Mealey's Catastrophic Loss
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August 11, 2021
Federal Judge Dismisses Certain Claims In Hurricane Harvey Coverage Dispute
HOUSTON — A federal judge in Texas on Aug. 5 dismissed insureds’ claims against an insurance agent and breach of fiduciary claims against an insurance broker in a Hurricane Harvey coverage dispute, allowing their claims for common-law misrepresentation, negligence and violations of the Deceptive Trade Practices Act and Texas Insurance Code against the broker to survive.
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August 11, 2021
11th Circuit Dismisses Church’s Appeal Of Ruling, Verdict In Hurricane Matthew Suit
ATLANTA — Less than one week after a church insured withdrew its appeal challenging a Georgia federal court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of its insurer on a bad faith claim and a jury verdict in favor of the insurer on a breach of contract claim in a coverage dispute arising from Hurricane Matthew water damage, the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Aug. 4 dismissed the lawsuit.
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August 10, 2021
Federal Judge Issues Order To Streamline Coronavirus Coverage Suits Against Erie
ERIE, Pa. — Following the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation’s centralization of coronavirus business interruption coverage lawsuits against Erie Insurance Co. in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, a federal judge on Aug. 6 issued an order “in an effort to streamline these proceedings while at the same time maintaining and fostering ultimate judicial economy and minimizing the potential unnecessary expenditure of resources by the parties and counsel.”
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August 09, 2021
CGL Insurers: No Coverage For Surfside Collapse Suits Against Engineering Firm
BALTIMORE — Two commercial general liability insurers on Aug. 4 filed suit in a Maryland federal court disputing coverage for underlying lawsuits brought against their engineering firm insured by victims of the June 24 partial collapse of a Surfside, Fla., condominium high-rise, alleging that numerous policy exclusions preclude coverage for damages arising from the insured’s rendering or failure to render professional services.
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August 09, 2021
Bad Faith Suit Against Homeowners Insurer Remanded To State Court
OKLAHOMA CITY — An insured’s breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit arising of a coverage dispute for damages sustained to the insured’s home by wind and hail must be remanded to Oklahoma state court based on the parties’ stipulation that the amount in controversy does not exceed the federal jurisdictional minimum of $75,000, an Oklahoma federal judge said July 30.
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August 06, 2021
No Coverage Owed For Hurricane Damages; Bad Faith Claim Cannot Proceed
LAKE CHARLES, La. — A Louisiana federal judge on Aug. 3 granted a homeowners insurer’s motion for summary judgment and dismissed an insured’s suit seeking damages caused by Hurricane Laura after determining that the policy’s hail or windstorm exclusion clearly bars coverage and that there is no evidence that the insurer acted in bad faith or negligently misrepresented the terms of the policy at issue.
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August 05, 2021
MDL Plaintiffs Seek To Enjoin State Court Proceedings In Coronavirus Coverage Suit
CHICAGO — Hospitality industry insured plaintiffs on Aug. 3 moved for an injunction of all pending and future state court class actions in which insureds of Society Insurance Co. seek business interruption protection coverage arising out of the coronavirus pandemic until proceedings in a multidistrict litigation are completed, arguing to a federal court in Illinois that an injunction “is necessary to prevent Society from attempting to conduct a reverse auction with state court class action plaintiffs to the detriment of the Plaintiffs in this MDL.”
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August 05, 2021
COVID-19, Shutdown Orders Can Constitute Direct Physical Loss, Damage, Insured Says
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Arguing that insurers are bound by what their insurance policy says and not what they wish it said, an insured in an Aug. 3 merits brief asks the Ohio Supreme Court to answer yes to a federal court’s certified question asking whether “the general presence in the community, or on surfaces at a premises, of the novel coronavirus known as SARS-CoV-2” constitutes “direct physical loss or damage to property; or does the presence on a premises of a person infected with COVID-19 constitute direct physical loss or damage to property at that premises?”
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August 03, 2021
Church Withdraws Appeal Of Contrary Ruling, Jury Verdict In Hurricane Matthew Suit
ATLANTA — A church insured on July 30 withdrew its appeal in the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals challenging a Georgia federal court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of its insurer on a bad faith claim and a jury verdict in favor of the insurer on a breach of contract claim in a coverage dispute arising from Hurricane Matthew water damage.
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August 03, 2021
Boscov’s Appeals No Coverage Ruling In Bad Faith Suit Arising From Coronavirus
ALLENTOWN, Pa. — One month after a federal judge in Pennsylvania held that although Boscov's Department Store Inc.’s business has undoubtedly been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, its “alleged losses bear no causal connection to the physical condition of its properties,” Boscov’s on July 29 filed a notice of appeal to the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals challenging the no coverage ruling in its breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit against its insurer.
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August 02, 2021
Judge Denies State Farm’s Motion To Compel Arbitration In False Claims Act Suit
GULFPORT, Miss. — A federal judge in Mississippi on July 29 denied State Farm Fire and Casualty Co.’s motion to compel arbitration of claims under the False Claims Act (FCA) and stay all proceedings in relators’ 15-year-old qui tam suit accusing the insurer of filing false flood insurance claims after Hurricane Katrina.
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August 02, 2021
Florida Judge Allows Insurer To Intervene, Interplead Funds In Condo Collapse Suit
MIAMI — A Florida judge on July 21 granted an insurer’s motion to intervene for the limited purpose of interpleading its $1,263,400 policy limits in a consolidated class action arising from the June 24 partial collapse of a Surfside, Fla., condominium high-rise, commending the insurer “for promptly recognizing its obligation to honor its insurance agreements with those who have lost property due to this tragic event, and for promptly tendering its policy limits to those victims who have yet to be located.”
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July 29, 2021
Albany County Justice: COVID-19 Coverage Suit Must Be Transferred To New York County
ALBANY N.Y. — An Albany County, N.Y., Supreme Court justice on July 26 granted an all-risk commercial insurer’s motion to transfer an insured’s coronavirus coverage lawsuit to New York County, rejecting the insured’s argument that the current venue is proper under the policy’s forum selection clause.
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July 28, 2021
Judge Denies Yacht Owner’s Motions In Coverage Suit Arising From Hurricane Sally
NEW ORLEANS — A federal judge in Louisiana on July 23 denied a yacht owner insured’s motion for judgment on the pleadings and motion to review a magistrate’s judge’s order compelling discovery in an insurer’s lawsuit alleging the insurance policy was void ab initio because the insured breached the warranty under the Hurricane Questionnaire/Plan, finding that the ambiguous policy language raises an issue of material fact regarding the parties' intentions as to the scope of the policy and that the insurer has sufficiently alleged a breach by the insured.
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July 28, 2021
Judge Issues Reasons For Earlier Dismissal Of Health Care Provider’s $1.25B Suit
NEW YORK — Twenty days after issuing a one-page order dismissing Northwell Health Inc.’s breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit seeking $1.25 billion in coverage for its property and business interruption losses and decontamination costs arising out of the coronavirus pandemic, a federal judge in New York on July 27 entered a judgment in favor of two commercial property insurers after finding that Northwell’s arguments for coverage under “a litany of possible provisions” “are unpersuasive.”
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July 26, 2021
Imposing New, Retroactive Risk On Insurers Would Threaten Solvency, Amicus Argues
ATLANTA — American Property Casualty Insurance Association on July 21 filed an amicus curiae brief in support of Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s London in a coronavirus coverage suit, arguing to the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that commercial property insurance policies “do not—and were never intended to—provide coverage for economic losses untethered to physical loss or physical damage.”
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July 23, 2021
California Panel Affirms Court’s Refusal To Vacate Appraisal Award In Flood Suit
VENTURA, Calif. — A California appeals panel on July 21 affirmed a trial court’s ruling that denied an insured’s petition to vacate an appraisal award in a flood damage coverage dispute and remanded with instructions for the trial court to affirm the award, finding that the appraisers did not exceed the scope of their authority.
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July 21, 2021
Definite Cause Of Fire Not Needed, Federal Judge Says, Denying Motion To Exclude
PHILADELPHIA — An expert opining on the origins of a house fire meets the standards set in Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc., a Pennsylvania federal judge ruled July 8, denying a manufacturer’s motion to exclude in a subrogation action filed by the homeowners’ insurer.
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July 21, 2021
West Virginia Federal Jury Awards Insured More Than $33M For Silo Collapse
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A federal jury in West Virginia on July 16 awarded an insured seeking coverage for property damages caused by the collapse of its silo almost $33 million after determining that the collapse of the silo was not caused by wear and tear, an excluded cause of loss under the policy.
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July 21, 2021
Texas Panel Dismisses Insurer’s Appeal In Hailstorm Suit For Want Of Jurisdiction
DALLAS — A Texas appeals panel on July 20 rejected an insurer’s appeal of a lower court’s order appointing an umpire in an underlying insurance coverage dispute over hailstorm damage, finding that it lacks jurisdiction over the appeal.