Mealey's Insurance : Mealey's : Legal News & Analysis

Mealey's Insurance

October 12, 2023
Pennsylvania Mediation Privilege Law Is Applied In Indemnification Row

TRENTON, N.J. — Ruling on a motion to compel discovery in a dispute between insurers and reinsurers over indemnification for asbestos bodily injury claims, a New Jersey federal magistrate judge denied it without prejudice as to two categories of documents but partly granted it as to a third category.
October 11, 2023
Insurer: AFFF Defendant’s Coverage Claim Fails For Lack Of Jurisdiction

CHARLESTON, S.C. — Allstate Insurance Co. on Oct. 10 filed a reply brief in South Carolina federal court arguing that Tyco Fire Products LP fails to establish that the court has jurisdiction over Allstate in Tyco’s lawsuit seeking insurance coverage for the multidistrict litigation for claims arising from injuries associated with the firefighting agent aqueous film forming foam (AFFF).
October 10, 2023
Insured Claims Property Insurer Owes Additional Coverage For Water Damage

LOS ANGELES — An insured filed suit in California state court against its property insurer, seeking a declaration that the insurer owes additional coverage to repair a property damaged when water pipes burst in the building and alleging that the insurer breached its contract and acted in bad faith by refusing to release additional fund for repairs.
October 10, 2023
Insured Condo Association Appeals Pollution Exclusion Ruling To 11th Circuit

ATLANTA — An insured filed a notice of appeal to the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, seeking review of a Georgia federal judge’s ruling that an insurer owes no coverage for underlying suits filed by residents of a condominium building who claim that they were injured as a result of fumes exhausted from a backup power generator because the policies’ pollution exclusions bar coverage.
October 10, 2023
Insurers Move To Voluntarily Dismiss Gas Pipeline Explosion Coverage Suit

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Two insurers seeking a declaration that no coverage is owed for a gas pipeline explosion filed a motion to dismiss their lawsuit with prejudice in Alabama federal court after reaching a settlement with their insureds.
October 09, 2023
Diversity Of Citizenship Does Not Exist In Sewage Backup Coverage Suit

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — A premises environmental liability insurer’s suit seeking a declaration regarding its coverage obligation for an underlying bodily injury suit must be dismissed because complete diversity of citizenship does not exist as the premises environmental liability insurer and the commercial general liability insurer, named as a defendant, are both incorporated in Delaware, a New York federal judge said.
October 04, 2023
Insurer Asks 8th Circuit To Reconsider Remand Of Coronavirus Coverage Suit

ST. LOUIS — An insurer seeks rehearing or rehearing en banc of the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling that reversed and remanded a coronavirus coverage lawsuit for an Iowa federal court to determine whether federal diversity jurisdiction exists, arguing that the panel “expressly rejected the principle of federal law that parties are bound by their concessions of jurisdictional facts.”
October 03, 2023
California Panel Reverses Ruling In Insurers’ Favor In Coronavirus Coverage Suit

LOS ANGELES — A California appeals panel on Oct. 2 reversed and remanded a lower court’s order granting a group of insurers’ motion for judgment on the pleadings in a real estate investment firm’s coronavirus coverage dispute, rejecting the insurers’ argument that the pollution exclusion barred coverage.
October 03, 2023
Pollution Exclusion Bars Coverage For Damages Caused By Stormwater Runoff

ATLANTA — A Georgia federal judge granted a homebuilder liability insurer’s motion to dismiss an insured’s breach of contract suit after determining that no coverage is afforded for an underlying suit alleging property damages caused by stormwater runoff created by the insured’s construction of a townhome development because the policy’s pollution exclusion bars coverage for stormwater runoff.
October 02, 2023
COMMENTARY: Illusory Insurance Policy Coverage

By Robert M. Hall
October 02, 2023
Insurer Agrees To Dismiss Contamination Coverage Suit Following Settlement

ATHENS, Ga. — A commercial general liability insurer agreed to dismiss its suit filed against its insured and others in Georgia federal court and seeking a declaration that its policy’s pollution exclusion bars coverage for an underlying contamination and public nuisance suit arising out of the disposals made by the insured at a landfill after reaching a settlement with its insured and the other named defendants.
October 02, 2023
Kaiser Gypsum Insurer Says Cert Needed For Dispute Over Standing

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ ruling that the primary insurer of Chapter 11 asbestos debtors Kaiser Gypsum Co. Inc. and Hanson Permanente Cement Inc. lacks standing to challenge the debtors’ reorganization plan “exacerbates a conflict among the [U.S. circuit courts] and defies the straightforward text of the Bankruptcy Code,” the insurer says in a reply brief in support of its petition for certiorari in the U.S. Supreme Court.
October 02, 2023
Federal Judge Rules For Insurer In Landlord’s Coronavirus Coverage Suit

NEW YORK — A federal judge in New York on Sept. 29 granted a commercial property insurer’s motion for summary judgment in a coronavirus coverage suit, noting that the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has held in 11012 Holdings, Inc. v. Sentinel Ins. Co. that, pursuant to New York law, the unambiguous words “physical loss or damage” “require actual physical loss of or damage to the insured's property.”
October 02, 2023
Judge: Issues Of Fact Exist On Insurer’s Coverage Denial In Water Damage Dispute

OKLAHOMA CITY — An insured’s claim for bad faith against its commercial property insurer can proceed because issues of material fact exist as to whether the insurer’s denial of coverage for some roof damage and interior water damage was reasonable, an Oklahoma federal judge said in denying the insurer’s motion for summary judgment.
September 29, 2023
Rhode Island Federal Judge Says Bifurcation Of Bad Faith Claims Is Appropriate

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — A Rhode Island federal judge granted a homeowners insurer’s motion to bifurcate bad faith claims from a breach of contract claim alleged against the insurer by an insured seeking coverage for water damages after determining that the case will benefit if the bad faith claims are bifurcated.
September 26, 2023
Trial Court’s Breach Of Contract Finding In Water, Mold Damage Suit Was Error

SPOKANE, Wash. — The Division III Washington Court of Appeals reversed a trial court’s ruling on a breach of contract claim brought against a homeowners insurer in a mold and water damage coverage suit after determining that the breach of contract claim cannot survive because the insured failed to show that she sustained any damages as a result of the alleged breach.
September 26, 2023
Trial Court Erred In Granting Judgment For Insurer In Water Damage Suit

WAUKESHA, Wis. — The Second District Wisconsin Court of Appeals determined that a trial court erred in granting a homeowners insurer’s motion for judgment on the pleadings in a water damage coverage dispute because the insureds’ complaint does not allege that the water damage was caused by subsurface water, an excluded cause of loss, but by a sewer or drain backup, a covered cause of loss under the policy.
September 25, 2023
Illinois Panel Affirms Ruling In Insurers’ Favor In Coronavirus Coverage Suit

CHICAGO — An Illinois panel on Sept. 22 affirmed a lower court’s grant of commercial property insurers’ motion to dismiss an insured’s lawsuit seeking coverage for its business income losses and extra expenses arising from the coronavirus, finding that no coverage was triggered because the insured failed to demonstrate that it incurred damage of a physical nature.
September 25, 2023
Questions Of Fact Exist Regarding When Insureds Knew Of Water Leak Problems

SANTA ANA, Calif. — A California federal judge denied a property insurer’s motion for summary judgment on breach of contract and bad faith claims after determining that questions of fact exist regarding when the insureds became aware of a water leak problem within a hotel they purchased and whether the insurer acted reasonably in handling the insureds’ claim for coverage.
September 25, 2023
Default Judgments Against Insurer In Contamination Suit Must Be Reinstated

SEATTLE — A trial court erred in reversing default judgments entered for homeowners who sought damages from their homeowners insurer for the contamination of their home with methamphetamine residue because the homeowners insurer was properly served under Washington law, the Division I Washington Court of Appeals said.
September 20, 2023
Illinois Panel Reverses Judgment For Engineer, Finds Insurer Entitled To Subrogation

CHICAGO — An Illinois appellate panel on Sept. 19 reversed a lower court’s grant of summary judgment to an engineering firm in a builders risk insurer’s suit seeking subrogation damages for the flooding of a building under construction, finding that the lower court erred in finding that the insurer did not meet the prerequisites for equitable subrogation because the insurer’s right to subrogate stemmed from the insurance contract.
September 19, 2023
Trial Court Properly Found Insurer Owes Duty To Defend Against Environmental Claims

SALEM, Ore. — A trial court properly determined that an insurer has a duty to defend its insured for environmental contamination cleanup cost claims made by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency because the policy does not limit the insurer’s duty to defend to claims for covered damages, the Oregon Court of Appeals said.
September 19, 2023
Insurer Says Pollution, Lead Exclusions Bar Coverage For Lead Exposure Suit Claims

BUTTE, Mont. — No coverage is owed to an insured for an underlying third-party complaint alleging that the insured’s negligence in installing a water well contributed to injuries sustained by tenants who consumed the well water because the policies’ exclusions for pollution and lead bar coverage, an insurer says in a complaint filed in Montana federal court.
September 19, 2023
No Coverage For Underlying Environmental Contamination Suits, Illinois Panel Says

CHICAGO — The First District Illinois Appellate Court affirmed a trial court’s ruling in favor of four insurers after determining that no coverage is afforded for underlying environmental contamination lawsuits filed against an insured because the violation of statutory environmental regulations does not constitute an occurrence under the applicable policies.
September 18, 2023
Nevada High Court Vacates Ruling Against Insurer In Coronavirus Coverage Suit

CARSON CITY, Nev. — Granting a commercial property insurer’s petition for writ of mandamus in a coverage dispute arising from the forced closure of a shopping mall in response to the coronavirus pandemic, the Nevada Supreme Court directed the lower court to vacate its order denying the insurer’s motion for summary judgment on the insured’s breach of contract and declaratory relief claims after finding that the insured’s evidence failed to create a genuine dispute of material fact regarding the existence of “direct physical loss or damage” to trigger coverage and that the policy’s pollution and contamination exclusion further barred coverage.