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Mealey's Insurance Pleadings

  • April 16, 2024

    Parties In Mold, Construction Defects Suit File Supplemental Authorities In 11th Circuit

    ATLANTA — An insurer and insureds involved in a dispute over coverage for mold damage discovered in an insured hotel filed supplemental authorities on April 15 in the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, citing cases that each side claims are relevant to the issue of whether the policy at issue provides coverage for losses caused by a construction defect even if the cost to fix the defect is not covered.

  • April 16, 2024

    Primary Insurer Files Suit, Seeks Declaration On Policies’ Remaining Aggregate Limits

    PORTLAND, Ore. — A primary insurer filed suit in Oregon federal court against its insured and the insured’s excess insurers, seeking a declaration as to whether the aggregate limits of its policies have been exhausted by payments made on behalf of the insured for environmental contaminations claims.

  • April 15, 2024

    Freddie Mac, Lead Insurer In D&O Coverage Dispute Finalize Settlement

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. (Freddie Mac) notified a District of Columbia federal court that it has reached a settlement with the lead insurer in its breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit seeking directors and officers liability coverage for underlying expenses it incurred on behalf of its directors, officers and employees who were subpoenaed by the Securities and Exchange Commission during an investigation and subsequent lawsuit.

  • April 15, 2024

    Pollution Exclusion Does Not Bar Coverage For Carbon Monoxide Claim, Insureds Say

    BISMARCK, N.D. — A pollution exclusion does not bar coverage for an underlying bodily injury claim stemming from carbon monoxide exposure because the pollution exclusion in the insurer’s policy applies only to traditional environmental pollution claims, the insureds contend in an April 12 appellant brief filed in the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.

  • April 12, 2024

    Failure To Offer Proof Of Continued Disability Supports Termination, Plan Says

    PHILADELPHIA — A disability claimant’s failure to provide proof of a continued disability when her long-term disability (LTD) benefits were terminated supports the reasonableness of the disability plan’s termination of benefits and warrants the reversal of a district court’s judgment in favor of the claimant, the disability plan maintains in its appellant reply brief filed in the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.

  • April 11, 2024

    HOA Seeks Reconsideration Of Lack Of Standing In Construction Insurance Dispute

    JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A homeowners’ association asks a federal judge in Florida to reconsider a finding that it lacked standing to seek a declaratory judgment in a construction insurance dispute where an insurer seeks a declaration that it owes no indemnification to a subcontractor that worked on homes operated by the HOA.

  • April 11, 2024

    Farmers To 6th Circuit: Vacate Parts Of Dismissal Ruling In Crop Insurance Case

    CINCINNATI — Alleging in their opening brief that a crop insurer and the Federal Crop Insurance Corp. (FCIC) “are squeezing New Heights out of business with their never-ending stalled investigation,” farmers ask the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to vacate parts of a dismissal ruling and remand.

  • 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

    Primary, Excess Insurer Says Pollution Exclusion Bars Coverage For Silica Lawsuits

    MINNEAPOLIS — No coverage is owed to an insured manufacturer of quartz surface slabs for underlying bodily injury lawsuits arising out of exposure to silica dust while working with the quartz slabs because coverage is barred by the pollution exclusion, a primary and excess insurer says in a complaint filed in Minnesota federal court.

  • April 09, 2024

    Insureds Say Remand In Pollution Dispute Is Necessary, Appeal Is Premature

    SAN FRANCISCO — Insureds involved in an environmental contamination coverage suit urge the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to remand its suit to the district court, contending that the insurer’s notice of appeal was premature because the district court did not rule on the insureds’ motion to alter or amend the judgment entered in favor of the insureds on the applicability of the pollution exclusion.

  • April 08, 2024

    Insured Asks 5th Circuit To Rehear Professional Liability Coverage Dispute

    NEW ORLEANS — An insured on April 5 filed a petition seeking rehearing en banc of the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ March 21 per curiam opinion that affirmed a lower federal court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of a professional liability insurer in the insured’s lawsuit seeking coverage for underlying claims that she breached a subcontract by wrongfully soliciting the underlying plaintiff’s clients, asserting that the way the panel affirmed the lower court “without writing on the issues” “appears to approve a faulty process for determining the duty to Defend.”

  • April 08, 2024

    Insurer Moves To Reargue Dismissal Of Breach Of Contract Claims In Subrogation Suit

    WILMINGTON, Del. — An insurer asked a Delaware court if it can reargue the court’s dismissal of its breach of contract claims for pleading deficiencies and file an amended complaint before dismissal with prejudice is entered on the breach of contract claims in its subrogation lawsuit seeking recovery from an application service provider for the amount paid to nonprofit insureds for investigative and remediation steps arising from a ransomware attack.

  • April 05, 2024

    Condo Developer Tells 10th Circuit It Should Affirm Insurance Dispute Ruling

    DENVER — A condominium developer tells the 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that an insurer uses “semantic shell games” to argue that it does not owe the developer damages in its appeal of a jury’s $2.54 million award in the developer’s favor, saying the insurance policy at issue covered all costs associated with repair.

  • April 05, 2024

    Insurer Tells 11th Circuit Coverage Barred For Contractor By Policy Exclusion

    ATLANTA — A contractor’s insurer tells the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that it should uphold a Florida federal judge’s ruling that it owed no duty to defend the contractor or a subcontractor due to a policy exclusion in a suit stemming from the subcontractor’s alleged faulty installation of cladding and glazing systems in a construction project in its answer to the contractor’s appeal.

  • April 04, 2024

    Insured Appeals Court’s Ruling That Bump-Up Exclusion Bars D&O Coverage

    ALEXANDRIA, Va. — An insured on April 3 filed a notice of appeal in a Virginia federal court asking the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to review the lower court’s holding that a “bump-up” exclusion unambiguously precludes directors and officers liability insurance coverage for the $90 million settlement of two underlying lawsuits arising from a 2015 merger.

  • April 04, 2024

    Insurer Says District Court Properly Found Coverage Is Barred For Cleanup Costs

    ATLANTA — A district court’s ruling that no coverage is owed to an insured for contamination cleanup costs caused by the release of petroleum and other contaminants from an underground storage tank at a gas station must be affirmed because the district court correctly found that the claim for contamination cleanup costs incepted prior to the issuance of the policy and is, therefore, barred from coverage, the insurer says in its appellee brief filed in the 11th Circuit Court of Appeal.

  • April 04, 2024

    Coverage Owed For Mold Damages, Insureds Reiterate In Corrected Reply Brief

    ATLANTA — In a corrected reply brief, filed with the permission of the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, insureds reiterate their argument that a district court erred in finding that no coverage is owed for mold damage discovered in an insured hotel because the policy at issue provides coverage for losses caused by a construction defect even if the cost to fix the defect is not covered.

  • April 02, 2024

    Parties Refile Stipulation Of Dismissal In Worker Injury Coverage Dispute

    NEW YORK — Per a New York federal judge’s order, a subcontractor, a property owner and a construction manager on April 1 refiled their stipulation of dismissal of the claims between them in the subcontractor’s lawsuit arising from personal injury actions brought by two of its workers.

  • 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 28, 2024

    GEICO Sues Radiology Clinics, Owner, Seeking More Than $290,000 For No-Fault Fraud

    BROOKLYN, N.Y. — GEICO filed a complaint in New York federal court against multiple radiology clinics and their owner, seeking to recover $290,000 it paid on alleged fraudulent billing for services that were medically unnecessary and “otherwise non-reimbursable” and were purportedly provided to auto accident victims insured by GEICO.

  • March 27, 2024

    Insurer Seeks High Court Review Of Remanded Class Action Challenging Its Practices

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — An insurer filed a petition for a writ of certiorari asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ finding that a class action challenging its practices fits within the internal affairs and home state controversy exceptions to the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA).

  • March 26, 2024

    Companies Appeal Finding They Are Owed No Defense From Subcontractor’s Insurer

    LOS ANGELES — A building owner and a general contractor have appealed a California judge’s decision dismissing their lawsuit seeking payment from a subcontractor’s insurer after the judge agreed with the insurer that coverage was barred by a policy exclusion related to damage caused by the subcontractor’s faulty work.

  • March 25, 2024

    Insurer Says Lower Court Erred In Placing Burden On Insurer In Pollution Dispute

    SAN FRANCISCO — A district court erred in placing the burden on an insurer to prove that a pollution exclusion barred coverage for underlying environmental contamination lawsuits because the burden should have been placed on the insureds to prove that the exclusion did not apply as a bar to coverage, an insurer argues in its March 22 appellant brief filed in the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.

  • March 21, 2024

    AFFF Maker Seeks Ruling That Pollution Exclusions Do Not Bar Liability Claims

    CHARLESTON, S.C. — A company that makes the firefighting agent known as aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) has moved in South Carolina federal court for partial summary judgment against a group of insurers asking the court to find that the product liability and common-law causes of action alleging bodily injury and/or property damage that have been asserted against the company in the multidistrict litigation are not excluded from coverage by pollution exclusions.

  • March 20, 2024

    Oral Arguments Held In NRA’s Free Speech Suit Arising From Insurance Program

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the National Rifle Association of America (NRA)’s petition seeking review of the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ finding that it failed to plausibly assert that the former superintendent of the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) unconstitutionally threatened or coerced an insurer or other entities to stifle its speech, addressing the NRA’s contention that it plausibly pleaded a First Amendment claim because the superintendent “chose coercion over persuasion.”