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May 22, 2026
DAYTON, Ohio — A federal judge in Ohio issued an order of dismissal in a case brought by a company that owns a building in Dayton, Ohio, against its insurer after being notified that the parties settled the case seeking coverage for damage caused by storms; the judge had earlier issued a decision and entry overruling the insurer’s motion for summary judgment, finding that there was a dispute about whether the storm was the sole cause of the damage or whether the improper application of the roof’s liquid-applied roof membrane (LARM) coating and deterioration of the coating at least contributed to the damage.
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May 22, 2026
BOSTON — A subcontractor default insurer argues that a Massachusetts federal judge shouldn’t reconsider her ruling dismissing a construction management firm’s statutory claim against the insurer, stating that the firm hasn’t met any of the exceptions for a motion for reconsideration.
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May 22, 2026
PHILADELPHIA — A federal judge in Pennsylvania dismissed a property owner’s declaratory judgment claim against its builders’ risk insurer over coverage for a subcontractor’s faulty tile installation, finding the claim duplicative of the property owner’s breach of contract claim; the case will continue on the property owner’s bad faith and breach of contract claims.
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May 22, 2026
FORT MYERS, Fla. — A subcontractor moved in Florida federal court to dismiss a negligence claim a general contractor brought against it in a third-party complaint regarding damage from roofing repairs the subcontractor performed; the third-party complaint is part of a claims dispute suit the general contractor filed against its commercial general liability insurer over coverage for the roof damage.
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May 22, 2026
SAN FRANCISCO — A general contractor’s insurer urged the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to reverse a lower court’s judgment in favor of a subcontractor’s insurer, arguing that because the general contractor is an additional insured under the subcontractor’s policy, the subcontractor’s insurer had a duty to defend the contractor in an underlying suit against the contractor for damages allegedly caused by the subcontractor’s work.
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May 22, 2026
SAN FRANCISCO — A construction manager says that the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals should reverse a lower court judge’s order granting its insurers’ motion for summary judgment, arguing that the judge misinterpreted the meaning of the phrase “during the course of construction” in its policy’s course of construction exclusion (COCE) when the judge concluded that the insurers owed no duty to defend the construction manager in an underlying case regarding issues with the laying of concrete flooring.
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May 22, 2026
NEW ORLEANS — A subcontractor asked a federal judge in Louisiana to enforce a settlement agreement between the subcontractor and the insurer that sued it as subrogee for a general contractor for damages the insurer alleged were caused by the subcontractor’s faulty workmanship; the subcontractor said the parties could not agree on certain provisions of the $499,000 settlement.
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May 21, 2026
ORLANDO, Fla. — A general contractor argues that allegations in an underlying action over work done on an apartment building potentially give rise to coverage under policies issued by a commercial general liability insurer to the apartment building owner, urging a federal court in Florida to deny the insurer’s renewed motion for summary judgment.
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May 21, 2026
BOISE, Idaho — After reaching a settlement in February following a judge’s dismissal of bad faith counterclaims filed by a construction company and seller of property, the parties to a coverage dispute over fire damage that occurred after a construction worker discarded oil-soaked rags filed a stipulation of dismissal in Idaho federal court.
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May 21, 2026
AUSTIN, Texas — A federal judge granted in part and denied in part an insurer’s motion to dismiss a pool construction company’s suit against it stemming from two underlying suits for property damage and construction defects, finding that the company provided sufficient allegations to plausibly support the company’s claims for breach of contract and bad faith, but not its claims for declaratory relief or under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act (DTPA) or the Texas Insurance Code.
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May 21, 2026
SAN FRANCISCO — In a reply brief filed in the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, homeowners argue that an insurer in its appellee brief repeats a lower court’s structural error: “no indemnity, therefore no other claims”; the homeowners say that once a developer tendered its complaint, which triggered the duty to defend, the insurer was required to perform claim-handling obligations.
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May 19, 2026
NEW ORLEANS — A Louisiana Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal panel found that a lower court erred in denying a motion for summary judgment filed by a contractor’s insurer, holding that the contractor’s policy did not cover the contractor’s alleged breach of contract against a company that discovered deficiencies allegedly due to renovations the contractor did to its funeral home.
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May 18, 2026
LOS ANGELES — After a jury awarded a company damages in a case it brought against its insurer for declaratory judgment over coverage of damage to its apartment building when it was being reroofed, a federal judge in California issued a more than $2.7 million judgment and granted the company’s request for prejudgment interest.
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May 18, 2026
BOISE, Idaho — A federal judge in Idaho denied a general contractor’s motion to reconsider his denial of the contractor’s motion for summary judgment in a case brought by the insurer of the owner of an apartment building after a fire-suppression water line froze and burst, finding that the contractor did not satisfy the standards for reconsideration.
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May 13, 2026
HOUSTON — A First District Texas Court of Appeals panel found that a trial court was wrong to dismiss a construction company’s suit against its insurer for denying coverage for the repair of slope failures, finding that the insurer was not prejudiced by the timing of the construction company’s notice of the claim.
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May 13, 2026
NEW YORK — In a case brought by a developer’s insurer against a subcontractor’s insurer, a federal judge in New York granted summary judgment to the developer’s insurer, finding that the subcontractor’s insurer owed a duty to defend the developer as an additional insured in an underlying case alleging that the subcontractor’s work may have contributed to water damage in a mixed-use building.
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April 28, 2026
MACON, Ga. — A federal judge in Georgia granted an insurer’s motion for summary judgment in a declaratory judgment action it brought against a construction company, the owner of that company and the owners of property that hired the company to construct a residence, finding that the insurance policy provided no coverage for the owners’ underlying suit for negligent and defective workmanship.
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April 24, 2026
SAN FRANCISCO — A paint contractor’s insurer agreed to voluntarily dismiss its claims against a property owner’s insurer in a declaratory judgment case the contractor’s insurer brought seeking a declaration that it did not have a duty to defend and indemnify the contractor or others in underlying actions stemming from a fire that damaged property in San Francisco.
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April 24, 2026
SEATTLE — A subcontractor seeks partial summary judgment in its insurer’s action in federal court in Washington for declaratory relief regarding the insurer’s duty to defend it in an underlying state court lawsuit against the contractor that hired the subcontractor, arguing that because the claims in the underlying suit were conceivably covered by the insurance policy, the insurer owed it a duty to defend and therefore cannot recoup the funds it spent defending it in the underlying suit.
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April 24, 2026
NEW ORLEANS — A Louisiana appellate court panel vacated a trial court’s judgment granting insurers’ motions for partial summary judgment of their insureds’ third-party complaint in a putative class action brought against their insureds alleging that the insureds hired architects and contractors to build more than 100 residences and that construction defects in the residences resulted in damages to the properties, other personal property and bodily injuries, finding that the insurers’ policies don’t unambiguously preclude their duty to defend their insureds.
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April 24, 2026
FORT MYERS, Fla. — A federal judge in Florida issued an order dismissing all claims, cross-claims and third-party claims in subrogee insurers’ case against the contractor that installed HVAC rooftop units (RTUs) at an Amazon sorting center, as well as others involved in the manufacturing and delivery of the RTUs, after the parties reached a settlement; the complaint alleged that defects in the HVAC units caused damage to the building during Hurricane Ian.
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April 24, 2026
SAN FRANCISCO — In its appeal of a lower court’s ruling that an insurer owed no duty to indemnify its subcontractor in an underlying suit, a contractor has asked the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to address an issue it says has not been addressed under California insurance coverage law — whether an indemnitee must file a suit against an indemnitor before an insurer’s duty to indemnify is triggered.
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April 24, 2026
SAN FRANCISCO — In its answering brief filed in the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, an insurer argues that a federal judge was right to dismiss homeowners’ case alleging that the insurer breached its duty to defend and indemnify a developer for claims arising from the developer’s defective construction of the homeowners’ houses; it argues that the lower court was correct to find that the homeowners failed to identify damage that occurred during the policy periods.
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April 24, 2026
FORT MYERS, Fla. — A federal judge in Florida denied a roofing company’s motion to dismiss its insurer’s counterclaim against it, finding that the counterclaim was ripe because it involved the same dispute as the roofing company’s claim, which is whether the insurer had a duty to indemnify the roofing company in a claim brought regarding roof repair.
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April 23, 2026
NEW ORLEANS — A federal judge in Louisiana issued an order of dismissal after being notified that a subcontractor and insurer reached a settlement in a suit the insurer brought as subrogee for a general contractor against the subcontractor for damages the insurer alleged were caused by the subcontractor’s faulty workmanship.