Mealey's Catastrophic Loss : Mealey's : Legal News & Analysis

Mealey's Catastrophic Loss

February 29, 2024
Public Adjuster Can Testify In Coverage Suit For Hurricane Damage

LAKE CHARLES, La. — A Louisiana federal judge denied an insurer’s motion to exclude expert testimony from a public adjuster in a coverage dispute stemming from a hurricane, finding that the insurer’s arguments are not grounds for exclusion.
February 29, 2024
Indiana Panel Affirms No Coverage Ruling In Purdue’s Suit Arising From Coronavirus

INDIANAPOLIS — An Indiana appeals court on Feb. 28 affirmed a lower court’s ruling in favor of an all-risks commercial insurer in the Trustees of Purdue University’s declaratory judgment lawsuit seeking coverage for its business interruption losses arising from the coronavirus pandemic, finding that Purdue’s claim does not fall under the unambiguous policy coverage for physical property loss or damage.
February 27, 2024
Judge Clarifies Discovery Scope After Confusion About AI Insurance Tools

CHICAGO — Given the court’s and parties’ own confusion about the scope of artificial intelligence tools potentially used in sorting complex and potentially fraudulent claims from more standard ones, homeowner plaintiffs and their insurer should confer and determine what exactly is at issue before conducting further discovery, a federal judge in Illinois said in a docket entry order in a case involving the Fair Housing Act.
February 27, 2024
Michigan Panel Affirms Ruling In Favor Of Insurance Agent In Negligence Suit

DETROIT — A Michigan appeals panel affirmed a lower court’s grant of summary disposition in favor of an insurance agent and agency in an insured’s negligence lawsuit arising from its lack of flood coverage, finding that the defendants did not owe the insured a duty to assess and ensure the adequacy of its business insurance coverage and that the insured failed to establish a special relationship giving rise to that duty.
February 26, 2024
Florida Panel Reverses Ruling In Insured’s Favor In Hurricane Irma Coverage Suit

MIAMI — A Florida appeals court panel held that because an insurer did not deny coverage for an insured’s Hurricane Irma damage and timely paid the insured an appraisal award, a lower court erred in granting prejudgment interest to the insured.
February 22, 2024
Judge: Insurer Breached Its Duty To Defend Baltimore Sun From Suits Over Shooting

CHICAGO — A federal judge in Illinois on Feb. 21 held that an insurer breached its duty to defend Tribune Publishing Co. LLC and The Baltimore Sun Co. LLC against underlying wrongful death and negligence lawsuits arising from a 2018 shooting in which five newspaper employees were killed, further finding that the amount of underlying defense costs the insureds are entitled to “remains unresolved.”
February 22, 2024
No Coverage Owed For Losses Incurred By Mandatory Evacuation, 4th Circuit Affirms

RICHMOND, Va. — The Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a lower federal court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of a commercial property insurer in an insured’s breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit, finding that the insurer owes no coverage for the insured’s business income losses incurred as result of the mandatory evacuation of Jasper County, S.C., in preparation for Hurricane Dorian.
February 22, 2024
New Jersey Panel Affirms No Coverage Owed To YMCAs For Losses Arising From Pandemic

TRENTON, N.J. — The New Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division on Feb. 21 affirmed a lower court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of commercial property and casualty insurers in a coverage dispute arising from the coronavirus pandemic, finding that YMCA insureds’ business interruption claims are restricted by their policies’ clear and plain meaning that the court cannot rewrite to cover the “unfortunate losses” they incurred.
February 22, 2024
5th Circuit Vacates Discovery Order, Remands For Stay Pending Arbitration Ruling

NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held that no discovery is needed to determine whether there is a valid agreement to arbitrate because a Hurricane Laura coverage dispute can be decided as a matter of law, vacating the lower federal court’s discovery order and remanding for the lower court to immediately grant a stay pending its ruling on arbitration.
February 21, 2024
9th Circuit Denies Insurer’s Petition For Rehearing Of Pollution Exclusion Ruling

SAN FRANCISCO — A panel of the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Feb. 20 denied an insurer’s petition for panel rehearing, refusing to reconsider the panel majority’s finding that a pollution exclusion does not bar coverage for an underlying toxic exposure suit stemming from the cleanup of wildfire debris.
February 16, 2024
New York High Court: Restaurateur Fails To Allege Direct Physical Loss Or Damage

ALBANY, N.Y. — The New York Court of Appeals on Feb. 15 held that the owner and operator of numerous restaurants failed to allege persistent contamination or total uninhabitability of its restaurants to trigger coverage for “direct physical loss or damage,” affirming the First Department New York Supreme Court Appellate Division’s affirmation of a lower court’s dismissal of the insured’s coverage lawsuit arising from an alleged tens of millions of dollars in revenue loss prompted by the coronavirus pandemic.
February 13, 2024
No Coverage For City’s Tax Revenue Losses Arising From Pandemic, Panel Affirms

ST. LOUIS — The Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Feb. 12 found that a commercial property insurer owes no coverage for a Missouri city’s tax revenue losses due to governmental closure orders in response to the coronavirus pandemic, affirming a lower court’s ruling in favor of the insurer.
February 13, 2024
Panel Dismisses Insurer’s Appeal In Hurricane Irma Suit For Lack Of Jurisdiction

ATLANTA — The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals rejected an insurer’s appeal seeking reversal of a Florida federal court’s order compelling appraisal in a Hurricane Irma coverage lawsuit brought by a condominium association insured, finding that for the reasons stated in its recent decision in Positano Place at Naples I Condominium Association, Inc. v. Empire Indemnity Insurance Co., it lacks appellate jurisdiction.
February 13, 2024
Federal Judge Dismisses Tornado Coverage Suit Following Parties’ Stipulation

CHICAGO —A federal judge in Illinois dismissed insureds’ lawsuit alleging that their homeowners insurer systematically underestimated and underpaid their structural and personal property damage claims prompted by a June 22, 2015, tornado, four days after the parties filed a stipulation of dismissal.
February 12, 2024
English Justice Upholds Tribunals’ ‘Catastrophe’ Application In COVID-19 Cases

LONDON — Ruling in part that arbitration tribunals in two cases concerning the COVID-19 pandemic correctly concluded “that there had been a catastrophe for the purposes of the relevant Reinsurances,” a justice of the High Court of England and Wales on Feb. 9 dismissed an appeal in one case and allowed an appeal in the other case only as to the operation of an “Hours Clause.”
February 12, 2024
Condo Association Says It Settled Hurricane Coverage Row With Guaranty Association

SANFORD, Fla. — A condominium association notified a Florida state court of its settlement with the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association (FIGA), the receiver for the now-insolvent commercial property insurer that the condo association sued seeking coverage for damage caused by Hurricane Irma.
February 09, 2024
Insurer Petitions 9th Circuit For Panel Rehearing Of Pollution Exclusion Ruling

SAN FRANCISCO — A district court’s ruling that a pollution exclusion bars coverage for an underlying toxic exposure suit stemming from the cleanup of wildfire debris should be affirmed because a panel majority of the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals failed to consider two applicable California appellate decisions before concluding that the insurer’s pollution exclusion does not apply to toxic dust, an insurer argues in its petition for panel rehearing.
February 07, 2024
Texas Panel: Exclusion Bars Coverage For Baylor College Of Medicine’s COVID-19 Losses

HOUSTON — A Texas appeals court on Feb. 6 affirmed a lower court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of insurers in Baylor College of Medicine’s lawsuit seeking commercial property insurance coverage for its lost business income arising from the coronavirus pandemic, finding that the Pollution and Contamination exclusion unambiguously bars coverage.
February 06, 2024
Texas Majority Says Windstorm Deductible Ambiguous, Reverses Judgment For Insurer

DALLAS — A majority of a Texas appeals court reversed a lower court’s judgment against insureds in a coverage dispute arising from tornado damage, finding that the term “windstorm” in their homeowners insurance policy’s “Windstorm or Hail Deductible” is ambiguous and that the insureds’ construction of it was not unreasonable.
February 06, 2024
Insurer Permitted To Opt Out Of Hurricane Ida Settlement To File Motion To Dismiss

NEW ORLEANS — A federal magistrate judge in Louisiana granted an insurer’s motion to opt out of the court’s Hurricane Ida Streamlined Settlement Program for the limited purpose of filing its motion to dismiss its insured’s coverage lawsuit, finding that whether the insureds’ claims are futile should be resolved before proceeding with the next phases of settlement program.
February 06, 2024
Federal Judge Refuses To Dismiss Breach Of Contract Suit Over Hurricane Ida Damage

NEW ORLEANS — A federal judge in Louisiana denied a homeowners insurer’s motion to dismiss an insured’s breach of contract lawsuit seeking coverage for its property damage arising from Hurricane Ida, rejecting the insurer’s contention that dismissal is warranted because the insured failed to join two required parties.
February 06, 2024
Hail Damage Suit Against Guaranty Association Tossed For Lack Of Jurisdiction

BATON ROUGE, La. — A Louisiana federal judge dismissed a breach of contract and bad faith suit regarding failure to compensate a homeowner for hailstorm damage against a now-insolvent insurer and the Louisiana Insurance Guaranty Association (LIGA), finding that the court lacks subject matter jurisdiction because both LIGA and the homeowner are citizens of Louisiana.
February 05, 2024
Insured Cannot Recover Attorney Fees, Texas High Court Says In Answering Question

AUSTIN, Texas —The Texas Supreme Court on Feb. 2 answered “yes” to a certified question from the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in an insured’s lawsuit alleging that its insurer violated the Texas Prompt Payment of Claims Act (TPPCA), concluding that the TPPCA prohibits the insured from recovering attorney fees because the insurer voluntarily paid the full appraisal award for the insured’s tornado damage plus any statutory interest.
February 02, 2024
Judge Says Prompt Payment Claim Cannot Be Resolved Until Coverage Is Resolved

FORT WORTH, Texas — A Texas federal judge on Feb. 1 partially adopted a magistrate judge’s findings, conclusions and recommendations (FCR) after determining that a homeowners insurer is entitled to summary judgment on all but one extracontractual claim alleged against the insurer because the insured’s claim for violation of the Texas Prompt Payment Claims Act (TPPCA) is dependent on resolution of the coverage issue.
February 02, 2024
Florida High Court Affirms Order Compelling Appraisal Of Hurricane Irma Damage

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The Florida Supreme Court on Feb. 1 affirmed an appeals court’s ruling affirming a lower court’s order compelling appraisal of a condominium association insured’s Hurricane Irma damage, rejecting the commercial residential insurer’s assertion that a court is barred as a matter of law from ordering an appraisal where coverage was wholly denied by the insurer.