Property
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June 13, 2024
Insurance Litigation Week In Review
The Eighth Circuit pondered whether Geico was responsible for an HPV infection, a Michigan court said lies could eliminate a dead man's payout, a Texas roofer was told that public adjusting wasn't a free-speech matter, and House of Cards' California suit withstood an insurer's attempt to knock it down.
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June 13, 2024
Insurer Calls Convicted Mogul's $633M IOU 'Worthless' Ruse
Convicted insurance mogul Greg Lindberg has offered a "worthless" $633 million promise as a ruse to end an insurance company's bid to collect a $524 million arbitration award, a North Carolina federal court heard this week.
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June 13, 2024
Insurance Cases Remain High Despite 2023 Downturn
Though insurance litigation in federal district courts took a slight dip in 2023, diverging from the upward trend that insurance cases have exhibited since 2016, the number of cases initiated last year remained the second-highest number filed over a 10-year span, according to a report by Lex Machina.
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June 12, 2024
8th Circ. Judge Calls Car Sex 'Clearly Foreseeable' In HPV Suit
An Eighth Circuit judge said Wednesday that having sex in a vehicle is "clearly foreseeable," challenging Geico's contention that such activity does not constitute normal use of an automobile in a coverage suit over a woman's claim that she contracted HPV during sexual encounters in a policyholder's car.
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June 12, 2024
$18.8M Theft Coverage Suit Must Be Heard In State Court
A Texas federal judge ruled that a lawsuit brought against an insurer over $18.8 million in theft and vandalism at a Georgia shopping center belongs in state court, refusing to create diversity by removing a plaintiff.
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June 11, 2024
Precedent Favors Nationwide In Mich. Tax Fight, Judge Says
A Michigan Court of Appeals judge said Tuesday that the state's tax agency was asking the court to turn its back on recent precedent to hold that Nationwide entities couldn't file as a unitary business to share insurance tax credits across their group members.
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June 11, 2024
Restaurant Owner Seeks $414K For Deductible Overpayment
The owner of two Florida restaurants is seeking reimbursement of over $400,000, telling a federal district court Tuesday that it overpaid a claim deductible for damage stemming from Hurricane Ian after its insurer misapplied the appropriate endorsement.
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June 11, 2024
Brach Eichler Adds Insurance Pro From Garces Grabler In NJ
Brach Eichler has continued a recent boom in its litigation team with the hire of a no-fault insurance expert from personal injury giant Garces Grabler & LeBrocq PC in New Jersey who also brings expertise as a former in-house attorney for GEICO.
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June 10, 2024
Judge Sides With Tenants In Legionnaires' Coverage Dispute
A Kentucky federal court declined to exercise jurisdiction in an insurer's attempt to secure a ruling that coverage isn't available to its landlord-insureds in a $4.5 million underlying state court action in which a tenant alleged that the landlords' negligence caused her to contract Legionnaires' disease.
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June 10, 2024
High Court On Ch. 11, New Bank Rules, Alex Jones Ch. 7 Shift
The U.S. Supreme Court said an insurance company has "party in interest" standing to intervene in a Chapter 11 case, the U.S. Department of Justice's bankruptcy watchdog "modernized" its agreement for banks holding debtor funds, and recent motions could pivot Alex Jones and his media company's Chapter 11s to Chapter 7 liquidations.
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June 10, 2024
AM Best Boosts Reinsurance Market Outlook To 'Positive'
AM Best revised its outlook on the global reinsurance market Monday from "stable" to "positive," pointing to "robust" profit margins and a well-capitalized market amid a backdrop of higher interest rates, which AM Best said are not expected to decrease anytime soon.
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June 10, 2024
Insurer Off Hook For HOA's $7.6M Roof Damage Replacement
An insurer didn't act in bad faith or partake in deceptive trade practices when investigating and issuing payment for storm damage that a homeowners association suffered, a federal judge ruled, finding the insurer never accepted the HOA's nearly $8 million estimate as valid and did not agree to pay that amount.
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June 10, 2024
Pa. Bridge Collapse Victim Can Only Get $5K, Court Told
Pittsburgh Regional Transit wants to trim claims brought by a passenger aboard a bus that was on the Fern Hollow Bridge when it collapsed in 2022, telling a Pennsylvania court that as a self-insured state agency, the most it would owe her is $5,000 for medical expenses.
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June 07, 2024
Texas Top Court Denies Roofer's Challenge To Adjuster Laws
The Supreme Court of Texas tossed on Friday a roofing company's challenge to the state's public adjuster licensing laws, saying that requiring a license or preventing certain conduct didn't violate the roofer's free speech rights.
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June 07, 2024
Zurich, Loan Co. Settle $15M Ex-3M Campus Repairs Suit
The lender and current title owner for a now-foreclosed Austin property that was once the campus of 3M reached a settlement in principle with a Zurich unit over coverage for their $15.5 million winter storm damage claim, the parties told a Texas federal court.
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June 06, 2024
Texas AG Takes Aim At Carmakers Selling Drivers' Data
Texas' attorney general has become the latest to turn up the data-privacy heat on connected car manufacturers, revealing Thursday that his office has begun an investigation into how these companies amass and sell drivers' data to third parties, including insurance providers.
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June 06, 2024
La. Commercial Property Co. Settles Storm Insurance Dispute
A Louisiana federal judge has dismissed a commercial property owner's coverage fight over windstorm damage after the company settled in arbitration with a group of 10 insurers.
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June 06, 2024
Justices' Standing Ruling May Embolden Carriers In Ch. 11
The U.S. Supreme Court said Thursday that an insurer with a responsibility for its policyholder's Chapter 11 bankruptcy claims can intervene in those bankruptcy proceedings, potentially giving insurers greater leverage in reorganization negotiations and likely causing an influx of insurer objections in bankruptcy court, experts tell Law360.
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June 06, 2024
Insurers' Climate Exposure Poses Risk To US Housing Market
Climate risks to already strained insurance markets could significantly disrupt the U.S. housing market and the broader financial system, according to insurance, banking and housing experts, as well as a growing body of academic research leveraging new risk data.
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June 06, 2024
State Farm Escapes Policyholder's Life Insurance GIPA Suit
An Illinois state court has permanently tossed a State Farm policyholder's privacy claims targeting family medical history questions the insurer asked as part of its life insurance underwriting process, agreeing with its argument that the state's Genetic Information Privacy Act doesn't apply to life insurance.
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June 06, 2024
8th Circ. To Mull If Geico Auto Policy Covers HPV Claim
The Eighth Circuit will hear oral arguments Wednesday over whether Geico should cover $5.2 million awarded to a woman claiming she contracted HPV during sexual encounters in a policyholder's car, with the case turning on whether her bodily injury claim must arise from the normal use of an automobile.
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June 06, 2024
Liquor Liability Costs Shake And Stir SC's Hospitality Industry
As the South Carolina General Assembly returned to session Wednesday, grassroots organizations advocating for small businesses gathered at the State House for a press conference urging elected officials to reform legislation burdening restaurants, bars and music venues with increasingly high costs of liability insurance.
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June 06, 2024
Insurance Broker Expert Says AI 'Top Risk' For Policyholders
Companies are increasingly integrating artificial intelligence technologies into their work, raising concerns in the insurance sector about the potential for growing risks and what coverage options are available for that exposure.
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June 06, 2024
Insurance Litigation Week In Review
The U.S. Supreme Court allowed an insurer to intervene in policyholder bankruptcy proceedings, Liberty Mutual requested that a policyholder-judge be removed from a construction accident coverage dispute, and a Markel unit is attempting to skirt a $77.7 million auto accident judgment. Here, Law360 takes a look at the past week's top insurance news.
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June 06, 2024
Justices Affirm Taxing Of Estate On Insurance Payout
The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed on Thursday a decision denying a tax refund to the estate of an owner of a building materials company that used a payout from his $3.5 million life insurance policy to purchase his shares in the business.
Expert Analysis
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Suits Likely Over Nevada Law Limiting Claimant Injury Exams
A new Nevada law placing barriers on the mental or physical examinations that defendants use to evaluate claimants' injuries will likely spur waves of litigation to reconcile it with existing rules and practice, says Michael Lowry at Wilson Elser.
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Mass. Ruling Shows Value Of Additional Insured Specifics
A Massachusetts court’s recent D.F. Pray v. Wesco Insurance decision demonstrates that blanket additional insured endorsements can create issues with personal jurisdiction, so those named as additional insureds should require their lower-tier contractors to use specific endorsements, say Thomas Dunn and Sheya Rivard at Pierce Atwood.
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7 Ways Telco Operators Can Approach Lead Cable Claims
A recent spotlight on the telecommunication industry shows that companies in the field have known for decades that lead-wrapped cables proliferate in their vast networks, which is likely to provoke prolonged and costly legal battles — but seven best practices can efficiently resolve claims and minimize damage, say consultants at AlixPartners.
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What Wis. High Court Ruling Means For Coverage Analysis
Overturning insurance law precedent in 5 Walworth v. Engerman Contracting, the Wisconsin Supreme Court recently rejected the use of the economic loss doctrine and integrated systems analysis in commercial general liability cases, but a strongly worded concurrence could indicate that the court's opinion may have limited persuasive reach, say Laura Lin and Pierce MacConaghy at Simpson Thacher.
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Auto Insurers Should Reassess Calif. Diminished Value Claims
Many California auto insurers currently pay third-party claims for diminished value damages after a vehicle has been in an accident; however, federal decisions interpreting California law suggest that insurers may not have to pay some of these claims, says Charles Danaher at Sheppard Mullin.
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A Festival Of Litigation Could Arise From 'Electric Zoo' Fiasco
Over Labor Day weekend, thousands of electronic dance music fans were displeased with the organization of the New York City-based Electric Zoo festival, which quickly elicited comparisons to the 2017 Fyre Festival — and three kinds of litigation could ensue from the debacle, say attorneys at Seiden Law.
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Potential Marijuana Status Change Would Shift Industry Risks
Cannabis companies and their insurers should pay close attention to how the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' move toward marijuana reclassification plays out, and the potential for a shakeup in the landscape for cannabis regulation at the state and federal levels, says Ian Stewart at Wilson Elser.
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Key Provisions In Florida's New Insurer Accountability Act
Florida's recent bipartisan Insurer Accountability Act introduces a range of new obligations for insurance companies and regulatory bodies to strengthen consumer protection, and other states may follow suit should it prove successful at ensuring a reliable insurance market, say Jan Larson and Benjamin Malings at Jenner & Block.
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Texas Storms Drive Coverage Litigation And Key Rulings
Given the frequency and magnitude of extreme weather events across Texas, first-party coverage claims continue to dominate high-profile litigation in the state, bringing significant recent decisions on attorney fees, appraisal, allocation and other important insurance topics, says Laura Grabouski at Holden Litigation.
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Next Steps For Insurers After Ky. OKs Early 3rd-Party Claims
While insurers in Kentucky may face more statutory bad faith claims after a recent state Supreme Court decision clarified that third parties may bring these torts even before determination of coverage is finalized, insurers can adopt a variety of approaches to reduce their exposure, says Jason Reichlyn at Dykema Gossett.
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Insurers, Prepare For Large Exposures From PFAS Claims
With thousands of lawsuits concerning per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances pending across the country, several large settlements already reached, and both regulators and the plaintiffs bar increasingly focusing on PFAS, it is becoming clear that these "forever chemicals" present major exposures to insurers and their policyholders, say Scott Seaman and Jennifer Arnold at Hinshaw.
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Rethinking Mich. Slip-And-Fall Defense After Top Court Ruling
The Michigan Supreme Court recently overturned three decades of premises liability jurisprudence by ruling that the open and obvious danger defense is no longer part of a traditional duty analysis, posing the question of whether landowners will ever again win on a motion for summary dismissal, say John Stiglich and Meriam Choulagh at Wilson Elser.
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What To Know About Duty To Settle Insurance Claims In Texas
Laura Grabouski of Holden Litigation examines the parameters of Texas insurers' duty to settle liability claims within the limits of the primary policy, as knowledge of the requirements — and the potential exposure from insureds, judgment creditors or excess creditors — can pay dividends in the era of nuclear verdicts.