Newsletter RSS

Mealey's Insurance

  • December 08, 2025

    Review Of Jurisdiction Issue In PFAS Exposure Suit Not Warranted, Insurer Says

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court should deny an insured’s petition for a writ of certiorari seeking review of the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ finding that a district court erred in remanding a declaratory judgment claim and retaining jurisdiction over breach of contract and bad faith claims in a dispute over coverage for underlying per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) exposure suits because every other federal appellate court agrees with the Sixth Circuit’s disposition, an insurer says in its Dec. 5 response brief.

  • December 05, 2025

    Insurers Seek Reversal Of Settlement Ruling In Imerys, Cyprus Mines Bankruptcies

    PHILADELPHIA — Allowing asbestos talc debtors Imerys Talc America Inc. and Cyprus Mines Corp. to enter into a $280 million settlement with talc seller Johnson & Johnson (J&J) for a dispute over indemnification rights for defense of asbestos personal injury claims without paying the debtors’ insurers anything for their subrogation rights “is not only contrary to well-established insurance law, but also counter to strong public policy regarding the nature and purpose of insurance,” the insurers say in their opening brief in their appeal in the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.

  • December 04, 2025

    Insurer-Insured Debate Postjudgment Interest After Asbestos Award

    NEW ORLEANS — An insurer in a Dec. 3 response asks for clarification of the period for which insured seeks prejudgment interest after a federal judge in Louisiana entered final judgment for an asbestos defendant on a $338,000 breach of contract claim.

  • December 04, 2025

    Parties Dispute Scope Of Arbitration In Reinsurance Legionnaires’ Suit

    DETROIT — Following a motion hearing, a reinsured entity and the defendants in a lawsuit over claims related to Legionnaires’ disease filed supplemental briefs in a Michigan federal court addressing the defendants’ motion to dismiss, with the defendants asserting that the reinsured entity’s claims arise out of a governing arbitration clause and must be stayed under federal law, and the reinsured entity countering that the dispute falls outside that provision because the assignee is not a party to the operative reinsurance agreement.

  • December 02, 2025

    No Defense, Indemnity Owed For Underlying Silica Dust Exposure Suits, Insurer Says

    MINNEAPOLIS — A commercial liability insurer says in a complaint filed in Minnesota federal court that it owes no duty to defend or indemnify its insured against underlying bodily injury suits stemming from exposure to silica dust emitted from the insured’s quartz products because its policies’ pollution exclusions bar coverage for the underlying suits.

  • December 02, 2025

    No Coverage Due Under Pollution Liability Policy For Underground Contamination

    KANSAS CITY, Mo. — No coverage is afforded for underground contamination discovered at an insured car dealership because the pollution liability policy at issue provided coverage only for the release of pollutants above ground, a Kansas federal judge said in granting the insurer’s motion for summary judgment.

  • December 02, 2025

    Fungi Exclusion Bars Coverage For Underlying Mold Contamination Suit, Judge Says

    EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. — A commercial general liability insurer has no duty to defend or indemnify its insureds for an underlying suit stemming from mold contamination in a rental apartment because the policies’ bacteria or fungi exclusion clearly precludes coverage for the underlying suit, an Illinois federal judge said in granting the insurer’s motion for judgment on the pleadings.

  • December 01, 2025

    Defective Construction Exclusion Does Not Bar Coverage For Water, Mold Damages

    SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge granted summary judgment in favor of insured homeowners on a breach of contract claim after determining that an all-risk policy provides coverage for rainwater intrusion and additional living expenses incurred as a result of mold contamination in the insureds’ home because rainwater, a covered loss, rather than defective construction, an excluded cause of loss, was the “efficient proximate cause” of the insureds’ loss.

  • December 01, 2025

    Panel: Court Erred In Denying Homeowners Insurer’s Motion To Dismiss Bad Faith Suit

    HOUSTON — A state trial court erred in denying a homeowners insurer’s motion to dismiss claims alleging violations of the Texas Insurance Code and bad faith because the insureds’ causes of action against the insurer were barred based on the insurer’s payment of an appraisal award, the First District Texas Court of Appeals said in vacating the trial court’s order.

  • November 25, 2025

    Judge Denies Homebuilder’s Motion To Sever, Finds Claims Address Same Questions

    AUSTIN, Texas — A federal judge in Texas denied a homebuilder’s motion to sever claims in a case in which the homebuilder alleges that its general liability insurer breached their contract by denying coverage for underlying construction defect claims and refusing to participate in settlement negotiations related to the underlying claims, finding no reason to apply different reasoning to separate claims.

  • November 25, 2025

    Insurer Seeks To Recover More Than $20M From Pool Chemical Manufacturer

    ATLANTA — An insurer filed suit in Georgia federal court, seeking to recover more than $20 million it paid on behalf of its insureds for damages caused by toxic chemicals released when an explosion occurred at a manufacturing facility near the insureds’ facility.

  • November 25, 2025

    Insurer Says No Coverage Owed For Underlying Mold Contamination Suit

    LOS ANGELES — No coverage is owed to an insured for an underlying bodily injury suit stemming from exposure to mold in the insured’s home because coverage is excluded pursuant to the policy’s fungus exclusion, a homeowners insurer says in a complaint filed in California state court.

  • November 25, 2025

    Questions Of Fact Exist On Cause Of Corrosion Damage, Appellate Court Says

    CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The West Virginia Intermediate Court of Appeals reversed a lower court’s final judgment in a coverage dispute over damage caused by the release of liquefied chlorine from a railroad tank car after determining that questions of fact exist regarding the “efficient proximate cause” of corrosion damage to the tanker.

  • November 25, 2025

    HVAC System Replacement Proposal Properly Excluded From Jury, Panel Says

    PITTSBURGH — A trial court properly excluded a proposal for the replacement of an insured’s heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system, allegedly contaminated with mold and asbestos, because the jury considered the same information about the HVAC system that the insured claims was incorrectly precluded by the court, a Pennsylvania Superior Court panel said in affirming the trial court’s decision.

  • November 25, 2025

    Fact Issues Exist On Cause Of Water Damage, California Panel Says In Reversing

    LOS ANGELES — The Second District California Court of Appeal reversed a trial court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of an insurer on breach of contract and bad faith claims in a dispute over coverage for water damage in the insured’s home after determining that questions of fact exist over whether a windstorm or wear and tear caused a hole in the home’s roof that resulted in water entering the home.

  • November 24, 2025

    Illinois High Court To Decide If Pollution Exclusion Applies To Regulated Emissions

    CHICAGO — The Illinois Supreme Court heard oral arguments on a certified question from the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals regarding what effect, if any, a permit or regulation that authorizes emissions has in determining whether a pollution exclusion should be applied as a bar to coverage for bodily injury claims related to chemical discharges from the insured facility.

  • November 18, 2025

    Contamination Exclusion Bars Coverage For COVID-19 Losses, 9th Circuit Affirms

    SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Nov. 17 affirmed a district court’s ruling that an all-risk policy’s contamination exclusion bars coverage for losses sustained during the COVID-19 pandemic, rejecting the insureds’ argument that the district court erred in finding that a California appellate panel’s ruling in a similar case is applicable to the instant dispute.

  • November 18, 2025

    No Coverage Owed To Insured For Contamination Suit, Federal Judge Says

    GREAT FALLS, Mont. — Two insurers have no duty to defend an insured against an underlying environmental contamination lawsuit because the contamination at issue occurred prior to the primary policy’s retroactive coverage date, a Montana federal judge said in denying the insured’s motion for summary judgment.

  • November 18, 2025

    Stipulation Filed To Dismiss 1 Insurer From Coronavirus Coverage Suit In Nevada

    LAS VEGAS — A stipulation was filed asking a Nevada court to dismiss with prejudice all claims against one insurer in an insured’s lawsuit seeking coverage under its all-risk insurance policies for its loss caused by COVID-19 and its causative virus at its insured properties.

  • November 18, 2025

    Delaware Bankruptcy Judge Denies Avon Insurers’ Bid To Stay Plan Pending Appeal

    WILMINGTON, Del. — Certain insurers of talc debtor AIO US Inc. did not show that they will be irreparably harmed if the confirmation order for the company’s Chapter 11 plan of liquidation is allowed to stand, so their motion to stay the ruling while they appeal the decision fails, a Delaware federal bankruptcy judge said.

  • November 18, 2025

    Broker Had Duty To Notify Insurer Of Lead Paint Exposure Claims, 2nd Circuit Says

    NEW YORK — A district court erred in dismissing a negligence claim against an insurance broker for failure to notify the insureds’ pollution liability insurer of an underlying bodily injury suit stemming from exposure to lead paint at the insureds’ property because the insureds adequately allege that the insurance broker had a duty to inform the insurer of the underlying suit, the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said.

  • November 17, 2025

    COMMENTARY: The Notice-Prejudice Rule In Hybrid Occurrence - Claims-Made Policies

    By Robert M. Hall

  • November 14, 2025

    8th Circuit: Court Did Not Abuse Its Discretion By Excluding Insured’s Expert

    ST. LOUIS — The Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals determined that a lower federal court did not abuse its discretion when it excluded the opinion of an insured’s expert in the insured’s breach of contract lawsuit alleging that its commercial building was damaged by water intrusion during a storm, affirming the lower court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the insurer.

  • November 11, 2025

    Insurer Seeks Reimbursement Of Punitive Damages Award Paid On Behalf Of Insured

    PHILADELPHIA — An insured is required to reimburse its insurer for the insurer’s payment of a punitive damages award entered against the insured in an underlying asbestos bodily injury suit because punitive damages are uninsurable pursuant to the terms of the policy and applicable law, the insurer says in a complaint filed in Pennsylvania federal court.

  • November 11, 2025

    6th Circuit Affirms Collateral Estoppel Ruling In Dispute Over Defense Costs

    CINCINNATI — The Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court ruling that an insurer was collaterally estopped from relitigating whether defense costs were payable outside defined policy limits, holding that the issue was fully adjudicated in prior arbitration and that the absence of mutuality did not preclude application of collateral estoppel.