Specialty Lines
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March 21, 2024
Insurance Litigation Week In Review
The U.S. Supreme Court considered the NRA's free speech rights and whether an insurer had standing in bankruptcy court, Geico was slammed with a $164 million payout, the Sixth Circuit seemed hesitant to force Amway to pay its own defense costs and Metallica's COVID-19 coverage case faded to black.
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March 21, 2024
Calif. Regulators' Pitch On Insurance Reform Draws Scrutiny
Two regulations proposed to help lure insurers back to California's market by speeding up the state's rate approvals and allowing insurers to use catastrophe models to set rates are drawing scrutiny as industry and consumer groups weigh their potential effects.
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March 21, 2024
Sanitizer Co. Faces Tough Ad Injury Coverage Bid In 2nd Circ.
A company accused of falsely advertising that its sanitizing products were effective in disinfecting surfaces faces an uphill battle, experts say, as the Second Circuit is poised to hear oral arguments Monday over whether the company is owed coverage under its commercial general liability policy for an underlying class action.
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March 19, 2024
Metallica's Bid For COVID-19 Coverage Fades To Black
California appellate justices on Monday upheld Certain Underwriters at Lloyd's of London's summary judgment win against heavy metal band Metallica's breach suit seeking coverage for shows canceled during the COVID-19 pandemic, siding with the lower court's order finding the policy's communicable disease exclusion precluded coverage as a matter of law.
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March 19, 2024
FTC Sends Benefytt's Sham Health Plan Buyers $100M
The Federal Trade Commission is sending refund checks to hundreds of thousands of customers from the $100 million Benefytt Technologies Inc. paid to settle allegations that it deceptively marketed sham health plans as qualified under the Affordable Care Act.
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March 19, 2024
Uber, Progressive Unit Settle NC Widower's Coverage Fight
The widower of an Uber Eats driver who died in a car crash on the job has settled his lawsuit seeking a payout for the accident from the ride-hailing giant and its insurer, according to a notice filed in North Carolina federal court.
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March 19, 2024
Insurer Meets 6th Circ. Resistance In Bid To Undo Amway Win
Sixth Circuit judges appeared skeptical Tuesday of an AIG unit's argument that it shouldn't have to defend and indemnify Amway Corp. in copyright litigation, with one judge saying he doubted Amway's self-insured policies should take priority over an AIG internet policy.
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March 19, 2024
State Farm Must Face Wire Fraud Coverage Suit
A State Farm unit can't escape a property owners association's suit seeking directors and officers coverage for underlying litigation stemming from an alleged wire fraud incident, a California federal court ruled, saying the association's claimed loss falls within the basic scope of coverage.
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March 18, 2024
Justices Tilt Toward NRA In Free Speech Row With Regulator
A cautious U.S. Supreme Court seemed poised Monday to rule in favor of the National Rifle Association in a case over allegations that a former New York state official pressured financial institutions to cut ties to the National Rifle Association in violation of its free speech rights.
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March 18, 2024
Colo. HOA Not Covered In Travelers Repair Payment Row
A Colorado federal judge ruled a Travelers unit doesn't have a duty to defend or indemnify a Denver homeowners association seeking coverage for a dispute with a different Travelers unit that alleged it overpaid for a hailstorm property damage claim.
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March 18, 2024
Excess Insurer Can Duck Bankruptcy Suit, 2nd Circ. Affirms
The director of distressed medical companies was again prevented Monday from forcing an excess insurer to follow form and cover him in adversarial South Carolina bankruptcy proceedings, a Second Circuit panel found, upholding a New York federal court decision.
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March 16, 2024
Up Next At High Court: Gov't Jawboning & Retaliatory Arrests
The U.S. Supreme Court has a packed oral arguments calendar this week that includes disputes over the Biden administration's work with social media companies to combat misinformation, the appropriate evidence standard for bringing retaliatory arrest claims and whether the federal government can object to a consent decree entered into by three states.
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March 14, 2024
Lehman Brothers Can't Undo Trial Loss Over Crisis-Era CDS
A New York appeals court on Thursday affirmed a bench trial loss Lehman Brothers' bankrupt European unit suffered last year in a suit attempting to claw back nearly half a billion dollars from Assured Guaranty over losses on credit default swaps tied to the 2008 financial crisis.
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March 14, 2024
Insurance Litigation Week In Review
A divided Colorado Supreme Court expanded application of the state's notice-prejudice rule, the Fourth Circuit tossed a COVID-19 coverage class action and the Eighth Circuit considered whether insurers' billing agreements with healthcare providers violated Minnesota's No-Fault Act. Here, Law360 takes a look at this week's top insurance news.
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March 14, 2024
8th Circ. Weighs If No-Bill Agreements Break Minn. Law
The Eighth Circuit carefully considered arguments Thursday between six Farmers units and a policyholder class as to whether the carriers' agreements with healthcare providers restricted the class's medical expense coverage in violation of Minnesota law, giving little indication of which way it leaned.
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March 14, 2024
Justices To Consider Insurer's Right To Participate In Ch. 11
The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to hear arguments Tuesday on whether Truck Insurance Exchange retains standing to oppose the proposed reorganization plan of two bankrupt manufacturers facing a bevy of underlying asbestos injury claims, after the Fourth Circuit blocked Truck's opposition since the plan was "insurance neutral."
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March 14, 2024
Insurer Climate Info Partnership Ups Federal Monitor's Role
A new data-sharing partnership between the U.S. Treasury and state insurance regulators reflects the government's growing interest in understanding and monitoring climate change risks to insurance markets, experts say, but questions remain over the extent to which the data will fully reflect the industry's risks and carbon footprint.
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March 14, 2024
4th Circ. Weighs Insurer's Duty To Defend Land-Use Dispute
The Fourth Circuit will decide whether to overturn a West Virginia federal ruling allowing an insurer to avoid covering a sustainable farm that has been accused by the oil and gas company of blocking it from drilling wells in a $4 million state land-use dispute. Here, Law360 breaks down the case in advance of the forthcoming decision.
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March 14, 2024
Justices To Weigh Free Speech, Gov't Oversight In NRA Row
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments next week over whether a former New York state official illegally pressured financial institutions to cut ties to the National Rifle Association, setting up a showdown between free speech rights and regulatory oversight.
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March 14, 2024
An Insurance Attorney's Call To Military Service
Jeffrey Bristol of Parrish Law PA is a self-described "later-in-life lawyer" wearing many hats because he has dedicated more than a decade to serving in multiple branches of the U.S. armed forces.
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March 14, 2024
Towers Watson Ruling Energizes Bump-Up Supporters, Critics
A Virginia federal court decision freeing Towers Watson's insurers from covering shareholder suit settlements totaling $90 million has offered carriers support for their use of the so-called bump-up exclusion and prompted criticism from policyholders that the exclusion has gone too far.
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March 13, 2024
PNC Bank Can't Get $106M Judgment Covered By Insurers
PNC Bank NA is not entitled to coverage by a group of excess insurers for a $106 million judgment it incurred in an underlying lawsuit alleging the bank's predecessor mismanaged funeral trust accounts, a Pennsylvania federal judge ruled Wednesday, saying the policies' exclusions bar coverage in this case.
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March 13, 2024
Wash. Law Firm, Travelers Settle $136K Theft Coverage Fight
A Seattle law firm and Travelers settled their coverage dispute over an employee's nearly $136,000 worth of unauthorized charges on a credit card, the parties told a Washington federal court.
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March 13, 2024
Health Plan Provider's Settlement Notice Costs Not Covered
An insurer has no duty to indemnify a health insurance provider for notice costs incurred in a class action over denied medical benefits, a Montana federal court ruled, finding that the costs do not constitute "claim expenses" under the provider's errors and omissions policy.
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March 12, 2024
Gunmaker, Insurer Settle Coverage Of NY 'Ghost Gun' Suits
A gunmaker accused by the New York attorney general and two cities of facilitating the creation of so-called ghost guns has reached a coverage settlement with one of its insurers, the parties told a Florida federal court Tuesday, leaving the gunmaker's coverage claims against another insurer still pending.
Expert Analysis
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FCA Ruling Guides Insureds On Classifying Restitution Costs
In Astellas v. Starr Indemnity, an Illinois federal court recently held that a False Claims Act settlement qualified as insurable compensatory damages, not uninsurable disgorgement, providing an important guide to policyholders navigating the tax code's deductibility requirements and insurance policy exclusions, say attorneys at Reed Smith.
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Subpoena Defense Cost Ruling Gets Insurance Law Wrong
A Connecticut federal court's recent decision that National Union Fire Insurance Co. of Pittsburgh didn't need to cover defense costs for a power utility's response to a grand jury subpoena included two crucial mistakes that contravene long-standing insurance law principles, say attorneys at Hunton.
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Insurance Commissioner's Agenda: DC On Long-Term Care
Washington, D.C., Insurance Commissioner Karima Woods outlines the development of insurance coverage for older adults' long-term care benefits and how regulators and the industry are attempting to resolve issues with the popular product.
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5 Buyers' Counsel Tips For R&W Insurance Underwriting Calls
With representations and warranties insurance becoming more popular than ever, buyers' counsel participating in underwriting calls for such insurance should follow certain best practices to secure contracts with minimal exclusions, say Bryan O'Keefe and Gena Usenheimer at Seyfarth.
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When A Denial Of Recovery-Based Insurance Claim Is Invalid
Two recent court decisions show that policyholders should not accept denials of coverage based on the uninsurability of restitution or disgorgement-based losses without a detailed, two-part analysis of the specific state's law and the particular facts of the loss, say Stephen Raptis and Emily Buchanan at Haynes and Boone.
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Insurance Commissioner's Agenda: Del. Tackles Mental Health
Delaware Insurance Commissioner Trinidad Navarro highlights the state's efforts to achieve insurance coverage parity for mental health care by confronting systemic stigma and penalizing disparate and restrictive insurance determinations.
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Key Takeaways From The NAIC Summer National Meeting
Stephanie Duchene and Kara Baysinger at Willkie highlight what insurance practitioners should know about top industry priorities from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ recent national meeting, including climate-related risk, diversity and inclusion, and technological innovation.
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Considerations In Structuring Private Equity D&O Coverage
With the surge in investment activity driven by the ongoing pandemic recovery, private equity firms should carefully consider the scope of protection afforded by their directors and officers and general partnership liability programs, and how that coverage fits into their overall risk mitigation strategy, say Geoffrey Fehling and Syed Ahmad at Hunton and Rachel Beck at CAC Specialty.
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The Complex State Of Insurance In The Cannabis Business
Jan Larson and Philip Sailer at Jenner & Block outline the complex cannabis regulatory schemes perplexing courts faced with insurance coverage cases and discuss legislative solutions that could at least begin to reduce the challenges for both policyholders and insurers.
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D&O Coverage Considerations Amid Increasing SEC Scrutiny
With all signs pointing to heightened U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission oversight and enforcement, policyholders should be asking four questions to ensure their directors and officers insurance provides the protection they expect and to avoid coverage disputes, say Robin Cohen and Orrie Levy at Cohen Ziffer.
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Policyholder Best Practices As Cyberattacks Escalate
As ransomware attacks increasingly target corporate victims, policyholders should enhance cybersecurity and privacy efforts to avoid regulatory hot water and mitigate the effects of rising insurance premiums and coverage restrictions, say Lee Epstein and Krishna Jani at Flaster Greenberg.
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Embracing ESG: AIG Counsel Talks SEC Risk Alert
As the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission responds to the changing landscape on environmental, social and corporate governance investing, including with its recent risk alert, it is imperative that the regulator take a measured approach, says Kate Fuentes at AIG.
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Insurance Commissioner's Agenda: Wis. Tackles Climate Risk
Wisconsin Commissioner of Insurance Mark Afable talks about educating consumers on potential climate-risk coverage gaps and mitigation efforts, and encouraging insurers to recognize the latter in underwriting, in the face of increasingly frequent and severe weather disasters.