismissal of its lawsuit seeking coverage for its losses arising from the coronavirus pandemic, challenging the lower courts’ reliance on North State Deli v. Cincinnati Ins. Co. in dismissing its case.
January 03, 2024
Insurer Tells 5th Circuit Faulty Grain Silos Excluded From Coverage

NEW ORLEANS — A Texas federal judge was correct to grant summary judgment after finding that an insurer had no duty to indemnify a contractor in a farmers cooperative’s underlying suit alleging defective construction of grain silos because no “property damage” occurred under the terms of the contract, the insurer tells the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in an appellee brief.
January 03, 2024
Professional Liability Insurer Dismisses Fraudulent Wire Transfer Coverage Dispute

BURLINGTON, Vt. — A professional liability insurer entered a stipulation in Vermont federal court dismissing with prejudice its lawsuit disputing coverage for an underlying state court action seeking $459,411.77 from the insured for losses arising from a fraudulent wire transfer.
January 03, 2024
Exclusion Bids Regarding Claims, Outside Counsel Disputed In Reinsurance Row

LOS ANGELES — In California federal court filings, parties in a reinsurance billings suit over a variety of claims are disputing attempts by one defendant to exclude evidence regarding claims submitted to other reinsurers and opinions of outside counsel.
January 03, 2024
Company Seeks To Compel Insurers To Produce Documents In AFFF Litigation

CHARLESTON, S.C. — A company that makes firefighting products filed a motion on Jan. 2 in South Carolina federal court seeking to compel insurance companies to produce documents in a coverage dispute related to injuries from the firefighting substance aqueous film forming foam (AFFF) in the multidistrict litigation for AFFF, arguing that the insurers have refused to produce basic categories of documents that are directly related to the issues in dispute and are “plainly subject to discovery.” The company contends that the insurers’ objections to discovery requests are not valid, especially considering that the insurers are “seeking to escape up to $1 billion in coverage.”