Mealey's Catastrophic Loss
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July 08, 2024
Texas Panel Affirms No Coverage Ruling In Restaurants’ Suit Arising From Pandemic
DALLAS — A Texas appeals panel affirmed a lower court’s grant of a commercial property insurer’s motion for summary judgment in two restaurant group insureds’ lawsuit seeking coverage for their business interruption losses arising from the coronavirus pandemic, concluding that the insureds failed to present “more than a scintilla of evidence to create a genuine issue of material fact that COVID-19 caused ‘direct physical loss of or damage to’” to their restaurants.
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July 08, 2024
2nd Circuit Panel Affirms Appraisal Award On Issue Of Insureds’ Mold Damages
NEW YORK — The Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a district court’s dismissal of an insureds’ suit seeking additional coverage for mold damages caused by Superstorm Sandy because the insureds failed to provide any evidence that an appraisal award for their mold damages was the result of fraud, bias or bad faith.
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June 28, 2024
Panel: Insurer Did Not Intend To Offer ‘Eighty Thousand Dollars’ In Hurricane Suit
NEW ORLEANS — A Louisiana appeals panel held that a builders risk insurer did not intend to offer $80,000 to settle a Hurricane Zeta coverage dispute and that the insurer and its insured did not have a meeting of the minds to compromise the dispute for that amount, reversing a lower court’s grant of the insured’s motion for judgment and remanding after the insurer argued that its original offer was a mistaken typographical error and its intent was to submit an $8,000 offer.
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June 28, 2024
Majority Affirms Dismissal Of Suit Seeking $192M In Losses Arising From Coronavirus
NEW ORLEANS — A majority of a Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on June 27 affirmed a lower federal court’s ruling in favor of a commercial property insurer in Texas’ largest nonprofit health system’s lawsuit seeking coverage for its $192 million in business interruption losses arising from the coronavirus, but the dissenting judge found that the case is distinct because the insured pleaded tangible alterations to its property.
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June 27, 2024
5th Circuit Partly Reverses Judgment In Coverage Dispute Over Hurricane Laura
NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on June 26 partly reversed a lower court’s ruling in favor of a church insured following a three-day bench trial in a Hurricane Laura coverage dispute, finding that because the judgment awards damages and penalties that are based on January 2023 prices and costs in violation of the commercial policy's terms, the award must be vacated and remanded for recalculation.
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June 27, 2024
Bifurcation Of Breach Of Contract, Bad Faith Claims Not Warranted, Judge Says
DAYTON, Ohio — Bifurcation of an insured’s breach of contract claim from the insured’s bad faith claim in a dispute over coverage for damages caused by a windstorm is not warranted because the homeowners insurer failed to meet its burden of showing that it would be prejudiced if both claims are tried together, an Ohio federal judge said in denying the insurer’s motion to bifurcate.
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June 27, 2024
Breach Of Contract, Bad Faith Claims Based On Hurricane Delta Summarily Dismissed
MONROE, La. — A Louisiana federal judge summarily dismissed an insured’s claims for breach of contract and bad faith as those claims applied to coverage for damages by Hurricane Delta because the insured’s heir, who was substituted as the plaintiff following the insured’s death, testified that Hurricane Delta did not damage the insured’s home.
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June 26, 2024
Panel Affirms Ruling In Insurer’s Favor As To Bad Faith Claim In Hailstorm Suit
NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on June 25 held that a lower federal court correctly determined that under Texas Supreme Court precedent, an insurer is entitled to summary judgment on insureds’ bad faith and statutory damages claims in a hailstorm coverage dispute.
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June 25, 2024
Nevada Judge Denies Insurers’ Summary Judgment Motion In Coronavirus Coverage Suit
LAS VEGAS — A Nevada judge denied insurers’ joint motion for partial summary judgment in a coronavirus coverage dispute, finding that the insurers have failed to satisfy their burden of showing that a recent Nevada Supreme Court ruling controls this lawsuit and that the policies at issue expressly extend the scope of coverage afforded for the “Infectious or Contagious Disease” peril.
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June 21, 2024
Panel Reverses Ruling In Insurer’s Favor In Bad Faith Suit Over Hurricane Damage
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A Florida appeals panel on June 20 held that an insurer waived its right to contest the validity of an insured’s Civil Remedy Notice of Insurer Violations (CRN) in the insured’s bad faith lawsuit arising from her hurricane water damage claim, reversing a lower court’s judgment in favor of the insurer and remanding.
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June 21, 2024
Louisiana Panel Affirms Default Judgment, Bad Faith Penalty Award Against Insurer
LAKE CHARLES, La. — A trial court did not err in awarding insureds bad faith damages and attorney fees as part of a default judgment against a homeowners insurer in a coverage dispute over hurricane damages because the homeowners insurer failed to make payment within 30 days of receiving satisfactory proof of loss, a panel of the Third Circuit Louisiana Court of Appeal said June 20.
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June 21, 2024
Judge: Exclusion Does Not Apply To Coverage Claim Arising From Nashville Bombing
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A federal judge in Tennessee held that an insurance policy exclusion for buildings “that have been designated by any local, state or national governmental agency as an historic structure or landmark” does not apply to a condominium owner insured’s claim seeking coverage for the cost to repair its building, which incurred significant damage in the 2020 Christmas Day bombing in Nashville.
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June 20, 2024
2nd Circuit Lifts Stay Of Clothing Boutique’s Appeal In COVID-19 Coverage Suit
NEW YORK — The Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals lifted the stay of a clothing boutique owner insured’s appeal of a federal district court’s order that denied its motion to alter or amend a judgment dismissing its breach of contract and declaratory judgment lawsuit seeking business interruption and property damage coverage for its losses arising from the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent shutdown orders.
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June 19, 2024
Court Dismisses Coverage Suit Over Baltimore Sun Shooting Per Parties’ Stipulation
CHICAGO — One day after the parties filed a stipulation of dismissal, a federal Illinois court dismissed with prejudice a lawsuit brought by Tribune Publishing Co. LLC and The Baltimore Sun Co. LLC seeking coverage for underlying wrongful death and negligence lawsuits arising from a 2018 shooting in which five newspaper employees were killed.
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June 18, 2024
Texas High Court Refuses To Disturb Reversal In Hurricane Harvey Coverage Suit
AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas Supreme Court denied insureds’ petition to review an appellate panel’s reversal of a lower court’s summary judgment ruling in their favor in a coverage lawsuit arising from Hurricane Harvey damage, refusing to disturb the panel’s ruling to remand for the lower court to enter a take-nothing judgment in favor of the insurer.
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June 17, 2024
Lakers, Insurer Dismiss Coronavirus Coverage Dispute In California Federal Court
LOS ANGELES —The Los Angeles Lakers and its commercial property insurer filed a stipulation asking a California federal court to dismiss with prejudice the insured’s lawsuit arising from its property damage and business interruption claims for losses related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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June 17, 2024
Judge Dismisses Hurricane Laura Coverage Suit After Parties Announce Settlement
LAKE CHARLES, La. — A federal judge in Louisiana on June 14 dismissed without prejudice a retirement community insured’s lawsuit seeking coverage for its Hurricane Laura damage after the parties announced they reached a settlement.
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June 17, 2024
Insurers’ Motion To Compel Arbitration Should Have Been Granted, 5th Circuit Says
NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on June 14 reversed and remanded a lower federal court’s ruling that denied insurers’ motion to compel arbitration in insureds’ breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit seeking damages for commercial property damage caused by hurricanes Laura and Delta, finding that the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards applies despite the insureds’ dismissal of their claims against foreign insurers.
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June 12, 2024
Federal Judge Dismisses Hurricane Ida Coverage Suit After Parties Settle Claims
NEW ORLEANS — A federal judge in Louisiana granted parties’ joint motion to dismiss with prejudice a skilled nursing facility insured’s breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit seeking coverage for Hurricane Ida damage after the insurer and the insured indicated that all claims have been settled or compromised.
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June 11, 2024
Judge Partly Denies Insurer’s Summary Judgment Motion In Hurricane Laura Dispute
LAKE CHARLES, La. — A federal judge in Louisiana held that whether an insured’s submitted additional damages or mitigation expenses may be considered within its original loss event or as a separate loss event is inherently a fact question that is contingent on the state of repairs or mitigation of the insured property when Hurricane Delta occurred, partly denying an insurer’s motion in a coverage dispute arising from Hurricane Laura.
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June 06, 2024
Panel Affirms Order Requiring Guaranty Association To Make $37K Settlement Payment
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Without providing an explanation, a Florida appellate court affirmed a lower court order granting homeowners’ motion to enforce a $37,500 settlement in a hurricane damage dispute with the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association (FIGA), which was substituted as a defendant after the homeowners insurer was ordered into liquidation.
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June 06, 2024
Insurer Entitled To Directed Verdict On Prompt Notice Issue, Panel Says In Reversal
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A Florida appeals panel held June 5 that insureds failed to provide their insurer with prompt notice of their property damage caused by Hurricane Irma and that the insurer was entitled to a directed verdict on the issue, reversing a lower court’s final judgment in favor of the insureds and remanding for a new trial to determine whether the insureds’ untimely notice prejudiced the insurer.
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June 05, 2024
Hurricane Coverage Row Tossed After Insured Fails To Refute Lack Of Coverage
LAKE CHARLES, La. — A Louisiana federal judge granted summary judgment to the Louisiana Insurance Guaranty Association (LIGA) as successor to a now-insolvent insurer and dismissed with prejudice a homeowner’s breach of contract and bad faith hurricane coverage dispute, finding that the insured failed to refute evidence that his home was not insured by the insurer on the dates of purported loss.
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June 03, 2024
Self-Serving Affidavit Is Insufficient To Beat Summary Judgment, 5th Circuit Affirms
NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on May 31 affirmed a lower federal court’s finding that an insured failed to create a genuine dispute of material fact that any damage to the roof of its convenience store was attributable to a car collision and not Hurricane Harvey or preexisting wear and tear.
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June 03, 2024
R.I. Supreme Court Affirms Contamination Exclusion Bars Coverage In Coronavirus Suit
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The Rhode Island Supreme Court on May 31 affirmed a lower court’s ruling in favor of a commercial property insurer in an insured’s breach of contract lawsuit seeking coverage for its losses arising from the coronavirus pandemic, finding that it has “no difficulty concluding” that the insured’s “allegations fall squarely within the Contamination Exclusion.”