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

Mealey's Insurance Pleadings

May 17, 2023
8th Circuit Sets Oral Argument In Appeal Of Qui Tam Crop Insurance Case

ST. LOUIS — The Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has scheduled oral argument for June 13 in a revival bid by relators who had stood to receive about $300,000 before the trial court granted the government’s post-trial motion and vacated judgment in the qui tam crop insurance case.
May 16, 2023
CGL Insurer Says Hotel Insureds Not Owed Coverage For Sex-Trafficking Claims

HOUSTON — A commercial general liability insurer filed suit in a federal court in Texas seeking a declaration that it has no duty to defend and indemnify its hotel insureds for a lawsuit in which the plaintiff alleges that she was abused and molested as a minor while in the insureds’ “care, custody or control.”
May 16, 2023
Amendment, Judgment Sought In Suit Over Coverage Of Sexual Abuse Case Settlements

SEATTLE —A foreign reinsurer on May 15 filed an opposition to an interlocal cooperative’s bid for leave to add allegations in a declaratory judgment case over reimbursement for defense and settlement of suits alleging sexual abuse; instead, the foreign reinsurer asks a Washington state federal court to render judgment on the pleadings.
May 16, 2023
Insurer Removes Suit Over Purported Reinsurance, Files Counterclaims

HONOLULU — After removing a dispute over a purported reinsurance policy to Hawaii federal court, an insurer has filed an answer with counterclaims, arguing that 23 historical claims were paid in full.
May 16, 2023
Insurer Does Not Oppose 1 Of 3 Stay Requests In Asbestos Liabilities Row

OMAHA, Neb. — After three defendants cited Pennsylvania liquidation proceedings in asking a Nebraska federal court for stays in a suit over the $157.2 million settlement National Indemnity Co. (NICO) reached with Montana regarding alleged asbestos exposures, NICO says in a May 15 filing that it does not oppose a stay against one of the defendants.
May 16, 2023
Umbrella Insurer Says 1 Policy Limit Applies For Environmental Claims

DETROIT — An umbrella liability insurer filed a motion for partial summary in Michigan federal court, contending that its three-year policy includes only one $5 million policy limit for all three years and not three separate $5 million limits if it is found to owe coverage for underlying environmental contamination suits filed against the insured.
May 15, 2023
Parties Reach Settlement In Coverage Dispute Over Wildfire Damage To Napa Wineries

SAN FRANCISCO — An insured and its insurer filed a notice in a California federal court indicating that they have settled the insured’s lawsuit seeking coverage for property damage to its Napa County wineries caused by two wildfires.
May 15, 2023
Broadway Owner, Insurers Voluntarily Dismiss Federal Coronavirus Coverage Suit

NEW YORK — The owner and operator of five Broadway theaters and its insurers filed a stipulation notifying a New York federal court that they are voluntarily dismissing the insured’s breach of contract coverage lawsuit arising from the coronavirus pandemic.
May 15, 2023
Insurer Dismisses Coverage Suit Arising From Cyberstalking Claims Against EBay

SAN JOSE, Calif. — A commercial umbrella liability insurer voluntarily dismissed without prejudice its suit in a California federal court disputing coverage for allegations that eBay and its directors and officers “engaged in a coordinated effort to intimidate, threaten to kill, torture, terrorize, stalk and silence” the underlying plaintiffs “to stifle their reporting on eBay.”
May 15, 2023
Guaranty Association Must Defend Insured Drywaller In Underlying Row, Insurer Says

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A New Mexico commercial general liability insurer defending its insured drywall company in a construction defects action filed a contribution suit in a Florida federal court against the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association (FIGA), as successor in interest to a now-insolvent Florida commercial liability insurer of the drywaller, asserting that FIGA is liable for defense costs and indemnity in the underlying action.
May 11, 2023
Parties Outline Discovery Dispute In Suit Against Reinsurer Over Settlement

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — Parties in a breach suit involving an environmental losses settlement have outlined a discovery dispute for a New York federal magistrate judge, with insurers filing a May 10 letter responding to arguments a reinsurer made regarding allocation modeling documents and records of its key case committee.
May 11, 2023
Parties Dispute Coverage Issues In Groundwater Contamination Suit

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — In reply briefs filed in support of competing motions for summary judgment in a groundwater contamination coverage suit, an insured and its excess insurer seek a ruling from a California federal court on whether judgment should be entered on the insured’s breach of contract claim arising out of the insurer’s termination of coverage based on the insurer’s position that coverage is owed for only one occurrence under the applicable policies.
May 09, 2023
Citing Liquidation Order, Reinsurer Seeks Stay Of Claims In Liabilities Row

OMAHA, Neb. — Arguing that two abstention doctrines apply because of Pennsylvania liquidation proceedings, a reinsurer moved in Nebraska federal court to stay claims against it in a suit over the $157.2 million settlement National Indemnity Co. (NICO) reached with Montana regarding alleged asbestos exposures.
May 08, 2023
Law Firm Sues Insurer For Bad Faith, Seeks $1M Crime Coverage For Alleged Fraud

FLINT, Mich. — A law firm insured sued its insurer for breach of contract and bad faith in a Michigan federal court, alleging that it is owed $1 million in crime coverage for its $1,602,107.98 in total losses stemming from a fraudulent funds transfer.
May 05, 2023
Attorney Fees Ruling Delay Would Harm Contractor In Coverage Dispute, Judge Told

FORT MYERS, Fla. — A federal judge in Florida should not deter ruling on a contractor’s pending motions miscellaneous relief pending appeal in a coverage dispute over an insurer’s duty to defend the contractor in an underlying construction defects lawsuit because granting such relief would harm the contractor, the contractor argues in an opposition brief filed in Florida federal court.
May 05, 2023
Receiver Who Sought Rehab Has Concluded That Reinsurer Should Be Liquidated Instead

WILMINGTON, Del. — The receiver for Scottish Re (U.S.) Inc. in Rehabilitation (SRUS) has concluded that SRUS should be liquidated instead of rehabilitated, saying in a letter to the Delaware Court of Chancery that he intends to move for an order of liquidation in about 45 days.
May 05, 2023
Insurer Says No Coverage Due For Tenant’s Suit Arising Out Of Legionnaire’s Disease

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — No coverage is afforded for an underlying bodily injury suit arising out of an apartment tenant’s contraction of Legionnaire’s disease while residing in an insured apartment building because the policy at issue excludes coverage for bodily injury claims related to the exposure to any fungi, wet rot, dry rot or bacteria, the insurer says in a complaint filed in Kentucky federal court.
May 05, 2023
Insureds Seek Panel Rehearing In Mold Damage Coverage Suit Before 5th Circuit

NEW ORLEANS — A panel rehearing of the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ finding that a mold exclusion in a homeowners policy bars coverage is warranted because the mold damages are covered under the policy’s exception to the mold exclusion since water intrusion, which is a covered cause of loss under the policy, caused the mold growth in the insureds’ home, the insureds say in a petition for panel rehearing.
May 05, 2023
Insurer Asks Texas Appeals Court To Reverse Ruling In Storm Damage Coverage Suit

EDINBURG, Texas — An insurer asked a Texas appeals court to reverse a lower court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of an insured in a coverage dispute over storm damage, arguing that the lower court improperly granted the insured no-evidence summary judgment on whether it filed its storm damage claim within the policy’s one-year coverage period.
May 04, 2023
Building Owner Appeals Faulty Design Coverage Suit Dismissal To 10th Circuit

DENVER — The 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has been asked to review a federal judge in Wyoming’s ruling that a building owner failed to show that an insurer and its claims service manager were the cause of its filing of a breach of contract claim in a coverage suit stemming from the building’s faulty design and construction outside the two-year statute of limitations based on their delay in ultimately denying the claim.
May 04, 2023
Summary Judgment Ruling In Leaky Roof Coverage Suit Appealed To 2nd Circuit

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Former homeowners have appealed to the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals a New York federal magistrate judge’s finding that insurers owe no duty to defend the former homeowners in a lawsuit stemming from their alleged failure to disclose structural and environmental issues in connection with a home they sold.
May 04, 2023
Homeowners Seek 9th Circuit Review Of Dismissal Of Defects Coverage Claims

SAN FRANCISCO — Homeowners have appealed to the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals the dismissal of their claims against an insurer for failure to properly prosecute the claims in a coverage dispute stemming from a construction defects lawsuit over the construction of homes in a housing development.
May 04, 2023
Defendants In Roof Collapse Coverage Suit Considering Settlement

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Parties in a coverage dispute over a roof collapse that occurred at a vehicle manufacturer’s assembly plant during a re-roofing project tell a federal magistrate judge in Tennessee that a contractor and its subcontractors are considering a settlement demand made by the plaintiffs and working on a date to begin mediation to potentially resolve the action, according to a joint status report requested by the court following the denial of the defendants’ motions to dismiss and for judgment on the pleadings.
May 03, 2023
Appellant Seeks Reversal Of No Coverage Ruling For IP Claim Over Gold Treasure

SEATTLE — An appellant asked the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to reverse a lower federal court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of an ocean marine general liability insurer in its declaratory judgment lawsuit disputing coverage for an underlying $7.5 million covenant judgment that resolved claims that the appellant was denied possession and use of the tangible and intangible work product that was created during gold salvage expeditions, arguing that the lower court improperly endorsed the insurer’s “mis-characterization” of the policy.
May 03, 2023
Plaintiffs Update Bid For Third-Party Complaint Against Reinsurers In Crash Case

MIAMI — The day after updating their proposal for adding claims against reinsurers in a plane crash case in which settlements were reached over an $844 million default judgment, plaintiffs filed a notice in Florida court that the hearing on their motion was canceled.