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Mealey's Catastrophic Loss

  • April 17, 2024

    Res Judicata Bars Hurricane Ida Coverage Lawsuit, 5th Circuit Affirms

    NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on April 16 affirmed a lower federal court’s dismissal of Louisiana insureds’ coverage lawsuit with prejudice arising from Hurricane Ida wind damage, finding that the lawsuit is barred by the doctrine of res judicata.

  • April 12, 2024

    Florida Panel Issues 2 Rulings Against Same Insurer In Hailstorm Coverage Suits

    DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — A Florida appeals panel issued two opinions the same day ruling against Florida Farm Bureau General Insurance Co. in insureds’ breach of contract lawsuits seeking coverage for hailstorm damage, finding that the policies’ hurricane deductible cannot be applied to the insureds’ loss and, as a result, the lower court properly granted summary judgment in favor of the insureds.

  • April 12, 2024

    Insured Seeks To Compel Guaranty Association To Appear In Windstorm Damage Suit

    SARASOTA, Fla. — An insured homeowner moved a Florida state court to compel the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association (FIGA) to appear in the homeowner’s wind damage coverage suit, asserting that FIGA was automatically substituted for the insured’s now-insolvent homeowners insurer in the suit upon the insurer’s insolvency.

  • April 11, 2024

    11th Circuit Upholds Denial Of New Trial In Insurance Dispute Over Damage

    ATLANTA — In an unpublished April 10 opinion, a panel of the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals upheld a federal judge’s denial of an insurer’s request for judgment as a matter of law or a new trial, finding that there was sufficient evidence to support the jury’s nearly $170,000 verdict that established damage to a church’s buildings was caused by a hurricane and not faulty work.

  • April 11, 2024

    Panel Affirms Ruling In Insurer’s Favor In Suit Over Car Dealership’s Storm Damage

    NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on April 10 affirmed a lower federal court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of an insurer in an insured’s breach of contract and bad faith coverage lawsuit arising from storm damage to the insured’s car dealerships and car wash, agreeing with the lower court that the insured failed to create a fact question as to whether the insurer breached the insurance policy when it paid the insured the actual cash value of its claimed losses rather than their replacement cost value.

  • April 11, 2024

    Florida Panel Affirms Ruling In Insurer’s Favor In Hurricane Irma Dispute

    MIAMI — A Florida appeals panel on April 10 affirmed a lower court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of an insurer in the insureds’ coverage lawsuit arising from Hurricane Irma damage, rejecting the insureds’ contention that the insurer’s payment after an appraisal was issued does not entitle it to summary judgment.

  • April 10, 2024

    5th Circuit Won’t Rehear Insureds’ Dispute Over Arbitrability Of Storm Claims

    NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on April 9 denied two New Orleans property owners’ petition for panel or en banc rehearing of their appeal challenging the arbitrability of their claims for $7 million in damages caused by Hurricane Ida and for bad faith against a group of foreign and domestic insurers.

  • April 10, 2024

    9th Circuit Partly Reverses Ruling In Insurers’ Favor In Coronavirus Coverage Suit

    SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on April 9 held that a lower federal court properly granted insurers’ motion to dismiss all claims in a coronavirus coverage dispute that include the triggering language “direct physical loss or damage” to restaurant and hotel insureds’ properties but reversed the lower court’s denial of leave to amend a claim under the Crisis Event provision, which, the panel noted, does not include any language regarding “direct physical loss or damage.”

  • April 09, 2024

    Insurer Seeks Rehearing In Dispute Over $1M Settlement Of Canceled Music Festival

    NEW ORLEANS — An insurer filed a petition asking the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to reconsider its reversal of a lower federal court’s summary judgment ruling in its favor in the insured’s lawsuit seeking coverage for an underlying $1 million class action settlement arising from its refusal to refund ticket sales for the South by Southwest festival that was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, challenging the panel’s finding that the policy’s contract and professional services exclusions do not bar coverage.

  • April 08, 2024

    Driver Appeals Grant Of Summary Judgment On UCL Claim For ‘Unfair’ COVID Premiums

    SAN FRANCISCO — A driver on April 5 appealed to the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals a California federal judge’s grant of summary judgment in favor of GEICO after finding that it did not violate California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by unfairly profiting from a premium giveback program initiated during the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • April 08, 2024

    Expert Allowed In Roof Coverage Suit Pending In Nevada Federal Court

    LAS VEGAS — A Nevada federal judge found that the arguments in an insurer’s motion to exclude expert testimony “are matters for cross examination and are not bases to strike” and that the expert’s testimony on the condition of a roof at the center of a coverage dispute is admissible under Federal Rule of Evidence 702.

  • April 08, 2024

    Louisiana Panel Affirms Ruling In Insurer’s Favor In Hurricane Delta Dispute

    LAKE CHARLES, La. — A Louisiana appeals panel affirmed a lower court’s grant of an insurer’s exceptions of prescription and no cause of action and dismissal of an insured’s lawsuit seeking coverage for its Hurricane Delta property damage, finding that the insured’s related federal complaint did not interrupt prescription of the insured’s hurricane claims.

  • April 03, 2024

    5th Circuit: Fact Issues Preclude Summary Judgment In Hailstorm Coverage Dispute

    NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held April 2 that there is a genuine dispute of material fact that precludes summary judgment in favor of an insurer regarding Texas insureds’ claims for breach of contract and breach of the Texas Prompt Payment of Claims Act, partly vacating a federal court’s ruling in a coverage dispute arising from hailstorm roof damage.

  • April 03, 2024

    Connecticut Panel Affirms Ruling In Insurer’s Favor In Tribe’s Coronavirus Suit

    HARTFORD, Conn. — A Connecticut appeals court on April 2 affirmed a lower court’s judgment in favor of an insurer in an Indian tribe’s declaratory judgment lawsuit arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, rejecting the tribe’s contention that the lower court improperly determined that the policy’s contamination exclusion applied to bar the majority of its coverage.

  • April 01, 2024

    Washington Judge Certifies 2 Questions In University’s Coronavirus Coverage Suit

    SEATTLE — A Washington judge granted in part an insurer’s motion to certify issues to the Washington Court of Appeals for discretionary review in the University of Washington’s lawsuit seeking coverage for losses incurred by its medical and athletic properties due to the COVID-19 pandemic, staying the lawsuit pending resolution of the two controlling questions of law to determine whether commercial property insurance policies insure business income losses that are related to a pandemic.

  • March 29, 2024

    Insurer Defends Motion Seeking Appellate Review Of COVID-19 Coverage Dispute

    SEATTLE — Replying to the University of Washington’s opposition to its motion to certify issues to the Washington Court of Appeals for discretionary review and to stay the university’s lawsuit seeking coverage for losses incurred by its medical and athletic properties due to the COVID-19 pandemic, an insurer argues that it is not seeking to delay the case but just wants “clear guidance” on the threshold legal question of whether commercial property insurance policies insure business income losses that are related to a pandemic.

  • March 29, 2024

    7th Circuit: Crescent Plaza, Sandy Point Dental Foreclose Rome Hotel Owner’s Appeal

    CHICAGO — The Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held that its decisions in Crescent Plaza Hotel Owner, L.P. v. Zurich American Insurance Co. and Sandy Point Dental, P.C. v. Cincinnati Insurance Co. foreclose arguments by the owner of luxury hotel in Rome seeking coverage for its lost business income and extra expenses arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • March 28, 2024

    Panel Grants Insurers’ Motion To Publish Opinion In Hurricane Laura Coverage Suit

    NEW ORLEANS —The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals granted domestic insurers’ motion to publish its March 4 per curiam opinion that held that a lower federal court abused its discretion when it denied the insurers’ motion to compel arbitration and stay a coverage lawsuit arising from Hurricane Laura property damage to the insured’s Lake Charles, La., apartment complex.

  • March 25, 2024

    Panel Reverses Court In Coverage Suit Over $1M Settlement Of Canceled Music Festival

    NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals reversed a lower federal court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of an insurer in the insured’s lawsuit seeking coverage for an underlying $1 million class action settlement arising from its refusal to refund ticket sales for the South by Southwest festival that was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, finding that the policy’s contact and professional services exclusion do not bar coverage.

  • March 25, 2024

    Judge Grants Summary Judgment On Driver’s UCL Claim For ‘Unfair’ COVID Premiums

    SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge granted GEICO’s motion for summary judgment on an insured’s claim against it for violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by unfairly profiting from a premium giveback program initiated during the COVID-19 pandemic, in part citing evidence that state insurance regulators deemed GEICO’s givebacks sufficient.

  • March 25, 2024

    Judgment Granted For Insurer In Dispute Over Insured’s Hurricane Coverage Fraud

    LAKE CHARLES, La. — A Louisiana federal judge granted summary judgment to a homeowners insurer on its counterclaim to recoup reimbursement paid to a homeowner who sued the insurer for bad faith over its purported failure to adequately compensate her for damage caused by Hurricane Laura, finding that there is no dispute regarding the homeowner's misrepresentations when she applied for insurance.

  • March 22, 2024

    Insureds Urge 5th Circuit To Rehear Arbitration Row In $7M Hurricane Ida Dispute

    NEW ORLEANS — Two New Orleans property owners urge the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to grant panel or en banc rehearing of their appeal challenging the arbitrability of their claims for $7 million in damages caused by Hurricane Ida and for bad faith against a group of foreign and domestic insurers.

  • March 21, 2024

    Panel Reverses ‘Rare’ Case Where Diner Has Alleged Direct Physical Loss, Damage

    SAN DIEGO — A California appeals panel held that a diner insured’s lawsuit seeking coverage for its business losses arising from the COVID-19 pandemic is “one of those rare cases” where the insured has adequately asserted a direct physical loss or damage under its commercial property insurance policy “at least raising the specter of coverage,” reversing a lower court’s judgment in favor of the insurer and remanding.

  • March 21, 2024

    California Panel Affirms Ruling In Coverage Suit Over Postponed Metallica Shows

    LOS ANGELES — A California appeals court affirmed a lower court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of an insurer in the insured’s breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit seeking coverage under a “Cancellation, Abandonment and Non-Appearance Insurance” policy for the postponement of the last six shows of Metallica’s South American tour in 2020, finding that the policy’s “communicable disease” exclusion is not ambiguous and that its ordinary meaning includes the pathogen that underlies the disease.

  • March 21, 2024

    Panel Affirms Ruling In Favor Of Insurer In Bad Faith Suit Over Woolsey Fire Damage

    LOS ANGELES — A California appeals court held that a homeowners insurer did not breach the insurance contract or the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing and did not commit financial elder abuse because it paid the proper insureds “all (if not more than)” it had a duty to pay under the policy coverages for dwelling repairs, personal property damage and temporary additional living expenses, affirming a lower court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of the insurer in a coverage dispute arising from property damage cause by the Woolsey Fire.