Mealey's Catastrophic Loss
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April 20, 2022
$83M Allocation Agreement Approved In Florida Condo Collapse Case
MIAMI — A Florida judge on April 6 issued a final bar order approving an $83 million allocation settlement agreement in a consolidated putative class case over the June 2021 partial collapse of the Champlain Towers South Condominium Building (CTS) in Surfside, Fla.
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April 19, 2022
Judgment Entered In Insurer’s Favor After Jury Finds No Breach Of Contract
WINCHESTER, Tenn. — A federal judge in Tennessee on April 14 entered a judgment in favor of a homeowners insurer in a lawsuit arising from tornado property damage after a jury found that the insureds have failed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the insurer committed breach of contract.
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April 18, 2022
Dental Insured’s 2nd Circuit Appeal Withdrawn In Coronavirus Coverage Dispute
NEW YORK — The Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on April 14 issued a mandate indicating that parties stipulated to withdrawing a dental insured’s appeal of a Connecticut federal judge’s dismissal of its amended complaint seeking coverage for its losses arising from the coronavirus and subsequent shutdown orders.
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April 18, 2022
Bad Faith, Fraud Claims Against Homeowners Insurer Dismissed Without Prejudice
MCALLEN, Texas — A Texas federal judge on April 7 dismissed an insured homeowner’s claims for bad faith, fraud and violations of the Texas Insurance Code after determining that the insured failed to allege facts in support of the claims arising out of a dispute over coverage for damages sustained during Hurricane Hanna.
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April 15, 2022
4th Circuit: No Reversible Error In Court’s Dismissal Of Coronavirus Coverage Suit
RICHMOND, Va. — The Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on April 14 affirmed a lower federal court’s order that granted an insurer’s motion to strike an insured’s citation of supplemental authority and motion to dismiss the insured’s breach of contract lawsuit arising fom the coronavirus pandemic, finding no reversible error.
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April 14, 2022
Judge: Salon Fails To Show Governor Issued Order Due To COVID-19 At Its Premises
DETROIT — A federal judge in Michigan on April 12 granted a commercial property insurer’s motion for summary judgment in a dispute over a policy’s communicable disease coverage, finding that a hair salon insured failed to demonstrate that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer issued Executive Order 2020-20 due to a COVID-19 outbreak specifically at its premises.
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April 11, 2022
Panel: Insured Asserts Only Losses Arising From Restrictions On Premises Use
NEW YORK — The Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on April 8 affirmed a lower federal court’s dismissal of an insured’s breach of contract lawsuit seeking coverage for its alleged business losses arising from the coronavirus pandemic, finding the insured asserts nothing more than the losses it incurred as a result of restrictions on the use of its business premises.
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April 11, 2022
N.Y. Panel: Insured Fails To Allege Damage Arising From Pandemic Was ‘Physical’
NEW YORK — A New York appeals panel on April 7 held that the owner and operator of numerous restaurants fails to assert “any tangible, ascertainable damage, change or alteration to the property so as to plausibly state a claim the damage was ‘physical,’” affirming a lower court’s dismissal of its commercial property coverage lawsuit arising from its tens of millions of dollars in revenue loss prompted by the coronavirus pandemic.
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April 08, 2022
8th Circuit Affirms No Coverage Owed For Missouri Synagogue’s Lost Business Income
ST. LOUIS — The Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on April 5 affirmed a lower federal court’s dismissal of a Missouri synagogue’s breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit seeking coverage for its lost business income arising from the coronavirus pandemic, finding that its precedent in Oral Surgeons, PC v. Cincinnati Ins. Co. forecloses the insured’s argument that its closure constituted a direct physical loss of property.
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April 08, 2022
Insureds Seek Panel Rehearing Or Stay Of COVID-19 Suit Pending Cajun Conti Ruling
NEW ORLEANS — Insureds on April 5 petitioned for the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals for a panel rehearing or a stay of a mandate related to the court’s March 22 grant of a business owners insurer’s motion or judgment on the pleadings in their lawsuit seeking coverage for their alleged losses prompted by the coronavirus pandemic, arguing that a Louisiana appeals court’s forthcoming ruling in Cajun Conti, LLC, et al v. Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s, London, et al., will provide better guidance in interpreting their policy language.
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April 08, 2022
Coronavirus Losses Not ‘Physical Damage’ Under Business’s Policy, Judge Rules
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A California federal judge on April 4 dismissed without leave to amend a retail chain’s claims against its insurer including for violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by denying its claims for coronavirus shutdown-related damages, finding that the business didn’t suffer physical damages and that the policy’s exceptions included damage caused by fungus, rot “or virus.”
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April 07, 2022
Connecticut Judge: Virus Exclusion Bars Coverage For Claims Arising From COVID
HARTFORD, Conn. — A Connecticut judge on April 4 granted insurers’ cross-motion for summary judgment in restaurant and clothing operator insureds’ lawsuit seeking business income and civil authority coverage for their alleged losses arising from the coronavirus pandemic, rejecting the insureds’ contention that the virus exclusion’s omission of the word “pandemic” renders it inapplicable.
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April 05, 2022
Federal Judge Stays Insurers’ Suit Disputing Coverage For Surfside Collapse
BALTIMORE—A federal judge in Maryland on March 28 granted commercial general liability insurers’ request to stay their lawsuit disputing coverage for underlying actions brought against their engineering firm insured by victims of the June 24 partial collapse of a Surfside, Fla., condominium high-rise.
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April 05, 2022
Judge: Expert Can Testify In Breach Of Contract Claim In Insurance Spat
JACKSON, Miss. — After denying an insurer’s motion to exclude an expert witness in a breach of contract lawsuit filed by a church that alleges that the insurer wrongly denied its claim for storm damage, a Mississippi federal judge on March 25 also denied its motion for summary judgment but awarded partial summary judgment on a bad faith claim, finding that the insurer had an “arguable reason to deny coverage.”
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April 05, 2022
Dentist Appeals Dismissal Of Amended Complaint In Coronavirus Coverage Suit
NEW HAVEN, Conn. — A dental insured on March 29 filed a notice indicating that it was appealing to the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals a Connecticut federal judge’s dismissal of its amended complaint seeking coverage for its losses arising from the coronavirus and subsequent shutdown orders.
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April 04, 2022
Question Of Fact Exists On Insured’s Bad Faith Claim In Hurricane Coverage Suit
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A Texas federal judge on March 31 denied a property insurer’s motion for summary judgment on an insured’s bad faith claim in a dispute over coverage for hurricane damages after determining that a genuine issue of material fact exists as to whether the insurer handled the insured’s claim in a reasonable manner.
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April 01, 2022
R.I. Justice: COVID-19 Is Not Capable Of Causing Physical Loss Or Damage ‘Full Stop’
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — A Rhode Island justice on March 29 granted a commercial property insurer’s motion for summary judgment in an insured’s breach of contract lawsuit seeking coverage for its losses arising from the coronavirus pandemic, finding that the presence of employees at insured locations who either tested positive for or were suspected to have the coronavirus does not establish that the insured suffered “physical loss or damage” to its locations as a matter of law.
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April 01, 2022
Justice Tosses Counterclaims, All But 1 Affirmative Defense In COVID-19 Dispute
NEW YORK — A New York justice on March 31 granted an insurer’s motion to dismiss a restaurant owner’s declaratory judgment, breach of contract and unjust enrichment counterclaims in the insurer’s lawsuit disputing coverage for the insured’s alleged losses arising from the coronavirus pandemic, further dismissing all but one of the insured’s affirmative defenses.
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March 31, 2022
Illinois Panel Reverses Class Certification In Restaurant’s COVID-19 Coverage Suit
ELGIN, Ill. — Reversing and remanding a lower court’s order granting class certification, an Illinois appeals panel on March 30 held that a restaurant failed to allege a valid claim for contamination coverage under its commercial property insurance policy and, therefore, its declaratory judgment and bad faith lawsuit arising from the coronavirus pandemic may not proceed as a class action.
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March 31, 2022
Illinois Panel Affirms Dismissal Of Medical Imaging Clinics’ COVID-19 Coverage Suit
CHICAGO — An Illinois appeals panel on March 30 affirmed a lower court’s dismissal of the owner and operator of medical imaging clinics’ declaratory judgment and bad faith coverage lawsuit arising from the coronavirus pandemic, finding that the insured failed to allege a physical alteration of its property that would trigger business income and extra expense coverage under its insurance policy.