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Mealey's Insurance

  • December 16, 2024

    N.C. Supreme Court: Retailer’s COVID-19 Loss Excluded By Policy As Contamination

    RALEIGH, N.C. — Ruling that a contamination exclusion in a clothing retailer insured’s “all-risk” commercial insurance policy excluded the insured’s claimed losses arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, the North Carolina Supreme Court on Dec. 13 — while disagreeing with its reasoning — affirmed the judgment of a state appellate court, which in turn affirmed a trial court’s dismissal of the insured’s lawsuit seeking coverage under the policy for its losses.

  • December 16, 2024

    Payment To Lead Abatement Fund Is Not Damages, Ohio Supreme Court Says

    COLUMBUS, Ohio — An Ohio appellate court erred in determining that an insured’s obligation to contribute to a lead paint abatement fund constitutes damages under insurance policies because the payment to the abatement fund was ordered to prevent future harm to children’s health from lead paint and does not constitute damages under insurance policies, the Ohio Supreme Court said in reversing the appellate court’s ruling and reinstating a trial court’s ruling.

  • December 12, 2024

    Lower Court Properly Found Coverage Is Not Owed For Entire Building, Panel Says

    CINCINNATI — The Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Dec. 11 affirmed a district court’s ruling that coverage is only owed for a portion of a wall that collapsed in a building that was undergoing renovation, agreeing with the lower court’s finding that a partial collapse is not the same as a collapse as defined in the policy issued to a building owner and contractor.

  • December 12, 2024

    Washington Federal Judge Refuses To Enter Summary Judgment On Bad Faith Claim

    SEATTLE — An insured condominium association is not entitled to summary judgment on a bad faith claim in a dispute over coverage for hidden water damage, a Washington federal judge said after determining that questions of fact exist on the issue of when the insured discovered the damage.

  • December 12, 2024

    Insurer Seeks Summary Judgment Argument In Asbestos Coverage Row

    OMAHA, Neb. — National Indemnity Co. (NICO) has moved in Nebraska federal court for oral argument on pending motions for partial summary judgment in its suit to enforce obligations by defendants it calls reinsurers — one of whom is now insolvent — for liability NICO incurred related to claims for asbestos exposure.

  • December 11, 2024

    2nd Circuit Sets Argument In Reinsurers’ Post-Trial Appeal Of Oil Seizure Row

    NEW YORK — Oral argument has been calendared for Jan. 24 in a Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals case filed by reinsurers that were ordered to pay CITGO Petroleum Corp. more than $72.5 million in a suit stemming from the February 2020 seizure of crude oil at a Venezuelan port and involving a marine cargo reinsurance policy and what constitutes an “insurrection.”

  • December 10, 2024

    Insurers Settle Claims In Environmental Contamination Coverage Suit

    GREEN BAY, Wis. — A Wisconsin federal judge noted in a Dec. 9 minute entry that the insurers involved in an environmental contamination coverage suit have settled the remaining coverage disputes at issue in a suit filed by an insured seeking coverage past and future environmental investigation and remediation costs.

  • December 10, 2024

    Coverage Owed For Lead, Cadmium Exposure Suit, 3rd Circuit Affirms

    PHILADELPHIA — An employers liability insurer has a duty to defend its employer against an underlying suit filed by a former employee and arising out of the former employee’s exposure to lead and cadmium fumes because a potential for coverage exists under the policy as it is not clear that the policy’s intentional injury exclusion bars coverage, the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said in affirming a district court’s ruling.

  • December 10, 2024

    Pollution Exclusion Bars Coverage For Contamination Suits, Insurers Say

    CINCINNATI — No coverage is owed to an insured under umbrella and excess policies for three underlying environmental contamination lawsuits and an environmental contamination claim asserted by the Environmental Protection Agency because the claims are barred by the policies’ pollution exclusion, the insurers maintain in a complaint filed in Ohio federal court.

  • December 10, 2024

    No Duty To Defend, Indemnify Insured Against Chemical Exposure Claim, Judge Says

    TAMPA, Fla. — A commercial general liability insurer has no duty to defend or indemnify its insured against an underlying chemical exposure personal injury claim because the policy’s pollution exclusion bars coverage, a Florida federal judge said after determining that the policy’s  pollution buy-back endorsement does not afford coverage based on the insured’s failure to report the claim within 30 days of the pollution condition as required by the endorsement.

  • December 10, 2024

    Retail Furniture Insured Voluntarily Dismisses Coronavirus Coverage Suit

    PHILADELPHIA — A retail furniture insured filed a notice in a federal court in Pennsylvania to voluntarily dismiss its lawsuit seeking coverage for its losses stemming from the forced closure of its business in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

  • December 09, 2024

    Panel Affirms No Coverage Ruling In Convention Center’s Suit Arising From Pandemic

    SEATTLE — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a federal court’s ruling that granted an insurer’s motion to dismiss an insured’s lawsuit seeking coverage for its business interruption losses arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, finding that the insured fails to show that coverage exists for its losses under the policy’s Civil or Military Authority provision and further concluding that the policy's contamination exclusion precludes coverage.

  • December 05, 2024

    N.Y. Justice: Earth Movement Exclusion Unmistakably Excludes Coverage For Damage

    BROOKLYN, N.Y. — A New York justice held that the language in a general liability insurance policy’s earth movement exclusion “specifically, clearly, and unmistakably excludes coverage for the damage” at issue and that a concrete company lacks standing to bring an application for reargument of the court’s earlier ruling that granted insurers’ motion to dismiss a third-party complaint brought by a property owner and a construction manager.

  • December 03, 2024

    No Coverage Owed For Bacteria, Mold In Insureds’ Home, Federal Judge Says

    LAKE CHARLES, La. — A homeowners insurer did not breach its contract or act in bad faith in refusing to provide coverage for bacteria, mold and contamination allegedly caused by hurricane damage because the policy clearly excludes coverage for contaminants and pollutants, a Louisiana federal judge said in granting the insurer’s motion for summary judgment.

  • December 03, 2024

    Following John’s Grill, Panel Affirms No Coverage Ruling In COVID-19 Suit

    SAN DIEGO — Reconsidering its earlier holding in favor of a diner insured in light of John's Grill, Inc. v. The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc., a California appeals panel affirmed a lower court’s judgment in favor of an insurer in the diner’s lawsuit seeking coverage for its business losses arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • December 03, 2024

    No Coverage Owed For Pollution Claims Under Excess Insurance Policy, Justice Says

    NEW CITY, N.Y. — An insured is not entitled to coverage under an excess policy issued in 2008 because the insured did not seek coverage during the applicable policy period for underlying claims stemming from a 2009 pollution event, a New York justice said in granting a motion for summary judgment filed by two excess insurers.

  • December 03, 2024

    Numerous Fact Issues Exist In Pollution Liability Suit, N.J. Federal Judge Says

    NEWARK, N.J. — A New Jersey federal judge denied an insured’s motion for summary judgment and a pollution liability insurer’s motion for summary judgment after determining that questions of fact exist regarding whether the insurer was prejudiced by the insured’s failure to obtain the insurer’s consent before settling an underlying environmental contamination lawsuit and whether several of the policy’s exclusions apply as a bar to coverage.

  • December 02, 2024

    Insured Says Property Insurer Acted In Bad Faith In Handling Water Damage Claim

    SEATTLE — An insured condominium owners association filed suit in Washington federal court, alleging that its property insurer acted in bad faith by failing to investigate and make a coverage decision regarding the association’s claim for hidden water damage discovered in condominium buildings maintained by the association.

  • November 27, 2024

    Chapter 11 Asbestos Debtor’s Settlement Protections Too Broad, U.S. Trustee Says

    RICHMOND, Va. — Two settlements among new Chapter 11 debtor Hopeman Brothers Inc. and its insurers to help fund a trust to pay asbestos personal injury claims cannot be approved because the agreements purport to protect nondebtor third parties in violation of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code and U.S. Supreme Court precedent, the U.S. trustee tells a Virginia federal bankruptcy court in his objection to the deals.

  • November 25, 2024

    Judge Rejects Pollution Liability Insurer’s Objections; Suits Stays In Louisiana

    LAFAYETTE, La. — A Louisiana federal judge adopted a federal magistrate judge’s report and recommendation to deny an insurer’s motion to transfer an environmental contamination coverage suit filed by insureds to Oklahoma federal court where a similar suit filed by the insurer is pending after rejecting the insurer’s objections to the report and recommendation.

  • November 25, 2024

    9th Circuit Panel Remands Environmental Suit For Allocation Of Defense Costs

    PORTLAND, Ore. — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeal remanded a district court’s ruling on the allocation of defense costs in an environmental contamination coverage suit after determining that the lower court must apportion the defense costs in accordance with Oregon law.

  • November 25, 2024

    7th Circuit Affirms Dismissal To Arbitration In Preclusion Row

    CHICAGO — Saying that neither Morgan v. Sundance, Inc. nor Section 13 of the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) casts doubt on Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals precedent establishing “that the preclusive effect of an arbitral award is an issue for the arbitrator to decide, not a federal court,” a panel on Nov. 22 affirmed dismissal to arbitration of a lawsuit reinsurers filed over asbestos-related liabilities.

  • November 22, 2024

    COMMENTARY: 2024 Key Insurance Decisions, Trends & Developments & A Look Ahead To 2025

    By Scott M. Seaman, Pedro E. Hernandez and Lisa M. Roccanova

  • November 22, 2024

    Insured Failed To Comply With Policy’s Notice, Warranty Provisions, Judge Says

    SAN DIEGO — No coverage is owed to a hospital company insured under a pollution liability policy for remediation of mold discovered in the insured’s heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems because the insured failed to comply with the policy’s warranty and notice provisions, both of which are conditions precedent to coverage, a California federal judge said in granting the insurer’s motion for summary judgment and denying the insured’s motion for summary judgment.

  • November 21, 2024

    Parties Settle Suit Related To Dust Emissions Stemming From Insured Facility

    BROWNSVILLE, Texas — An insurer, its insured and other named defendants filed a joint stipulation of dismissal in Texas federal court after reaching a settlement of the insurer’s suit, which sought a declaration that no coverage is owed for an underlying class action stemming from dust emissions from the insured’s facility.