Newsletter RSS

Mealey's Insurance Pleadings

  • April 14, 2026

    Risk Pool Operator Voluntarily Dismisses Coverage Suit Tied To Abuse Case

    NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Three weeks after a reinsurer moved for dismissal on subject matter jurisdiction grounds, a municipal risk pool operator voluntarily dismissed with prejudice its declaratory judgment actionin which it sought reinsurance coverage for claims arising from an underlying lawsuit alleging sexual abuse by a school employee and negligent supervision by a board of education.

  • April 14, 2026

    Parties Submit Joint Status Report In SEC Fraud Dispute With Insurance Mogul

    WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Pursuant to a North Carolina federal court order staying the case until sentencings in related criminal proceedings, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, insurance mogul Greg Lindberg, his advisory services company and its former executive filed a joint status report in the SEC’s suit accusing Lindberg and related parties of defrauding clients out of more than $75 million.

  • April 14, 2026

    Insurer Seeks Review Of Delaware Court’s Ruling As To ‘Public Offering’ Exclusion

    WILMINGTON, Del.— An insurer filed an application for certification of interlocutory appeal of a Delaware court’s grant of partial summary judgment in favor of a technology company insured in its breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit seeking coverage for an underlying securities class action and a Securities Exchange Commission lawsuit arising from a merger between a privately held company and a special purpose acquisition company, challenging the lower court’s holding that its interpretation of the policy’s “public offering” exclusion blurs the line between parent and subsidiary and “would undermine the narrow function of insurance exclusions.”

  • April 13, 2026

    Captive Insurance Firm Seeks Refund Of Allegedly Erroneous IRS Promoter Penalties

    SHERMAN, Texas — A tax firm filed an amended complaint in a Texas federal court, seeking to recover refunds and invalidate the Internal Revenue Service’s assessment and collection of promoter penalties based on its captive insurance advisory work, including divisible amounts it paid and additional sums the agency allegedly offset and misapplied to those penalties.

  • April 13, 2026

    5th Circuit Panel Affirms In Part, Revives Reinsurance Breach Of Contract Claim

    NEW ORLEANS — A Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed in part, reversed in part and remanded a Texas federal court’s ruling dismissing a breach of contract claim arising from the Vesttoo Ltd. collapse that covers three sections of a reinsurance intermediary authorization agreement (RIAA), holding that while the RIAA imposed no duty on a reinsurance broker to procure collateral documentation or comply with Texas insurance laws, a homeowners insurer plausibly alleged postplacement breaches of the broker’s administrative obligations, which the panel found ambiguous and not resolvable at the pleading stage.

  • April 10, 2026

    Reinsurer Removes Coverage Dispute Tied To Asbestos Claims To Federal Court

    CONCORD, N.H. — A reinsurer removed to New Hampshire federal court on diversity  jurisdiction grounds an amended suit brought by an insurer that ceded risk and alleges the reinsurer failed to pay more than $1.1 million under facultative reinsurance certificates tied to decades of asbestos-related claims against a valve manufacturer.

  • April 09, 2026

    Insurer Says Judge Erred In Finding Noncumulation Provision Does Not Reduce Payments

    PITTSBURGH — A Pennsylvania federal judge erred in determining that the limits of an insurer’s policy, issued in 1985, were not reduced by payments made under a 1977 policy because every asbestos claim that was paid under the 1977 policy was also payable under the 1985 policy, the insurer says in a motion for reconsideration.

  • April 09, 2026

    Appellant Seeks 2nd Circuit Revival Of ‘Combined Period’ Disability Benefits Case

    NEW YORK — Arguing that a residual disability provision used to terminate his benefits at age 65 is ambiguous and that he “plausibly alleged a reasonable alternative reading of the Policies” under which he would be entitled to lifetime benefits, a dentist filed an opening brief urging the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to reverse dismissal of a suit in which he asserted claims for breach of contract and breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing.

  • April 08, 2026

    Government Claims Successive Motions Are Improper In $6.5M Tax Shelter Dispute

    PITTSBURGH — The U.S. government urged a Pennsylvania federal court to reject a Pittsburgh-based corporation’s renewed bid for summary judgment and dismissal of the government’s counterclaim seeking to enforce more than $6.5 million in promoter penalties tied to the company’s administration of a purported captive insurance program, arguing that the motions are procedurally barred and that binding precedent forecloses the corporation’s Seventh Amendment challenge to the Internal Revenue Code’s prepayment and administrative assessment structure.

  • April 06, 2026

    Insurer Appeals Ruling In Coverage Dispute Arising From 11 Human Trafficking Suits

    COLUMBUS, Ohio — A general liability insurer told an Ohio federal court on April 3 that it is appealing the court’s grant of insured hotel companies’ motion for partial judgment on the pleadings and denial of its cross-motion for partial judgment on the pleadings in the insureds’ breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit alleging that it arbitrarily and capriciously denied coverage for 11 underlying lawsuits alleging that human trafficking occurred at various Red Roof hotels, challenging the court’s holding that the underlying lawsuits constitute an “occurrence” under the policy and that the doctrine of inferred intent and Ohio's public policy do not preclude coverage.

  • April 06, 2026

    Judge Failed To Address California Case Law On Pollution Exclusion, Insurer Says

    LOS ANGELES — Reconsideration of a California federal judge’s finding that an insurer has a duty to defend its insured for underlying silica bodily injury suits is warranted because the judge failed to address controlling California authority that is relevant to the application of a total pollution exclusion in the insurer’s policies as opposed to an absolute pollution exclusion, the insurer contends in a motion to reconsider.

  • April 03, 2026

    Allstate Dismisses DoorDash From Coverage Suit Arising From Wrongful Death Claims

    SEATTLE — A commercial automobile insurer on April 2 voluntarily dismissed DoorDash Inc. from the insurer’s lawsuit asking a Washington federal court to declare that it has no duty to defend or indemnify for an underlying wrongful death action alleging that its insured fatally shot a man while he was driving his vehicle as a paid delivery driver, noting that DoorDash has stipulated that it is not a covered entity under the Allstate policy.

  • April 03, 2026

    Insurer Seeks To Rescind Commercial Policies Over ‘Material Misrepresentations’

    BROOKLYN, N.Y. — A commercial general liability insurer filed a declaratory judgment suit in a New York federal court against its insured, seeking to rescind two commercial policies and asking the court to declare that it does not owe a duty to defend or indemnify the insured or anyone else involved in any underlying litigation related to the construction of sidewalk sheds due to the insured’s purported misrepresentations in insurance applications regarding the type of work it does.

  • April 01, 2026

    Insurers Deny Liability In Reinsurance Coverage Dispute Over School Abuse Claims

    BURLINGTON, Vt. — Two insurers filed answers in a Vermont federal court to a captive insurer’s complaint alleging they breached reinsurance agreements and acted in bad faith by refusing to reimburse tens of millions of dollars in defense costs and settlement payments tied to lawsuits over alleged abuse and neglect at a West Virginia boarding school.

  • April 01, 2026

    Insurer Seeks Default Judgment Against Boat Crew Member In Policy Rescission Suit

    KEY WEST, Fla. — One day after a Florida federal judge issued an order regarding the procedure to file for default final judgment, a general liability insurer on March 31 filed a motion for default final judgment against a boat crew member in the insurer’s suit seeking a policy rescission for alleged material misrepresentations in a policy renewal application and a declaration that it does not have a duty to defend or indemnify in an underlying negligence action related to a parasailing accident.

  • March 30, 2026

    Insurer Says No Coverage Owed For Underlying Silica Exposure Lawsuits

    LOS ANGELES — No coverage is owed to an insured for underlying bodily injury lawsuits stemming from exposure to silica dust created by the cutting of stone countertops because the claims alleged in the underlying suits are barred by the policies’ employer’s liability exclusion and pollution exclusion, the insurer says in a complaint filed in California federal court.

  • March 27, 2026

    Reinsurer Moves To Dismiss Coverage Suit Tied To Underlying Abuse Case

    NEW HAVEN, Conn. — A reinsurer moved in Connecticut federal court to dismiss a declaratory judgment action brought by a municipal risk pool operator seeking coverage for claims arising from an underlying lawsuit alleging sexual abuse by a school employee and negligent supervision by a board of education, arguing that the dispute is premature and nonjusticiable because any indemnity obligation depends on unresolved liability and contingent future payments.

  • March 27, 2026

    Homeowners Sue California FAIR Plan Association Over Wildfire Claim Handling

    LOS ANGELES — Joining a wave of lawsuits alleging that the California FAIR Plan Association (CFPA) improperly processes wildfire-related property insurance claims related to the 2025 Eaton and Palisades wildfires, two individuals who own a residential property filed a complaint in a California state court alleging that CFPA underpaid and mishandled their claim through unlawful claims practices.

  • March 24, 2026

    Insurer Owes Duty To Defend Insured In Underlying Silica Suits, Judge Says

    LOS ANGELES — An insurer has a duty to defend its insured for underlying bodily injury suits filed against the insured stemming from silica dust exposure from the insured’s products because the insurer failed to meet its burden of showing that the underlying suits are barred by the pollution exclusion included in primary and excess policies, a California federal judge said in denying the insurer’s motion for summary judgment and granting the insured’s motion for summary judgment.

  • March 23, 2026

    Judge Rules For Hotels In Coverage Dispute Arising From 11 Human Trafficking Suits

    COLUMBUS, Ohio — A federal judge in Ohio granted insured hotel companies’ motion for partial judgment on the pleadings and denied their general liability insurer’s cross-motion for partial judgment on the pleadings in the insureds’ breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit alleging that the insurer arbitrarily and capriciously denied coverage for 11 underlying lawsuits alleging that human trafficking occurred at various Red Roof hotels, holding that the underlying lawsuits constitute an "occurrence” under the policy and that the doctrine of inferred intent and Ohio's public policy do not preclude coverage.

  • March 23, 2026

    Duty-To-Indemnify Claim In Exposure Coverage Suit Must Be Dismissed, Insured Says

    BATON ROUGE, La. — An insured, which is named in underlying mercury bodily injury suits stemming from the decommissioning of a chemical plant, says its insurer’s claim seeking a declaration that it owes no duty to indemnify must be dismissed because a determination on the duty to indemnify cannot be made until after the underlying suits are resolved.

  • March 23, 2026

    LTD Claimant Files 7th Circuit Appeal In ‘Regular Care’ Provision Case

    CHICAGO — A former Whole Foods worker who said he had to stop working because of back pain has gone to the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to challenge a ruling that upheld termination of his long-term disability (LTD) benefits on the grounds that he didn’t show “that he was under the ‘regular care of a physician’ as is required under the Plan.”

  • March 20, 2026

    Insurer: Judge Should Reject Developer’s Fee Calculations In Coverage Dispute

    LOS ANGELES —A general liability insurer filed a reply in support of its motion for reconsideration asking a federal judge in California to reconsider his grant of summary judgment to developers in the developers’ case seeking coverage for construction defects, arguing that the judge should reject the developer’s faulty fee calculations.

  • March 20, 2026

    Amici Associations: District Court Erred Finding Collusion In Defect Coverage Case

    DENVER —  Three associations filed an amicus curiae brief in the 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in support of a townhome management company’s appeal of a lower court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of a contractor’s insurer in the company’s case against the insurer for coverage of construction defects and alleging bad faith, arguing that the lower court ignored case law surrounding the purpose of Nunn agreements.

  • March 20, 2026

    Insurer Asks 9th Circuit To Find Claim For Rescission Not Time-Barred

    SAN FRANCISCO — In its opening brief in the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, an insurance company argues the appellate court should enter summary judgment on its behalf in its case against a general contractor and find that its claim for rescission of the general contractor’s policies was not time-barred.