Newsletter RSS

Mealey's Insurance

  • February 26, 2021

    Judge Denies Request To Amend Complaint In Asbestos Contamination Suit

    SAN DIEGO — A California federal judge on Feb. 23 denied a motion to file an amended complaint in a suit filed by insureds seeking coverage for asbestos contamination after determining that the insureds failed to prove that the addition of an insurance agent as a defendant is necessary to get complete relief.

  • February 25, 2021

    Kaiser Gypsum Insurer Withdraws 1 Sanctions Request Against State Court Claimants

    CHARLOTTE, N.C. — An insurer of Chapter 11 debtor Kaiser Gypsum Co. Inc. on Feb. 23 dropped its bid for sanctions against a couple who filed state court asbestos fraud claims against the debtor, saying it is withdrawing its request for sanctions due to the death of the husband but that it is continuing with its request against another couple and their law firm.

  • February 25, 2021

    Judge Allows Business Interruption Claims To Proceed In COVID-19 Bellwether Cases

    CHICAGO — A federal judge in Illinois on Feb. 22 refused to dismiss business interruption coverage and bad faith claims brought against an insurer in three bellwether lawsuits arising from the governmental shutdown of hospitality businesses in the wake of the novel coronavirus pandemic, finding that a reasonable jury can find that the insureds suffered “a direct ‘physical’ loss of property on their premises.”

  • February 23, 2021

    Insurers Contend Coverage Is Barred For Underlying Contaminated Water Suit

    CHICAGO — No coverage is owed to an insured city for an underlying suit filed by city residents who allege that the city supplied contaminated water to its residents because the policies’ exclusions for lead and pollution bar coverage, two insurers maintain in a Feb. 18 complaint filed in Illinois state court.

  • February 23, 2021

    Trial Court Properly Found Policy Limited Coverage For Fungi, Wet-Rot Damages

    COLUMBUS, Ohio — A trial court did not err in granting summary judgment to a homeowners insurer on breach of contract and bad faith claims because the policy at issue clearly limited the amount of coverage available for fungi and wet-rot damages, an Ohio appellate panel said Feb. 23.

  • February 23, 2021

    Potential Coverage Exists For Challenge To McDonald’s Steps To Contain COVID-19

    CHICAGO — A federal judge in Illinois on Feb. 22 denied a commercial general liability insurer’s motion to dismiss a breach of contract and declaratory relief lawsuit brought by McDonald’s Corp. and former and current franchise owners seeking coverage for an underlying class action injunction alleging that they are taking inadequate steps to contain COVID-19 in the workplace.

  • February 23, 2021

    Judge:  Dentist Fails To State Claim Against Insurer In COVID-19 Coverage Suit

    EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. — A federal judge in Illinois on Feb. 18 granted in part a commercial insurer’s motion to dismiss a dentist insured’s lawsuit seeking coverage for its lost income arising from the novel coronavirus pandemic, finding that the insured fails to state a claim, but allowed the insured to amend his complaint and conduct discovery into his alter-ego theory.

  • February 22, 2021

    Insurers Ask 3rd Circuit To Reject Manufacturer’s Appeal Of Summary Judgment Ruling

    PHILADELPHIA — Three insurers on Jan. 27 filed separate appellee briefs in the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals defending a lower federal court’s summary judgment ruling in their favor in a steel manufacturer insured’s breach of contract, bad faith and declaratory relief lawsuit arising from underlying claims alleging exposure to various chemical additives at a muffler manufacturer’s facility.

  • February 22, 2021

    High Court Denies Review Of Insured’s Petition In Gas Well Damage Suit

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 22 denied an insured’s petition for writ of certiorari in an oil and gas well damage suit, refusing to review the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ dismissal of the insured’s appeal for lack of jurisdiction.

  • February 22, 2021

    Minor League Baseball Teams Seek Reversal Of Dismissal Of COVID-19 Coverage Suit

    SAN FRANCISCO — Small businesses that own and operate Minor League Baseball (MiLB) teams on Feb. 8 asked the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to reverse a lower federal court’s dismissal of their breach of contract and declaratory judgment lawsuit seeking business interruption coverage for their losses arising from the novel coronavirus pandemic.

  • February 22, 2021

    No Coverage Owed For Water Damages; Policy’s Water Exclusion Applies

    NEW YORK — An insurer owes no coverage for damages to an insured building caused by the overflow of a toilet in a tenant’s unit because the policy’s water exclusion clearly precludes coverage, a New York justice said Jan. 26 in granting the insurer’s motion for summary judgment.

  • February 19, 2021

    Federal Judge Dismisses Ohio Restaurant Owner’s Coverage Suit Arising From COVID-19

    AKRON, Ohio — Granting an insurer’s motion to dismiss a breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit, a federal judge in Ohio on Feb. 17 held that although a restaurant owner insured plausibly alleged that governmental shutdown orders and the possible or actual presence of the novel coronavirus interfered with its intended use of its restaurant properties, the properties were not materially or perceptibly destroyed, harmed or ruined and remain in the insured’s possession.

  • February 18, 2021

    New York Justice Dismisses Bus Contractor’s COVID-19 Coverage Suit Against Insurer

    GOSHEN, N.Y. — A New York justice on Feb. 12 dismissed a bus contractor insured’s breach of contract lawsuit seeking coverage under an “all risk” commercial property insurance policy for its business interruption losses and extra expenses incurred as a direct result of governmental shutdown orders in response to the novel coronavirus pandemic, finding that under state law, there is no “business income/extra expense” coverage in the absence of “direct physical loss or damage” to the insured’s premises.

  • February 18, 2021

    Judge Refuses Rehearing Of Finding That No Coverage Is Owed For Asbestos Claims

    NEW YORK — A New York federal judge on Feb. 17 denied an insured’s motion for reargument or rehearing in an asbestos coverage dispute after determining that the insured failed to identifyany change of controlling law or any new evidence that would warrant reconsideration of the court’s finding that no coverage is owed for the underlying asbestos claims.

  • February 18, 2021

    Judge Rules For Insurers In Dental Practices’ Class Action Over COVID-19 Coverage

    ST. LOUIS — A federal judge in Missouri on Feb. 16 held that “the great weight of authority supports” insurers’ argument that “direct physical loss of” requires that “some physical event” occurs on the insureds’ properties, granting the insurers’ motion for judgment on the pleadings in a breach of contract and bad faith coverage lawsuit arising from the novel coronavirus pandemic.

  • February 17, 2021

    Insurer Says Insured Failed To Provide Timely Notice Of Environmental Claim

    NEWARK, N.J. — In a Feb. 1 answer to an industrial equipment supplier’s complaint alleging that an insurer breached its contract by refusing to pay for an environmental investigation and remediation at an insured property, the insurer claims that the insured’s claims against it may be barred based on the insured’s failure to provide timely notice of an occurrence under the policy.

  • February 17, 2021

    Environmental Claims Payment Dispute Between Insurer, Reinsurer Dismissed

    LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge on Jan. 15 granted an insurer and reinsurer’s motion to dismiss a dispute over the reinsurer’s alleged failure to indemnify environmental claims payments after the parties reached an agreement to dismiss the suit with prejudice.

  • February 17, 2021

    Insurer Must Pay More Than $24M In Prejudgment Interest In Contamination Suit

    NEW YORK — A New York federal judge on Feb. 12 determined that an insurer must pay its insured approximately $24.2 million in prejudgment interest on a $25 million judgment entered for the insured for past environmental contamination costs incurred at one of the insured’s sites.

  • February 17, 2021

    No Coverage Owed For Damages Caused By Sewer Backup, Judge Says

    WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A Florida federal judge on Feb. 11 granted an insurer’s motion for summary judgment after determining that no coverage is owed for damages caused by a sewer backup because the policy clearly excludes coverage for damages caused by water backups.

  • February 16, 2021

    Insurer, Amicus Submit Briefs In Retailer’s Appeal Of Coronavirus Coverage Suit

    SAN FRANCISCO — One day after an insurer filed an answering brief in the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals challenging a retailer insured’s appeal of a federal judge’s dismissal of its class complaint seeking coverage under a comprehensive business insurance policy for its claimed losses following the state’s “Stay at Home” order in response to the novel coronavirus pandemic, United Policyholders on Feb. 9 said its amicus support is “especially vital” in the case “because the issues implicated by this case are far-reaching and of critical importance, as they may affect the fate of insurance recoveries for small businesses throughout California.”