Mealey's Insurance Pleadings : Mealey's : Legal News & Analysis

Mealey's Insurance Pleadings

September 23, 2025
Insurer Answers Bad Faith Complaint In California Storm Damage Coverage Suit

LOS ANGELES — Following a California court’s ruling that overruled its demurrer to an insured’s claim for breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing and denied its motion to strike all references to punitive damages, an insurer filed its answer to the insured’s first amended complaint in a coverage dispute over storm damage.
September 23, 2025
Insurer, Reinsurer File Joint Dismissal Motion In Mine Coverage Dispute

OMAHA, Neb. — National Indemnity Co. (NICO) and a reinsurer it sued for breach of contract and declaratory judgment jointly moved in Nebraska federal court to dismiss the reinsurer with prejudice as part of NICO’s suit to enforce its reinsurers’ obligations for incurred liabilities related to asbestos exposure stemming from a Montana mine.
September 22, 2025
Appellants Argue Reinsurer Was ‘De Facto Insurer’ In $844M Crash Coverage Appeal

MIAMI — Survivors of a 2016 plane crash and representatives of the deceased filed a brief in a Florida appellate court, arguing that a reinsurer acted as a “de facto insurer” and that state law accordingly permits them to pursue independent bad faith and coverage claims despite a trial court’s dismissal of their amended complaint that sought to enforce approximately $844 million in consent judgments.
September 22, 2025
Reinsurer Claims Insurer Withheld Premiums, Improperly Terminated Agreement

DALLAS — A reinsurer sued an insurer in a Texas state court, alleging that the insurer withheld more than $31 million in reinsurance premiums under a quota share reinsurance agreement (QSRA) and related deal, retroactively attempted to terminate their contract in violation of notice requirements and engaged in conduct amounting to breach of contract, unjust enrichment and statutory theft.
September 22, 2025
Insured Says Insurer Owes Additional Coverage For Underlying Silica Lawsuits

NEW YORK — An insured filed counterclaims against its insurer in New York federal court, seeking declarations that the insurer has a continued duty to defend and indemnify the insured in underlying silica bodily injury lawsuits and further seeking declarations that the underlying lawsuits constitute multiple occurrence and that a pro rata method of allocation applies.
September 22, 2025
Pollution Liability Insurer Says No Defense Owed For Contamination Suit

LAFAYETTE, La. — A pollution liability insurer says it has no duty to defend its insureds in an underlying suit seeking damages for saltwater contamination because the underlying complaint does not stem from activities performed by the insured for a third party at a job site as required by the policies’ covered operations requirement.
September 22, 2025
Following Mediation, Parties In D&O Excess Coverage Dispute Reach ‘Total Impasse’

MIAMI — A mediator told a Florida federal court on Sept. 19 that an excess directors and officers liability insurer and a law firm participated in mediation and failed to resolve the law firm’s lawsuit seeking payment for its legal representation of the insured in underlying criminal and civil lawsuits.
September 19, 2025
LTD Claimant Urges 1st Circuit To Reverse Ruling That Hinges On ‘Working’

BOSTON — Arguing in part that a long-term disability (LTD) plan’s use of “working” is ambiguous and therefore must be construed in his favor, an independent financial adviser filed an appellant brief urging the First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to reverse summary judgment against him, to order that his benefits be reinstated and to award him interest and attorney fees and costs.
September 19, 2025
CGL Insurer, City Settle Coverage Dispute Over Wrongful Conviction Settlement

DURHAM, N.C. — A mediator filed a report notifying a North Carolina federal court that a commercial general liability insurer and the city of Concord, N.C., have fully settled the city’s breach of contract and declaratory judgment lawsuit alleging that the insurer has a duty to defend, indemnify and contribute to a $9.3 million settlement of an underlying wrongful conviction lawsuit.
September 17, 2025
Parties Reach Settlement To Resolve All Remaining Claims In Reinsurance Dispute

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The two remaining parties in a suit involving reinsurance and related agreements notified a California federal court that they have reached a final settlement, resolving all outstanding claims and providing for the distribution of funds held by the court.
September 16, 2025
Insured’s Assignees Say Coverage Owed For Underlying Carbon Monoxide Suit

CLEVELAND — A commercial auto insurer breached its contract when it claimed that its pollution exclusion barred coverage to an insured for an underlying carbon monoxide poisoning suit, the assignees of the insured contend in a complaint filed in Ohio federal court.
September 16, 2025
Countertop Manufacturer Seeks Coverage For Underlying Silica Bodily Injury Suits

LOS ANGELES — An insured manufacturer and distributor of countertops and countertop products filed suit in California state court, claiming that its insurers breached their contracts of insurance and acted in bad faith in relying on their policies’ pollution and silica exclusions to deny coverage for underlying silica-exposure bodily injury suits in which the insured is named as a defendant.
September 16, 2025
Reinsurer Claims Lack Of Issue Preclusion In Mine Subsidence Suit Against Railroad

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — A reinsurer filed a reply memorandum supporting its motion for summary judgment in litigation concerning mine subsidence claims, contending that a railroad company’s opposition raises no material factual disputes and that its arguments are immaterial to the claim and issue preclusion factors central to the case.
September 16, 2025
Insurer Moves For Judgment To Appeal Ruling In Suit Brought By Petroleum Company

HONOLULU — An insurer moved for entry of judgment on Sept. 12 so it can immediately appeal a federal court in Hawaii’s summary judgment ruling against it in a lawsuit filed by an insured petroleum company seeking coverage for underlying claims that the company is responsible for contributing to the effects of global warming based on its failure to warn of the hazards of using fossil fuel products, challenging the court’s finding that it has a duty to defend under two policies that did not include pollution exclusions.
September 10, 2025
Developer Argues Genuine Issues Exist As To Whether Defects Coverage Exists

SAN FRANCISCO — A housing developer opposed its excess insurer’s motion for summary judgment in the developer’s breach of contract case in federal court in California against the insurer after the homeowners reported construction defects, arguing that genuine issues of material fact exist as to whether the insurer had breached its contract.
September 10, 2025
LTD Claimant Urges 11th Circuit To Reverse Summary Judgment In Tax Returns Row

ATLANTA — Urging the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to take the position outlined in a report and recommendation that the lower court declined to adopt, a deaf engineer who received long-term disability (LTD) benefits for about a decade before they were terminated due to his refusal to provide personal tax returns argues in part that the insurer isn’t entitled to interpret the term “work” because it is not ambiguous.
September 09, 2025
Defendant Seeks Rehearing In Insurer’s Subrogation Suit Prompted By Jet Damage

SAN FRANCISCO — An aircraft facility operator on Sept. 8 filed a petition asking the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to reconsider its opinion that affirmed in part and reversed in part a lower federal court’s summary judgment ruling in an insurer’s subrogation lawsuit arising from property damage incurred by the insured’s privately owned noncommercial aircraft while it was parked and stored at the petitioner’s facility, challenging the court’s finding that there is a genuine dispute of material fact regarding whether it was reasonable for the petitioner to conclude that the pilot had the apparent authority to bind the aircraft owner to the limitation of liability provision of the landing card.
September 09, 2025
Silica Exclusions Bar Coverage For Silica Exposure Lawsuits, Insurers Say

LOS ANGELES — No coverage is afforded to Home Depot U.S.A. Inc. for more than 100 bodily injury lawsuits seeking damages as a result of silica exposure from countertops sold and marketed by Home Depot because the retailer is not an additional insured under policies issued to the countertop manufacturer and because the policies’ exclusions for silica and pollution bar coverage, insurers maintain in a complaint filed in California federal court.
September 08, 2025
Pollution Liability Insurer Owes Defense For Contamination Suit, Insureds Maintain

LAFAYETTE, La. — A pollution liability insurer has a duty to defend its insureds in an underlying suit seeking damages for saltwater contamination because the underlying complaint alleges claims that are potentially covered under the policy, the insureds maintain in a motion for partial summary judgment.
September 05, 2025
Insured Appeals No Coverage Ruling For Coffee Farmers’ False Advertising Claims

HONOLULU — An insured notified a federal court in Hawaii on Sept. 4 that it is appealing the court’s order granting summary judgment in favor of an insurer in a coverage dispute arising from claims that the insured falsely advertised that the coffee it sold contained 100% Kona coffee.
September 04, 2025
Review Standard Is Focus Of 2nd Circuit Briefing In Appeal Of LTD Benefits Denial

NEW YORK — Standard of review is the sole issue in a Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals challenge to a ruling upholding denial of long-term disability (LTD) benefits, with the insurer arguing in its answering brief first that it had discretionary authority under the plan and second that there are no grounds to disregard that grant because it complied with claim regulations.
September 04, 2025
Parties Agree To Dismiss Contamination Coverage Suit In Pennsylvania Federal Court

PITTSBURGH — An insurer and its insured filed a joint stipulation of dismissal in Pennsylvania federal court after agreeing to litigate the insurer’s declaratory judgment suit in Massachusetts federal court where the insured filed a similar suit seeking coverage for underlying environmental contamination lawsuits.
September 03, 2025
Reinsurer Claims Guaranty Terms Are ‘Unconditional’ In Suit Dismissal Opposition

NEW YORK — A reinsurer opposes a Florida businessman’s motion to dismiss its breach of contract suit in a New York federal court centered on a personal guaranty of a defaulted $34.4 million loan, contending that the guaranty is “absolute and unconditional” and that repayment cannot be evaded because the dismissal arguments for lack of consideration and a violation of the statute of frauds are foreclosed by the guaranty’s language.
September 03, 2025
Owner Of Former MiLB Team Seeks $5.5M From National Association’s D&O Insurer

CONCORD, N.H. — The owner and operator of a former minor league baseball team filed a lawsuit in a New Hampshire federal court alleging that the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues Inc.’s insurer breached a directors and officers liability insurance policy by failing to pay a $5,550,000 judgment awarded against its insured in an underlying breach of fiduciary lawsuit.
August 28, 2025
Processor Seeks Oral Argument In Challenge To Reinsurer’s Arbitration Award

NEW YORK — A food processing company asked a New York federal judge to schedule oral argument on its petition to vacate portions of an arbitration award granted to a reinsurer, as well as the reinsurer’s cross-motion to confirm the award, related to a poultry rendering facility fire and subsequent reinsurance dispute.