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Mealey's Insurance

  • May 17, 2024

    Connecticut Judge Strikes Claims Filed Against Insurer In Mold Damage Suit

    VERNON, Conn. — A Connecticut judge granted an insurer’s motion to strike bad faith, unfair trade practices and unjust enrichment claims because an additional insured who seeks coverage for mold and property damages related to the collapse of a hallway floor failed to sufficiently support the claims.

  • May 17, 2024

    Pollution Exclusion Bars Coverage For Carbon Monoxide, Insurer Tells 8th Circuit

    ST. LOUIS — A pollution exclusion clearly bars coverage for an underlying bodily injury claim stemming from carbon monoxide exposure because carbon monoxide qualifies as a contaminant or irritant under the pollution exclusion, an insurer says, noting in its May 16 appellee brief filed in the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that its interpretation of the pollution exclusion is consistent with North Dakota law.

  • May 17, 2024

    Burden Of Proof In Gas Leak Coverage Suit Will Not Be Shifted To Insurer

    LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge rejected an attempt by insureds to shift the burden of proof to an insurer in a dispute over coverage for underlying personal injury claims stemming from a gas leak at an insured facility because the insurer did not breach its duty to defend and because California public policy does not support insureds’ proposed burden-shifting principle.

  • May 17, 2024

    Additional Insured’s Request For Attorney Fees To Proceed In Chemical Coverage Suit

    ROCHESTER, N.Y. — An additional insured’s request for attorney fees and costs in a chemical exposure coverage dispute can proceed because the additional insured has alleged sufficient facts in support of its claim for breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing based on a breach of the insurance contract, a New York federal judge said in denying the insurer’s motion to dismiss and to strike.

  • May 16, 2024

    Insurer’s Claims Related To Pollution, Fungi Exclusions Are Plausible, Judge Says

    ATLANTA — A Georgia federal judge on May 15 denied an insured’s motion to dismiss its insurer’s declaratory judgment claims in a mold exposure coverage dispute because the insurer plausibly alleged that its policy’s pollution exclusion and fungi exclusion bar coverage for the underlying mold exposure suit.

  • May 16, 2024

    Parties In Reinsurance Estoppel Row Brief Arbitration Arguments In 7th Circuit

    CHICAGO — Parties to reinsurance agreements who disagree on the effects of prior arbitration are wrangling in the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, with the appellee arguing in its response brief that whether estoppel applies to the dispute “is an issue reserved for the arbitrators,” not “a threshold arbitrability question reserved for courts.”

  • May 15, 2024

    Coverage For Water Damages Limited To $10K Under Homeowners Policy, Panel Says

    HOUSTON — No additional coverage is owed under a homeowners policy for water damages caused by water pipes that burst as a result of power outages and freezing temperatures in the wake of Winter Storm Uri in Texas because the policy’s water damage endorsement clearly limits coverage under the policy to $10,000, the First District Texas Court of Appeals said May 14 in affirming a trial court’s ruling on breach of contract and extracontractual claims.

  • May 15, 2024

    Construction Insurance Coverage Suit Tossed After Underlying Suit Settles

    AUGUSTA, Ga. — A federal judge in Georgia dismissed without prejudice a declaratory judgment action brought by an insurer that claimed it owed no coverage for claims related to the insureds’ assembly of a manufactured home that sustained water and mold damage after the parties indicated that the underlying suit had been settled.

  • May 14, 2024

    Texas High Court Extends Deadline For Insurer’s Petition For Review In Benzene Suit

    AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas Supreme Court granted an insurer’s request for a 30-day extension to file a petition for review of a Texas appellate court’s ruling that a policy’s arbitration provision applies only to disputes arising under the insurance policy and not to disputes arising under a settlement pertaining to benzene-related claims filed against the insured.

  • May 14, 2024

    Insureds Take No Position On Motion For Interlocutory Appeal In Contamination Suit

    EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. — Insureds embroiled in an environmental contamination coverage dispute responded to their insurers’ motion to certify an Illinois federal judge’s choice-of-law ruling for interlocutory appeal to the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, noting that while they disagree with the insurers’ factual and legal analysis in the motion to certify, they understand the insurers’ desire to have the issue reviewed and take no position on the motion for leave to file an interlocutory appeal.

  • May 08, 2024

    COMMENTARY: Bad Faith As A Substitute For Prejudice In Reinsurance Late Notice Disputes

    By Robert M. Hall

  • May 13, 2024

    Insured Opposes Interlocutory Appeal, Says No Controlling Question Of Law Exists

    NEW YORK — An insured says a commercial lines insurer’s motion for interlocutory appeal of a New York federal judge’s ruling to the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals should be denied because no controlling question of law exists regarding whether a policy’s communicable disease exclusion applies as a bar to coverage for three underlying lawsuits alleging that residents of the insured properties contracted Legionnaires’ disease.

  • May 13, 2024

    Insured Cannot Reassert Bad Faith Claim In Collapse Coverage Suit, Judge Says

    PHILADELPHIA — A Pennsylvania federal judge denied an insured’s motion for leave to reassert a bad faith claim against its commercial property insurer in a dispute over coverage for the partial collapse of a building because the insured failed to show that the insurer’s reliance on the policy’s faulty workmanship exclusion to deny coverage was unreasonable.

  • May 10, 2024

    Bad Faith Claim Against Homeowners Insurer In Water Damage Suit Cannot Proceed

    HOUSTON — A bad faith claim alleged against a homeowners insurer in a water damage coverage dispute cannot proceed because none of the facts supports a finding that the insurer acted in bad faith in handling the insured’s claim for repair costs, a Texas federal judge said in partially granting the insurer’s motion for summary judgment.

  • May 09, 2024

    Umbrella Insurer Failed To Show No Coverage Owed To Additional Insured, Judge Says

    INDIANAPOLIS — An Indiana federal judge on May 8 denied an umbrella insurer’s motion for reconsideration of a summary judgment ruling on a breach of contract claim in a dispute over coverage for an additional insured for underlying lawsuits arising out of a gas explosion because the primary insured’s settlement with the underlying claimants did not extinguish coverage for the additional insured.

  • May 08, 2024

    COMMENTARY: A Primer On PFAS/Forever Chemical Claims: Regulation, Litigation, Large Losses & Insurance Coverage Issues

    By Scott M. Seaman and Gar N. Lauerman

  • May 08, 2024

    Insurers Say Coverage Barred In AFFF PFAS Cases Because Harm Arises Out Of ‘Waste’

    CHARLESTON, S.C. — A group of insurers has filed a sur-reply brief in South Carolina federal court arguing that the majority of lawsuits against a maker of the firefighting agent known as aqueous film forming foam (AFFF), for which the insurers are being asked to provide coverage, allege harm arising out of “waste,” rather than harm associated with a product put to its intended use, and, therefore, coverage is not owed.

  • May 07, 2024

    Pollution Exclusion Bars Coverage For Dust Emissions Suit, Insurer Says

    BROWNSVILLE, Texas — No coverage is owed to an insured for an underlying lawsuit stemming from dust emissions from the insured’s facility because the policy’s pollution exclusion bars coverage for the lawsuit, an insurer maintains in a complaint filed in Texas federal court.

  • May 06, 2024

    Insurer, Insureds Settle Water Damage Coverage Suit; Stipulation Of Dismissal Filed

    DENVER — A homeowners insurer and its insureds filed a stipulation of dismissal in Colorado federal court following the settlement of the insureds’ breach of contract and bad faith suit arising out of the insureds’ water damage coverage claim.

  • May 06, 2024

    Question Of Law Exists On Communicable Disease Exclusion, Insurer Says

    NEW YORK — A commercial lines insurer filed a motion for interlocutory appeal to the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, arguing that a question of law exists as to whether a policy’s communicable disease exclusion applies as a bar to coverage for three underlying lawsuits alleging that residents of the insured properties contracted Legionnaires’ disease.

  • May 06, 2024

    Interlocutory Appeal Sought On Choice-Of-Law Ruling In Contamination Coverage Suit

    EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. — Insurers filed a motion to certify an Illinois federal judge’s choice-of-law ruling for interlocutory appeal to the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, contending that an interlocutory appeal will advance the environmental contamination coverage suit toward resolution.

  • May 06, 2024

    Insured Files Notice Of Appeal To 7th Circuit In Radiation Exposure Coverage Suit

    MILWAUKEE — An insured filed a notice of appeal to the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, seeking review of a Wisconsin federal judge’s ruling that breach of contract and bad faith claims cannot proceed against two commercial general liability insurers because coverage is barred pursuant to the policies’ radioactive materials exclusion for an underlying suit seeking damages for bodily injuries caused by exposure to electromagnetic (EMF) radiation from the insured’s electric transformers.

  • May 02, 2024

    Insurers Seek Dismissal Of BASF’s Coverage Action Tied To AFFF Injury Claims

    CHARLESTON, S.C. — Multiple insurers have filed a brief in support of a motion to dismiss an insurance coverage action filed by BASF Corp. in South Carolina federal court related to claims arising from exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), arguing that there is a “more comprehensive” action BASF has already filed in New Jersey state court.

  • May 01, 2024

    10th Circuit: Insurer’s Coverage Denial For Steel Collapse Not In Bad Faith

    DENVER — A 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on April 30 affirmed a Wyoming federal judge’s finding that a building owner insured is owed no coverage under an insurance policy’s additional abrupt collapse coverage, finding that the building owner did not show that the insurer or its claims service manager acted in bad faith.

  • May 01, 2024

    9th Circuit Denies Insureds’ Request To Remand Pollution Coverage Suit

    SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on April 30 denied a motion filed by insureds for a limited remand to allow a district court to rule on a post-judgment motion in an environmental contamination coverage suit, noting in its order that a review of the record shows that the district court denied the parties’ post-judgment motions without prejudice and that the parties did not file a renewed motion.