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Mealey's Emerging Insurance Disputes

  • March 04, 2026

    Professional Liability Insurer Owes No Coverage To Law Firm, N.Y. Justice Rules

    ALBANY, N.Y. — A New York justice granted a professional liability insurer’s motion for summary judgment in its lawsuit seeking a declaration that it has no duty to defend or indemnify its law firm insured against an underlying extortion lawsuit, holding that coverage is barred by the policy exclusion for intentional conduct and that the exclusion “‘language is consistent with New York’s strong public policy against insuring a party from its intentional and/or fraudulent acts, practices, or conduct’.”

  • March 04, 2026

    Settlement Conference Set After Judgment Granted In Insurance Application Dispute

    LAS VEGAS —  A Nevada federal magistrate judge ordered the parties to appear for a settlement conference after a federal judge granted in part and denied in part cross-motions for summary judgment in insureds’ suit seeking coverage for expenses in defending another suit regarding fraud-based claims.

  • March 04, 2026

    Magistrate Deems Reserve Information ‘Relevant’ In Diocese Sex Abuse Coverage Row

    NEW YORK —  Finding that information about financial reserves may be “relevant” to the issue of a now-insolvent insurer’s coverage for claims against a New York Roman Catholic diocese for clergy’s alleged sexual abuse of children, a New York federal magistrate judge ordered the insurer to produce the reserve information in a suit over the insurer’s duty to defend and indemnify in underlying suits over the alleged sexual abuse.

  • March 04, 2026

    Policy’s Express Contract Exclusion Bars Coverage, Federal Magistrate Says

    SHERMAN, Texas — Noting that at least one other court has reached the same conclusion on similar facts, a magistrate judge determined that an insurance policy’s express contract exclusion unambiguously bars coverage for an underlying breach of contract claim that a homeowners association made against its management company and recommended that a federal Texas court grant the insurer’s motion for summary judgment.

  • March 03, 2026

    Premises Endorsement Limits Liability To Injuries That Occurred At Insured’s Tavern

    SCRANTON, Pa. — A federal judge in Pennsylvania held that an insurance policy’s Premises Endorsement limits liability to bodily injuries that occurred at a tavern insured’s physical address and does not insure bodily injuries that occurred approximately one mile away from the insured’s premises, granting the insurer’s motion for summary judgment in its declaratory judgment lawsuit disputing coverage for an underlying action arising from the death of a 4-year-old that occurred while she was driving with her mother who was allegedly overserved at the tavern.

  • March 03, 2026

    Delaware Judge: Social Media Litigation Does Not Trigger Insurers’ Duty To Defend

    WILMINGTON, Del. — A Delaware judge granted primary insurers’ motion for partial summary judgment in their declaratory judgment lawsuit brought against Instagram LLC and Meta Platforms Inc. (collectively, Meta), ruling that the insurers have no duty to defend against several thousand lawsuits alleging that Meta’s platforms caused harm to children because none of the underlying allegations “whether express, inferable, or extrinsic—support a conclusion that Meta’s conduct was accidental.”

  • March 03, 2026

    Judge: Ransomware Sublimit Does Not Limit Insurer’s Liability For Malware Attack

    DALLAS — Noting that the court has not located any case law interpreting a ransomware sublimit endorsement or any similar policy provision, a federal judge in Texas held that a cyber liability insurance policy’s $250,000 Ransomware Sub-Limit Endorsement is not applicable on its face to the policy’s cyber extortion insurance and, as a result, the insurer’s liability is not limited as to the insured’s claim for $1.2 million in losses arising from a malware attack.

  • March 03, 2026

    Magistrate Dismisses Coverage Dispute Over Negligence Claims Against Mutual Insured

    FRESNO, Calif. — One day after parties filed a stipulation of dismissal, a federal magistrate judge in California dismissed a commercial general liability coverage dispute over underlying allegations that the plaintiff and defendant insurers’ mutual insured negligently conducted cyclic steaming operations to extract and harvest oil.

  • March 02, 2026

    Class Complaint: Insurer Sold Out Customer And Website Users’ Trust For Money

    CHICAGO — A class complaint was filed in an Illinois federal court alleging that an insurer committed an egregious privacy violation and breach of consumer trust in violation of Illinois, California and federal laws by knowingly deploying tracking technologies without the consent of its insurance customers and other website visitors and in violation of its own express assurances that the customers’ private information would remain confidential, asserting that the insurer sold out its customers and website users’ trust for money.

  • February 27, 2026

    Judge Dismisses Consolidated Coverage Suit Arising From Super Bowl Parade Shooting

    KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A federal judge in Missouri dismissed a commercial general liability insurer’s consolidated lawsuit seeking a declaration that it has no duty to provide coverage for underlying state court actions brought by individuals who incurred shooting-related injuries at the 2024 Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl victory parade, holding that the matter is better settled in state court.

  • February 25, 2026

    Prior Litigation Exclusion Bars Professional Liability Coverage, Federal Judge Says

    PHILADELPHIA — A federal judge in Pennsylvania granted a professional liability insurer’s motion to dismiss its insured’s breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit with prejudice, holding that the policy’s prior litigation exclusion precludes coverage for an underlying action alleging that the insured’s process for releasing timeshare owners from their agreements was not legitimate.

  • February 24, 2026

    Magistrate Won’t Dismiss Counterclaims, Grants Stay In Liability Coverage Dispute

    JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — A Pennsylvania federal magistrate judge on Feb. 23 dismissed a professional liability insurer’s motion to dismiss bad faith and fiduciary duty counterclaims but granted an alternate motion to bifurcate and stay the counterclaims in the insurer’s declaratory judgment suit disputing coverage for an underlying action arising from alleged sexual abuse by a pediatrician.

  • February 23, 2026

    Supreme Court Denies NRA’s Petition In Free Speech Suit Over Insurance Program

    WASHINGTON, D.C. —The U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 23 denied the NRA’s petition for a writ of certiorari seeking review of the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ holding on remand that a former superintendent of the New York department that regulates insurance is entitled to qualified immunity on the NRA’s First Amendment coercion and retaliation claims against New York state officials and the department.

  • February 20, 2026

    4th Circuit Rejects Under Armour’s Request To Rehear D&O Liability Coverage Suit

    RICHMOND, Va. — A Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel denied Under Armour Inc.’s petition to rehear its reversal of a Maryland federal court’s grant of the petitioner’s motion for judgment on the pleadings in its directors and officers liability insurers’ lawsuit seeking a declaration that they owe no coverage for underlying investigations brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice, shareholder demand letters and a securities class action, after the petitioner contended that “rehearing is exceptionally important because of the strong public policy interest in settlement.”

  • February 20, 2026

    Rehearing Of ‘Equitably Devastating’ Ruling Sought In Professional Liability Suit

    NEW YORK — Calling a Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling in early February “not only legally incorrect but equitably devastating,” a financial services company insured’s liquidating trust filed a petition for rehearing of the panel’s holding that a professional liability insurance policy’s fee exclusion bars coverage for the insured’s liability in two underlying class actions alleging that certain mortgage loan fees were unlawful and that the insured was derivatively liable under the Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act.

  • February 19, 2026

    Claims Against Insurer Barred By Texas’ No-Direct-Action Statute, 5th Circuit Says

    NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Feb. 18 affirmed a lower federal court’s ruling that granted an insurer’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit alleging that the insurer mishandled an insurance claim related to the conduct of the insured and its board members, further concluding that the lower court properly denied the plaintiff’s motion to remand.

  • February 19, 2026

    Judge Allows Experts, Certifies Class On Whether UM/UIM Coverage Properly Applied

    PHOENIX — An Arizona federal judge agreed to certify a class action alleging that an insurer underpaid insureds by failing to stack uninsured motorist (UM) or underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage for policyholders who had multivehicle policies and rejected efforts by the insurer to exclude expert testimony on class certification.

  • February 18, 2026

    Parties Announce Settlement Of Insurer’s Suit Over Injury At Cryotherapy Facility

    LOS ANGELES — Following an announcement that the entire case has settled, a federal judge in California deemed inactive the insurer’s lawsuit seeking a declaratory judgment that its business owners liability insurance policy’s professional services exclusion bars coverage for a patient’s underlying action alleging that she was injured at a cryotherapy facility while receiving medical treatment from the insured, noting that the matter is moved to the inactive calendar pending the parties’ filing of a stipulation of dismissal.

  • February 17, 2026

    Delaware High Court Refuses E&O Insurers’ Interlocutory Appeal In Coverage Suit

    DOVER, Del. — The Delaware Supreme Court on Feb. 16 refused managed care errors and omissions insurers’ request for interlocutory appeal of a lower court’s ruling in a coverage dispute over an underlying false claims lawsuit brought against their insured, holding that there are no exceptional circumstances that would merit interlocutory review.

  • February 17, 2026

    Delaware High Court: Insurers Properly Pleaded Claim In Suit Over Ransomware Attack

    DOVER, Del. — The Delaware Supreme Court held Feb. 13 that insurers have adequately pleaded a breach of contract claim in their subrogation lawsuit seeking recovery from an application service provider for the amount they paid to nonprofit insureds for investigative and remediation steps arising from a ransomware attack, reversing a lower court’s grant of the provider’s motion to dismiss the insurers’ amended complaint and remanding.

  • February 17, 2026

    Management Liability Policy Is Excess Over D&O Policy, Federal Judge Rules

    NEW YORK — A federal judge in New York granted a defendant insurer’s motion to dismiss a plaintiff insurer’s claims for declaratory judgment, unjust enrichment and equitable subrogation in a coverage dispute arising from a criminal proceeding in Morocco alleging fraud, misappropriation of funds, criminal bankruptcy and money laundering against a company that managed a hotel, holding that the defendant insurer’s management liability insurance policies expressly state that they are excess over other excess policies while the plaintiff insurer’s directors and officers liability insurance policy does not.

  • February 17, 2026

    N.Y. Panel: Insurer Not Required To Satisfy Judgment Against Restaurant Insured

    BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Noting that it has not had an occasion to interpret and apply the relevant policy language at length but several of its sister courts have, the Second Department New York Supreme Court Appellate Division reversed a lower court’s summary judgment ruling against an insurer after holding that the general liability business insurance policy at issue does not obligate the insurer to provide coverage for an underlying bodily injury that purportedly occurred in the course of the restaurant insured’s business but not as a result of the insured’s operations at or otherwise related to the covered premises.

  • February 17, 2026

    Calif. Federal Judge Rules On 20 Motions In Limine In Aircraft Insurance Dispute

    SAN DIEGO — A California federal judge granted in part, denied in part and reserved ruling in part on a series of cross-motions in limine in a private jet insurance coverage dispute, excluding evidence of reinsurance and loss reserves, bifurcating punitive damages, limiting expert and regulatory evidence and reserving authentication and hearsay objections to competing insurance proposals for determination at trial.

  • February 12, 2026

    Default Judgment Entered Against Insureds In Professional Liability Insurer’s Suit

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal judge in the District of Columbia granted a professional liability insurer’s motion for a default judgment against its insureds in its lawsuit seeking a declaration that it has no duty to defend or indemnify them for an underlying action alleging they unlawfully took funds that were supposed to be used for the settlement of a real estate transaction, holding that the insurer established that the insureds violated a policy provision that required them to cooperate and assist the insurer in investigating and defending the underlying claims.

  • February 12, 2026

    Judge Partly Rules In Favor Of Insurers In Trustee’s Suit Over Opioid Litigation

    PHILADELPHIA — A federal judge in Pennsylvania granted in part and denied in part insurers’ motions for summary judgment on the bellwether issues of claims-made requirement, batching and extended reporting; notice; occurrence requirement and fortuity-based exclusions; and prior knowledge in an opioid litigation coverage dispute brought by the trustee of a general unsecured creditors’ trust formed after the pharmaceutical company insured filed for bankruptcy, holding that all personal injury (PI) and neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) claims first made after the 2016-17 policy period are not covered under the 2016-17 products insurance policies.