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Mealey's Insurance

  • November 06, 2024

    7th Circuit Hears Argument On Arbitration Preclusion Dispute In Reinsurers’ Appeal

    CHICAGO — In Nov. 5 oral argument before a Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel concerning where disputes over the preclusive effect of prior arbitration are decided, reinsurers acknowledged that the reversal they seek would create a circuit split, while an insurer cited Smith v. Spizzirri in urging the court to vacate the challenged dismissal to arbitration in favor of a stay during arbitration.

  • November 05, 2024

    Validity Of Kaiser’s Bankruptcy Plan Debated On Remand From Supreme Court

    RICHMOND, Va. — Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has determined that the primary insurer of Chapter 11 asbestos debtors Kaiser Gypsum Co. Inc. and Hanson Permanente Cement Inc. has standing to object to the debtors’ reorganization plan, the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals should uphold the insurer’s merits arguments and reverse confirmation of the plan, the insurer says in its Nov. 4 supplemental reply brief on remand from the high court.

  • November 05, 2024

    Question Of Fact Exists In Water Damage Coverage Suit, New York Panel Says

    NEW YORK — A New York appellate panel partially reversed a trial court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of an insurer after determining that a question of fact exists as to whether an insured protected a sprinkler system’s water lines from freezing as required for coverage to be afforded under a policy’s exception to a vacancy exclusion.

  • November 05, 2024

    Federal Judge Denies Insurer’s Motion On Applicability Of Pollution Exclusion

    HOUSTON — A Texas federal judge denied a commercial general liability insurer’s motion for summary judgment in a coverage suit, rejecting the insurer’s contention that coverage is barred for an underlying water contamination suit by its policies’ pollution exclusion.

  • November 05, 2024

    California Federal Judge Enters Final Judgment, Allows Appeal Of Insured’s Claim

    RIVERSIDE, Calif. — A California federal judge granted a joint motion for entry of final judgment on an insured’s declaratory judgment claim in the insured’s suit seeking coverage for groundwater contamination discovered at a local airport, providing the insured the opportunity to appeal the ruling on the claim, which seeks a determination on the insured’s entitlement to coverage for future contamination costs.

  • November 04, 2024

    Insured Waives Right To Respond To High Court Petition In Chemical Exposure Suit

    WASHINGTON D.C. — An insured waived its right to respond to an insurer’s petition for writ of certiorari seeking review from the U.S. Supreme Court of the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ ruling that an insurer has a duty to defend the insured for an underlying chemical exposure suit.

  • November 04, 2024

    Pollution Exclusion Bars Coverage For Suits Stemming From Explosion, Insurers Say

    HOUSTON — No coverage is owed for underlying suits arising out of an explosion caused by a chemical release at a chemical plant because coverage is barred by the pollution exclusion included in the insurers’ excess liability policies, the insurers maintain in a complaint filed in Texas federal court.

  • October 30, 2024

    Arbitration Bid Fought In Reinsurance Billing Row Involving MOU

    LOS ANGELES — Urging a California federal court to reject an arbitration bid in a lawsuit over reinsurance billings arising from asbestos bodily injury claims, an insurer contends that the abstention doctrine doesn’t apply and that the arbitration clause is in a different agreement than the one at issue and doesn’t include the present billing dispute.

  • October 29, 2024

    Pollution Exclusion Bars Coverage For Underlying Chemical Exposure Suits

    PHILADELPHIA — A pollution exclusion bars coverage for underlying bodily injury suits seeking damages caused by exposure to ethylene oxide (EtO) released from an insured’s medical device manufacturing facility because EtO qualifies as a pollutant and the policy’s pollution exclusion clearly bars claims arising out of the release of EtO, a Pennsylvania federal judge said Oct. 28 in granting an insurer’s motion for judgment on the pleadings.

  • October 29, 2024

    Panel Affirms Ruling For Pollution Liability Insurers In Contamination Suit

    CHICAGO — A trial court correctly found that an insurer properly paid its insured only one limit under its pollution liability policy for related pollution conditions at an insured property and that another insurer properly denied coverage for environmental contamination cleanup costs because there was no claim made against the insured during the policy period as required by the claims-made-and-reported pollution liability policy, the First District Illinois Appellate Court said in affirming the trial court’s summary judgment ruling.

  • October 29, 2024

    No Coverage Owed For Contamination Suits, Insurer Says In Amended Complaint

    ROME, Ga. — Following the transfer of an environmental contamination coverage suit from Alabama to Georgia federal court, an insurer filed a second amended complaint, reiterating its contention that no coverage is owed for contamination caused by wastewater and perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) stemming from an insured’s manufacturing facilities.

  • October 28, 2024

    Denial Of Coverage For Failed Water Pipe Was Not Bad Faith, Panel Says

    PASADENA, Calif. — A district court did not err in granting summary judgment in favor of a homeowners insurer on a bad faith claim because no reasonable juror could find that the insurer’s denial of coverage based on its policy’s exclusion for continuous or repeated seepage or leakage of water was unreasonable, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held Oct. 25 in an unpublished opinion.

  • October 28, 2024

    Judge: CGL Insurer Has No Duty To Defend Against Suit Alleging Defective Work

    EL DORADO, Ark. —A federal judge in Arkansas granted a commercial general liability insurer’s motion for summary judgment in its lawsuit seeking a declaration that it has no duty to defend its insured against underlying breach of contract and breach of warranty of sound workmanship claims for unfinished construction and fraud for misrepresenting both his credentials and background as a construction contractor, finding that the insured’s alleged actions giving rise to property damage “were undoubtedly ‘first set in motion’” before the policy began.

  • October 28, 2024

    Insurer Asks California Court To Dismiss Subrogation Suit Against Roofer

    LOS ANGELES — An insurer seeks dismissal with prejudice of its entire subrogation lawsuit against a roofer in a case that was consolidated with a condominium homeowners association’s breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit arising from storm damage to the roof of a Studio City building that housed 31 luxury condominiums.

  • October 22, 2024

    Contamination Exclusion Bars Coverage For COVID-19 Losses, Federal Judge Says

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. — An all-risk policy’s contamination exclusion bars coverage for losses sustained during the COVID-19 pandemic because a California appellate panel’s determination that a contamination exclusion bars coverage for COVID-19 losses is binding and warrants the same finding in a similar suit filed by insureds in federal court, a California federal judge said Oct. 21 in granting an insurer’s motion for summary judgment.

  • October 22, 2024

    Asbestos, Pollution Exclusions Bar Coverage For Disposal Of Debris, Insurer Says

    ROCK ISLAND, Ill. — No coverage is owed for an underlying suit filed against insureds who allegedly disposed of construction debris containing asbestos because the policy’s asbestos exclusion and pollution exclusion bar coverage for the improper disposal of the debris, a commercial general liability insurer says in a second amended complaint filed in Illinois federal court.

  • October 21, 2024

    Reinsurers Move To Compel Arbitration In Billings Dispute Involving MOU

    LOS ANGELES — Arguing that a dispute over reinsurance billings arising from asbestos bodily injury claims falls within the scope of the “broad” arbitration agreement in the excess of loss reinsurance treaty at issue, reinsurers in an Oct. 18 motion ask a California federal court to compel arbitration and dismiss or stay the case.

  • October 21, 2024

    Insurer, Medical Product Manufacturer Settle Coverage Dispute

    CONCORD, N.H. — Attorneys for an insurer and a medical product manufacturer insured notified a New Hampshire federal court that they have settled the insurer’s declaratory judgment lawsuit pertaining to 10 underlying class actions alleging that the insured manufactured and marketed medical devices used to clean positive airway pressure (CPAP) and bi-level positive airway pressure (biPAP) devices that were not safe or effective.

  • October 21, 2024

    Colorado Federal Judge Refuses To Reconsider Ruling On Water Exclusion, Exception

    DENVER — A Colorado federal judge denied a homeowners insurer’s motion for reconsideration, refusing to reconsider whether an underground cistern is part of a home’s plumbing system and covered under the policy’s exception to the water exclusion because the insurer failed to raise the issue in response to the insureds’ motion for partial summary judgment.

  • October 21, 2024

    Pollution, Fungi Exclusions Bar Coverage For Underlying Mold, Wrongful Death Suit

    ATLANTA — A Georgia federal judge granted an insurer’s motion for judgment on the pleadings after determining that no coverage is owed for an underlying mold exposure and wrongful death coverage suit because the policy’s fungi exclusion and pollution exclusion bar coverage for the underlying suit.

  • October 15, 2024

    Pollution Exclusion, Aircraft Exclusion Bar Coverage For Herbicide Damages Suit

    DENVER — An insurer has no duty to defend or indemnify its insured in an underlying property damage suit stemming from the aerial spraying of an herbicide because the insurer’s pollution exclusion and aircraft exclusion bar coverage, a Colorado federal judge said in granting the insurer’s motion for summary judgment.

  • October 15, 2024

    Panel: Medical Monitoring Claim In Asbestos Suit Creates Potential For Coverage

    PITTSBURGH — A trial court erred in finding that a former employee’s diagnosis of mesothelioma did not constitute an injury that arose during his employment, however, an insurer still owes a duty to defend and indemnify its insured for an underlying asbestos bodily injury suit because the former employee’s wife alleges a claim for medical monitoring that is potentially covered under the policy, a Pennsylvania Superior Court panel said in affirming the lower court’s ruling.

  • October 14, 2024

    S.C. Federal Judge Says No Coverage Owed To Insured For Failure To Disclose

    GREENVILLE, S.C. — A federal judge in South Carolina has granted a homeowners insurer’s motion for judgment after determining that it had no duty to defend and indemnify a policyholder sued for failing to disclose water intrusion issues during the sale of his townhome because the policy does not provide coverage for the insured’s alleged failure to disclose information during the sale of the property.

  • October 11, 2024

    Judge Partly Grants Insurer’s Motion To Dismiss In Coverage Dispute Over Settlement

    DENVER — A federal judge in Colorado granted in part and denied in part a defendant insurer’s partial motion to dismiss a plaintiff insurer’s lawsuit seeking contribution for an underlying settlement arising from claims that the subcontractor insured’s defective and cracking stucco work resulted in property damage at a retirement community, dismissing the claims for declaratory judgment and common-law and statutory bad faith.

  • October 09, 2024

    Chemical Company: Insurer Withheld Full Value Of Business Interruption Loss

    BEAUMONT, Texas — A sustainable chemical company insured sued its insurer in a Texas federal court for breach of contract and declaratory judgment, seeking to obtain coverage for the full value of its business interruption loss caused by an explosion at a Texas plant.