Newsletter RSS

Mealey's Insurance Pleadings

  • October 21, 2024

    Reinsurers Move To Compel Arbitration In Billings Dispute Involving MOU

    LOS ANGELES — Arguing that a dispute over reinsurance billings arising from asbestos bodily injury claims falls within the scope of the “broad” arbitration agreement in the excess of loss reinsurance treaty at issue, reinsurers in an Oct. 18 motion ask a California federal court to compel arbitration and dismiss or stay the case.

  • October 21, 2024

    Insured Appeals No Coverage Ruling In Suit Over Improperly Constructed Walls

    TACOMA, Wash. — An insured file a notice indicating it is asking the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to review a Washington federal judge’s findings that an insurance policy’s impaired property exclusion bars coverage for underlying damage caused by improperly constructed retaining walls and that the “sudden and accidental injury” exception to the exclusion does not apply.

  • October 21, 2024

    CGL Insurer: Panel’s Opinion Contradicts Pennsylvania Law As To Faulty Workmanship

    PHILADELPHIA — A commercial general liability insurer filed a petition for rehearing en banc challenging the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ per curiam opinion that vacated a lower federal court’s summary judgment ruling in its favor in a coverage dispute arising from a construction company insured’s allegedly defective renovation work, arguing that the panel’s opinion “contradicts Pennsylvania law that faulty workmanship is not an ‘occurrence,’ regardless if the damage at issue extends beyond the scope of a contractor’s work.”

  • October 18, 2024

    Contractor Appeals No Coverage Ruling In Suit Arising From Alleged Faulty Roof Work

    NEW YORK — A contractor filed a notice indicating that it is appealing a New York federal court’s ruling that adopted a magistrate’s report and recommendation in concluding that insurers owe no coverage for an underlying lawsuit that accuses the contractor and a subcontractor of faulty work on roofs in a New York City apartment complex that failed during Hurricane Sandy.

  • October 17, 2024

    Insured’s Hurricane Zeta Lawsuit Is Untimely Under SFIP, 5th Circuit Affirms

    NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Oct. 16 affirmed a lower federal court’s “carefully crafted opinion” that dismissed with prejudice an insured’s breach of contract lawsuit seeking coverage for its Hurricane Zeta damage, agreeing with the lower court that the insured’s action is time-barred by the one-year statute of limitations pursuant to its Standard Flood Insurance Policy (SFIP).

  • October 14, 2024

    Suit Against Captive Reinsurer, Others Follows Alleged Board Upheaval

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Alleging in part that board upheaval left a captive reinsurer “under the management of inexperienced board members,” a risk retention group (RRG) sued three entities it claims it long had a close relationship with, asserting claims in a District of Columbia federal court for breach of contract, breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing and tortious interference with business relations.

  • October 14, 2024

    Insurer Ask 9th Circuit To Reconsider Ruling In Sex Trafficking Coverage Dispute

    SAN FRANCISCO — A commercial insurer filed a petition seeking rehearing of the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ Sept. 25 ruling that affirmed a lower federal court’s dismissal of its declaratory judgment arising from an underlying multidistrict litigation alleging that the insured is liable under Texas’ sex trafficking statutes, challenging the panel’s finding that its duty to defend has not been extinguished because the underlying claims may impose liability on the insured that triggers coverage.

  • October 14, 2024

    Owners Of Aircraft Valued At More Than $222M Sue Insurers In State Court

    STAMFORD, Conn. — Claiming breach of contract and bad faith, five entities that own two freighter planes that they allege a Russian cargo airline has refused to return after the invasion of Ukraine have filed a suit in Connecticut state court against more than two dozen “insurers, underwriters, underwriting managers, and insurance subscribers of coverage in the international aviation insurance market.”

  • October 11, 2024

    Disability Insurer Says Claimant Not Entitled To More Than $445K In Attorney Fees

    MINNEAPOLIS — A disability plan participant is not entitled to more than $445,000 in attorney fees because the participant’s submissions in support of the requested amount are based on unreasonable hourly rates and unsupported time entries, a disability insurer says in its response to the participant’s motion for attorney fees filed in Minnesota federal court.

  • October 11, 2024

    LTD Benefits Owed Based On Fibromyalgia Diagnosis, Disability Claimant Says

    ATLANTA — In a complaint filed in Georgia federal court, a disability claimant alleges that her long-term disability (LTD) benefits were wrongfully denied and urges the court to find that she remains disabled under the disability plan as a result of a fibromyalgia diagnosis.

  • October 11, 2024

    Private Equity Firms Amend Federal Complaint Against D&O, Cyber Liability Insurer

    OMAHA, Neb.— Two private equity firms filed an amended complaint against their directors and officers and cyber liability insurer in a Nebraska federal court, seeking coverage for the alleged $2.8 million they lost when an imposter investor hacked a reserve account (Panorama Point Partners LLC, et al. v. Everest National Insurance Company, No. 24-393, D. Neb.).

  • October 11, 2024

    Insurer: Alleged Sexual Assaults Do Not Constitute Religious Expression Injury

    SEATTLE — A church’s insurer filed a declaratory judgment lawsuit in a Washington federal court, disputing coverage for an underlying claim alleging a minor was sexually assaulted on multiple occasions by the church’s deacon.

  • October 10, 2024

    California Bishop Amends Complaint, Seeks Insurance Coverage For Sex Abuse Suits

    SAN FRANCISCO — The Roman Catholic Bishop of Oakland, Calif., filed a fifth amended declaratory judgment and breach of statutory duty complaint in a California federal court against numerous insurers and the California Insurance Guarantee Association (CIGA), which the plaintiff believes assumed responsibilities for its now-insolvent insurer, seeking a declaratory judgment stating that the plaintiff is entitled to a defense and indemnity regarding covered claims for the more than 300 suits filed against it related to alleged clergy sexual abuse.

  • October 10, 2024

    Standing, Adequacy Of RICO Allegations Disputed In Reinsurer’s Lawsuit

    BROOKLYN, N.Y. — A New York federal judge has dismissed a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act lawsuit without prejudice against more than a dozen defendants that a reinsurer alleged took part in purportedly fraudulent workers’ compensation claims and personal injury lawsuits.

  • October 10, 2024

    9th Circuit Unseals Driver’s Brief Challenging GEICO’s ‘Unfair’ COVID-19 Rebates

    SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals unsealed a brief filed by a driver appealing a federal judge’s grant of summary judgment on her class action claim for violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) to GEICO for allegedly unfairly retaining an estimated $238 million in additional premium relief the driver says it owed insureds after the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • October 10, 2024

    Disability Claimant Appeals Any Occupation Standard Ruling To 11th Circuit

    ATLANTA — A disability claimant filed a notice of appeal to the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals following a Georgia federal judge’s finding that a disability insurer’s termination of long-term disability (LTD) benefits was not wrong because the claimant failed to meet her burden of proving that she is disabled under the plan’s any occupation standard.

  • October 10, 2024

    Bar Seeks 8th Circuit Reversal In Fire Damage Coverage Row, Cites Scope Of Actions

    MINNEAPOLIS — A corporation operating a bar and the former spouse of the bar’s prior owner, who pleaded guilty to arson for the fire that destroyed the bar, filed a reply brief in the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals urging the court to reverse a district court’s grant of summary judgment to the bar’s insurer upon finding that the arsonist’s false statements to defraud the insurer were imputed to the bar.

  • October 09, 2024

    Chemical Company: Insurer Withheld Full Value Of Business Interruption Loss

    BEAUMONT, Texas — A sustainable chemical company insured sued its insurer in a Texas federal court for breach of contract and declaratory judgment, seeking to obtain coverage for the full value of its business interruption loss caused by an explosion at a Texas plant.

  • October 08, 2024

    Coach Appeals Court’s Ruling That Sexual Abuse Claims Against Him Are Not Covered

    TACOMA, Wash. — An insured filed an appeal notice asking the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to review a Washington federal court’s finding that a homeowners insurer has no duty to defend or indemnify him for an underlying sexual abuse lawsuit, challenging the court’s finding that the underlying claims of intentional sexual abuse are not accidental and, as a result, do not constitute an “occurrence” to trigger policy coverage.

  • October 03, 2024

    Insurer Calls Motion ‘Self-Serving’ In $2M Life Policies Misrepresentation Row

    MACON, Ga. —  Pacific Life Insurance Co. filed a response brief in a Georgia federal court asking the court to deny a motion in limine filed by the beneficiary of two $1 million life insurance policies who is seeking to exclude evidence that the insurer would have issued the policies at a different premium had it known of the policy application misrepresentations.

  • October 02, 2024

    Insurer Seeks To Rescind Rider Of $200K Life Policy Over Health Misrepresentations

    CHICAGO — Transamerica Life Insurance Co. on Oct. 1 filed a complaint in an Illinois federal court against its insured and the owner of a $200,000 life insurance policy with a long-term care (LTC) rider after they submitted a claim for LTC benefits due to the insured’s degenerative brain disorder, seeking a declaratory judgment that the policy is rescinded due to the defendants’ alleged material misrepresentations regarding the insured’s treatment for cognitive disorders when medical records showed that he had undisclosed cognitive deficits resulting from a prior coma.

  • October 02, 2024

    Professional Insurer, Contractor Settle Cross-Claims In Mold Damage Coverage Suit

    LAS VEGAS — A professional liability insurer and a contractor filed a notice in a Nevada federal court indicating that they have settled their cross-claims in a mold and moisture damage coverage dispute.

  • October 01, 2024

    Insurer Seeks High Court’s Review Of 4th Circuit’s Ruling In Chemical Exposure Suit

    WASHINGTON D.C. — Review of a Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ ruling that an insurer has a duty to defend an insured for an underlying chemical exposure suit is warranted because the Fourth Circuit incorrectly determined that a duty to defend exists even though the underlying complaint fails to assert any covered claims, an insurer says in a petition for a writ of certiorari filed in the U.S. Supreme Court.

  • October 01, 2024

    Insurer Can Pursue Subrogation Against Engineering Firm, Illinois High Court Rules

    SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — The Illinois Supreme Court affirmed an appeal court’s reversal of a lower court’s grant of summary judgment to an engineering firm in a builders risk insurer’s suit seeking subrogation damages for the flooding of a Chicago college building under construction, agreeing with the appeals court that the trial court erred in finding that the insurer does not meet the prerequisites for equitable subrogation and concluding that none of the facts or provisions barred the insurer’s subrogation action against the engineer.

  • September 30, 2024

    Contractor Says Coverage Is Owed For Damages To Entirety Of Building

    CINCINNATI — A federal district court erred in refusing to find that coverage is owed for damages to the entirety of a building as a result of the collapse of some of the bricks from one of the building’s walls, the contractor says in an appellant reply brief filed in the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.