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

Mealey's Insurance Pleadings

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 06, 2023
Hotel Seeks Dismissal Of Insurer’s Suit Disputing Coverage For Trafficking Claims

ATLANTA — Moving to dismiss an insurer’s complaint, an insured hotel operator argues in Georgia federal court that a commercial general liability insurance policy’s “Abuse or Molestation” and “Assault or Battery” endorsements are inapplicable to an underlying lawsuit alleging that it did not uphold its duty of care concerning the safety of its hotel and hotel guests by failing to prevent and respond to evidence of sex trafficking.
October 05, 2023
Oregon High Court Urged To ‘Quash Confusion,’ Clarify ‘Occurrence’ Requirement

SALEM, Ore. — Saying a commercial general liability insurer’s respondents’ brief “illustrates precisely why clarification of Oregon law on the interpretation of ‘occurrence’ is needed,” homeowners urge the state Supreme Court to “clarify that ‘occurrence’ is interpreted by the words used to define it and that ‘accident’ and ‘exposure’ turn on the facts of what happened, without regard to the legal theory of liability that might be later applied to those facts in a legal proceeding.”
October 05, 2023
Parties Make Dismissal Arguments In Crop Insurance Row Over Long-Pending Claims

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Arguing that “if this case is not ripe, it never will be,” plaintiffs who sued over crop insurance claims that they say have not been adjusted in more than three years mostly opposed a dismissal motion filed in Michigan federal court by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Federal Crop Insurance Corp. (FCIC).
October 05, 2023
Fronting Company Sues Captive Reinsurer Over $2.2M In ‘Misdirected Payments’

NEW YORK — Seeking to hold a captive reinsurer responsible for a penalty, a fronting company has sued in New York federal court over what it calls $2,207,896 in misdirected payments.
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 04, 2023
Parties Spar Over Motion To Dismiss Counterclaim In Purported Reinsurance Row

HONOLULU — Asserting in a reply brief that it is “critically important” for the terms of a reinsurance agreement to be memorialized in writing, a plaintiff expanded on its arguments for a Hawaii federal court to dismiss a breach of contract counterclaim in a dispute over a purported reinsurance policy.
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.
September 27, 2023
Music Festival Organizer Seeks $2.8M For Losses Arising From Tuscany Storm

PHILADELPHIA — An insured that organized a three-day music festival in Tuscany sued its insurer for breach of contract, declaratory relief and bad faith in a Pennsylvania federal court, seeking coverage under an Event Cancellation Policy for its alleged $2.8 million in losses caused by severe weather.
September 26, 2023
Insurer: Ruling ‘Sharply Conflicts’ With Dupree, Warrants High Court Review

WASHINGTON, D.C. — An insurer asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ finding that there is enough evidence for a jury to reasonably conclude that it acted in bad faith because it delayed acting on its duty to investigate and settle the underlying worker injury claim, asserting that the appeals court’s holding “sharply conflicts” with the high court’s recent ruling in Dupree v. Younger and warrants grant of its petition for writ of certiorari, vacatur of the lower court’s judgment and remand for further consideration.
September 20, 2023
Homeowner Sues Insolvent Insurer Over Failure To Cover Hurricane Damages

FORT MYERS, Fla. — A homeowner filed a breach of contract suit against his insolvent homeowners insurer, alleging that the insurer failed to compensate him for damages caused by Hurricane Ian.
September 20, 2023
Insurer, Insureds, Amici Debate ‘Occurrence’ Requirement Before Oregon High Court

SALEM, Ore. — A commercial general liability insurer urged the Oregon Supreme Court to affirm lower court rulings that it owed no duty to indemnify its insured contractor for damages awarded in an underlying construction defect arbitration, rejecting the homeowners’ argument that the high court should distinguish or clarify Oak Crest Construction v. Austin Mut. Ins. Co., on which the lower courts relied in finding that because that contractor’s liability arose from a breach of contract, there was no “occurrence” and, thus, no coverage for the property damage.
September 19, 2023
Insurers Cross-Appeal In Coverage Dispute With Home Depot Over 2014 Data Breach

CINCINNATI — Insurers filed cross-appeal notices in an Ohio federal court two weeks and one day after their mutual insured, Home Depot, appealed to the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals the lower court’s finding that an insurance policy’s electronic data exclusion bars coverage for the retailer’s losses stemming from a 2014 data breach (The Home Depot, Inc., et al. v. Steadfast Insurance Co., et al., No. 21-00242, S.D. Ohio, Western Div.).
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
Remand To Florida Court Argued In Coverage Row Over Leased Aircraft

MIAMI — Arguing in a reply brief that “in lawsuits between parties of different countries, there is no federal diversity jurisdiction,” plaintiffs in a coverage dispute over aircraft that a Russian airline refused to return after the invasion of Ukraine urge a Florida federal court to remand the case to Florida state court.
September 19, 2023
Insurer Moves To Transfer Leaky Roof Suit After Winning Partial Summary Judgment

AUSTIN, Texas — A week after winning partial summary judgment in a breach of contract case related to its bankrupt and deceased subcontractor insured’s responsibility for damages stemming from work on a roof, a commercial general liability insurer filed an unopposed motion to transfer a breach of contract suit against it from one federal court in Texas to another.
September 15, 2023
Unsecured Creditors In Vesttoo Chapter 11 Case Want To Conduct Discovery

WILMINGTON, Del. — Arguing that it “is the only independent fiduciary capable of conducting a thorough and conflict-free investigation,” the Committee of Unsecured Creditors in the jointly administered Chapter 11 case of Vesttoo Ltd. and 48 affiliated entities on Sept. 14 asked a Delaware federal bankruptcy court for leave to conduct discovery.
September 13, 2023
Judge: Insurance-Home Sale Connection Claims Save AI Claims Handling Case

CHICAGO — The theory that homeowners insurance constitutes a service connected to the sale of a home pushes the Fair Housing Act (FHA) to its boundaries but meshes with precedent, a federal judge in Illinois said in partially denying a motion to dismiss in a case alleging that an insurer’s artificial intelligence disproportionately flags claims by Black policyholders for greater scrutiny.
September 12, 2023
Insured Says Coverage Owed For Contribution To Lead Paint Abatement Fund

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio Supreme Court should affirm a state appellate court’s ruling that an insured’s obligation to contribute to a lead paint abatement fund constitutes damages under applicable insurance policies because the ordinary meaning of the word damages includes the insured’s obligation to contribute to the abatement fund, the insured says in it appellee brief filed in the Ohio Supreme Court.
September 11, 2023
Amber Heard Seeks Dismissal Of Insurer’s Complaint In Defamation Coverage Suit

LOS ANGELES — Amber Heard moved to dismiss an insurer’s second amended complaint seeking a declaratory judgment that it has no duty to defend or indemnify her for a defamation judgment awarded to Johnny Depp.
September 08, 2023
Home Depot Seeks 6th Circuit Review Of No Coverage Ruling For 2014 Data Breach Losses

CINCINNATI — Home Depot filed a notice of appeal in an Ohio federal court asking the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to review the lower court’s finding that an insurance policy’s electronic data exclusion bars coverage for the retailer’s losses stemming from a 2014 data breach, challenging the lower court’s grant of the insurers’ motions for summary judgment in its breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit seeking damages up to the full collective policy limits of $50 million.
September 08, 2023
Insurer: All-Sums Applies In Case To Recoup Costs To Settle Roof Repair Suit

NEW ORLEANS — An insurer seeking to recover costs it paid to settle a roof repair and water damage suit tells the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that another insurer’s opposition to paying the costs fails to address an applicable all-sums approach requiring full payment up to policy limits for covered damages.
September 07, 2023
Insurer Seeks Reconsideration Of Ruling Finding It Has Duty To Defend Builder

FORT WORTH, Texas — A federal judge in Texas erred in determining that a commercial general liability insurer had a duty to defend in a coverage dispute over a homebuilder’s alleged failure to disclose to homebuyers that a home it built was subject to flooding because it didn’t give the insurer the opportunity to respond before ruling in favor of the builder, which had not sought such a ruling, the insurer argues in seeking reconsideration.