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

Mealey's Insurance

January 08, 2024
New Jersey Panel Affirms Dismissal Of Wawa’s Coronavirus Coverage Dispute

TRENTON, N.J. — A New Jersey appeals court panel on Jan. 5 affirmed a lower court’s ruling dismissing with prejudice Wawa Inc.’s first amended complaint seeking coverage for its losses arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, finding that the court’s holdings and reasonings in Mac Prop. Grp., LLC v. Selective Fire & Cas. Ins. Co. apply to Wawa's commercial liability insurance policies and, therefore, no coverage is owed.
January 04, 2024
1 Defendant Files Status Report In Insurer’s Suit Over Asbestos Liabilities Row

OMAHA, Neb. — Evaluating proof of claims in separate liquidation proceedings “is expected to take several years,” a defendant told a Nebraska federal court in its latest status report in a suit over the $157.2 million settlement National Indemnity Co. (NICO) reached with Montana regarding alleged asbestos exposures.
January 03, 2024
United States Backs Kaiser Gypsum Asbestos Insurer In Supreme Court Case

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Because the policies of the primary insurer of Chapter 11 asbestos debtors Kaiser Gypsum Co. Inc. and Hanson Permanente Cement Inc. are property of the bankruptcy estates and the insurer is a creditor of the debtors, the insurer has standing as a “party in interest” to challenge the debtors’ reorganization plan, the United States tells the U.S. Supreme Court in an amicus curiae brief.
January 03, 2024
Company Seeks To Compel Insurers To Produce Documents In AFFF Litigation

CHARLESTON, S.C. — A company that makes firefighting products filed a motion on Jan. 2 in South Carolina federal court seeking to compel insurance companies to produce documents in a coverage dispute related to injuries from the firefighting substance aqueous film forming foam (AFFF) in the multidistrict litigation for AFFF, arguing that the insurers have refused to produce basic categories of documents that are directly related to the issues in dispute and are “plainly subject to discovery.” The company contends that the insurers’ objections to discovery requests are not valid, especially considering that the insurers are “seeking to escape up to $1 billion in coverage.”
January 03, 2024
Insured Entitled To 2 Policy Limits Based On Policies’ Ambiguity, Panel Says

SAN FRANCISCO — A trial court erred in finding that an insured automotive products retailer, seeking coverage for underlying asbestos bodily injury lawsuits, is only entitled to payment of one policy limit under policies issued by two insurers because the policies, which were extended to provide coverage for more than a year, are ambiguous as to whether a new policy limit applied for the extended coverage and must be construed in the insured’s favor, the First District California Court of Appeal said in reversing a portion of the trial court’s ruling.
January 02, 2024
Insurer Says Silica Exclusion Bars Coverage For Underlying Bodily Injury Suits

SANTA ANA, Calif. — No coverage is owed for underlying silica exposure bodily injury suits filed against an insured countertop manufacturer, supplier and distributor because the insured’s policies contain a silica exclusion that bars coverage for the underlying suit, an insurer says in a complaint filed in California federal court.
January 02, 2024
Defendants Must Pay $72.5M In Oil Seizure Row Involving Insurrection Clause

NEW YORK — After a New York federal jury found for plaintiff CITGO Petroleum Corp. on three of four issues in a suit stemming from the February 2020 seizure of crude oil at a Venezuelan port and involving a marine cargo reinsurance policy, judgment of $54,235,187.24 plus $18,321,092.02 in prejudgment interest was entered against the defendants.
December 22, 2023
Sewage Pipeline Installation Coverage Suit Dismissed After Underlying Case Settles

SEATTLE — A Washington federal judge ordered the dismissal with prejudice of a coverage dispute arising out of an insured’s alleged negligent installation of a sewage pipeline after the parties indicated that the underlying suit has settled, rendering the duty-to-defend issue in the coverage dispute moot.
December 21, 2023
Preliminary Injunction Bid Fails In Dispute That Arose Under Fronting Arrangement

NEW ORLEANS — An insurer has established a substantial likelihood of success on certain aspects of some claims against a managing general agent (MGA) but is not entitled to a preliminary injunction, a Louisiana federal judge has ruled in the case arising from a fronting arrangement.
December 21, 2023
Jury Awards More Than $49M In Damages Relating To Insurrection Clause

NEW YORK — A New York federal jury found for plaintiff CITGO Petroleum Corp. on three of four issues in a breach of contract case involving a marine cargo reinsurance policy, awarding damages of more than $49.3 million for claims stemming from the seizure of crude oil at a Venezuelan port in February 2020.
December 19, 2023
Asbestos Firms, Insolvent Insurer Group Drop Appeal Over Settlement

NEW ORLEANS — A Louisiana federal judge dismissed an appeal by two asbestos law firms of a federal bankruptcy court’s approval of a $1 million settlement between the Chapter 7 trustee for a bankrupt insulation supplier and the Louisiana Insurance Guaranty Association (LIGA) after the parties said in a joint motion to dismiss that they have “resolved their differences.”
December 19, 2023
Water Damage Claim Is Barred Under Property Insurance Policies, Panel Says

SEATTLE — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeal on Dec. 18 affirmed a district court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of insurers in a water damage coverage suit, agreeing with the lower court that the insured condominium association failed to bring its claim for coverage within one year of the occurrence and failed to show that the occurrence occurred during the policy period.
December 18, 2023
Pollution Liability Insurer Says Environmental Damage Claim Is Barred From Coverage

TRENTON, N.J. — A premises pollution liability insurer says in a motion to dismiss filed in New Jersey federal court that its insured’s breach its contract and bad faith suit must be dismissed because the policy at issue clearly excludes coverage for the environmental contamination remediation costs incurred by the insured municipality.
December 18, 2023
Liquidation Order Prompts Letters, Order In Environmental Claims Row

NEWARK, N.J. — After all parties in a suit over environmental investigation and remediation briefly weighed in on the implications of a different court’s liquidation order pertaining to one defendant, a New Jersey federal magistrate judge delayed a status conference and granted that defendant “leave to file a motion for relief relating to the Liquidation Order.”
December 18, 2023
Panel Affirms More Than $25M Judgment Against Insurer In Construction Defects Suit

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina Court of Appeals affirmed a trial court’s judgment of more than $25 million against a commercial general liability insurer, agreeing with the lower court’s finding that an insured breached its contract and acted in bad faith in refusing to defend its insured subcontractor and a general contractor, named as an additional insured, against underlying construction defects suits arising out of water damage to townhomes because the evidence shows that all of the parties believed that the policies provided coverage for completed operations.
December 13, 2023
Captive Cell Reinsurer Is Allowed To Intervene In Row Between Insurer And MGA

NEW ORLEANS — After a Louisiana federal magistrate judge found that a captive cell reinsurer “is entitled to intervene as of right” in an insurer’s case against a managing general agent (MGA), the reinsurer filed an intervenor complaint for breach of contract and declaratory judgment alleging that it is due most premium income purportedly held by the MGA.
December 12, 2023
Minnesota Panel: Insured Failed To Allege Coronavirus Was Present At Its Properties

ST. PAUL, Minn. — A Minnesota appeals panel on Dec. 11 affirmed a lower court’s ruling dismissing an insured’s breach of contract lawsuit against its insurers, finding that the insured failed to assert that the coronavirus was present at and contaminated its insured casino and golf course properties and, therefore, it did not cause direct physical loss or damage.
December 12, 2023
Insurer Seeks Reconsideration Of Denial Of Dismissal In AFFF Coverage Action

CHARLESTON, S.C. — An insurance company has filed a reply brief in South Carolina federal court seeking reconsideration of an opinion and order denying its motion to dismiss a coverage dispute related to injuries from the firefighting substance aqueous film forming foam (AFFF) in the multidistrict litigation for AFFF, arguing that the court does not have jurisdiction over it because the insurer has no duty to defend under the policy at issue.
December 12, 2023
Dental Practice Incurred No Direct Physical Loss, Insurers Argue To Pa. High Court

PITTSBURGH — Insurers filed a reply brief in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court defending their appeal of a Pennsylvania Superior Court majority’s ruling that at the very least, it is reasonable to interpret the phrase “direct physical loss of . . . property” to encompass the loss of use of a dental practice’s property due to the spread of the coronavirus “absent any actual damage to property.”
December 12, 2023
Insured Failed To Show Coronavirus Is A Pollution Condition, Panel Says

PORTLAND, Ore. — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeal on Dec. 11 affirmed a district court’s ruling that no coverage is owed to an insured for business interruption losses sustained as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic because the insured failed to show that the coronavirus qualifies as a pollution condition as required by the policy at issue.
December 12, 2023
Insurer Says It Owes No Duty To Defunct Company For Underlying Asbestos Suits

HOUSTON — An insurer claims in a complaint filed in Texas federal court that it has no duty to provide coverage for a now-defunct company named in underlying asbestos personal injury suits because the company was never insured under any policies issued by the insurer.
December 12, 2023
Insurer Was Not Prejudiced By Insured’s Notice In Pollution Suit, Insured Says

ATLANTA — A district court’s ruling that no coverage is owed to an insured for contamination cleanup costs caused by the release of petroleum and other contaminants from an underground storage tank at a gas station should be reversed because the insurer failed to show that the insured’s untimely notice was prejudicial to the insurer, the insured says in its appellant brief filed in the 11th Circuit Court of Appeal.
December 07, 2023
COMMENTARY: Fire & Rain: 2023 Key Decisions & Developments Impacting The Wide World Of Insurance

By Scott M. Seaman, Pedro E. Hernandez and Lisa M. Roccanova
December 11, 2023
Water Damage Covered Under Policy But Fact Issues Exist On Faulty Work

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — An ensuing loss provision provides coverage for water damage losses even if the water damage was caused by faulty workmanship; however, questions of fact exist regarding what work within the home was faulty and contributed to the water damage, a Missouri federal judge said in denying an insurer’s motion for summary judgment.
December 08, 2023
Kaiser Gypsum Asbestos Insurer Seeks Supreme Court Reversal Of Ruling On Standing

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ finding that the primary insurer of Chapter 11 asbestos debtors Kaiser Gypsum Co. Inc. and Hanson Permanente Cement Inc. does not have standing to challenge the debtors’ reorganization plan because the plan is insurance neutral is wrong and should be reversed, the insurer tells the U.S. Supreme Court in a Dec. 7 brief on the merits.