Mealey's Insurance Pleadings

  • May 22, 2026

    Subcontractor Seeks To Dismiss General Contractor’s Negligence Claim

    FORT MYERS, Fla. — A subcontractor moved in Florida federal court to dismiss a negligence claim a general contractor brought against it in a third-party complaint regarding damage from roofing repairs the subcontractor performed; the third-party complaint is part of a claims dispute suit the general contractor filed against its commercial general liability insurer over coverage for the roof damage.

  • May 22, 2026

    Contractor’s Insurer: Court Should Find Subcontractor’s Insurer Owed Defense Costs

    SAN FRANCISCO — A general contractor’s insurer urged the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to reverse a lower court’s judgment in favor of a subcontractor’s insurer, arguing that because the general contractor is an additional insured under the subcontractor’s policy, the subcontractor’s insurer had a duty to defend the contractor in an underlying suit against the contractor for damages allegedly caused by the subcontractor’s work.

  • May 22, 2026

    11th Circuit Sets Argument In LTD Benefits Case Involving Tax Returns

    ATLANTA — The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has scheduled oral argument for June 26 in a dispute over long-term disability (LTD) benefits that involves interpretation of the term “work,” whether passive income counts as earnings and what constitutes sufficient proof of disability; in the challenged ruling, a federal judge granted summary judgment in favor of the insurer, sustaining its objections to a report and recommendation in favor of the claimant and adopting only the parts it didn’t object to.

  • May 22, 2026

    Construction Manager: Lower Court Misinterpreted Course Of Construction Exclusion

    SAN FRANCISCO — A construction manager says that the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals should reverse a lower court judge’s order granting its insurers’ motion for summary judgment, arguing that the judge misinterpreted the meaning of the phrase “during the course of construction” in its policy’s course of construction exclusion (COCE) when the judge concluded that the insurers owed no duty to defend the construction manager in an underlying case regarding issues with the laying of concrete flooring.

  • May 22, 2026

    Subcontractor Seeks Enforcement Of Settlement With Insurer Over Faulty Workmanship

    NEW ORLEANS — A subcontractor asked a federal judge in Louisiana to enforce a settlement agreement between the subcontractor and the insurer that sued it as subrogee for a general contractor for damages the insurer alleged were caused by the subcontractor’s faulty workmanship; the subcontractor said the parties could not agree on certain provisions of the $499,000 settlement.

  • May 21, 2026

    LTD Insurer Urges 2nd Circuit To Affirm Ruling That Followed Hearing

    NEW YORK — Urging the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to affirm denial of long-term disability (LTD) benefits for a corporate finance attorney who claimed that she became unable to do her job after her vehicle was rear-ended at a traffic light, the LTD insurer argued that the trial court’s ruling was correct and noted that the judge said he would have reached the same result even under the de novo review that the claimant contends was required.

  • May 21, 2026

    Contractor Argues Allegations Give Rise To Potential Coverage Of Underlying Case

    ORLANDO, Fla. — A general contractor argues that allegations in an underlying action over work done on an apartment building potentially give rise to coverage under policies issued by a commercial general liability insurer to the apartment building owner, urging a federal court in Florida to deny the insurer’s renewed motion for summary judgment.

  • May 21, 2026

    Insurer, Construction Company File Stipulation Of Dismissal After Settlement

    BOISE, Idaho — After reaching a settlement in February following a judge’s dismissal of bad faith counterclaims filed by a construction company and seller of property, the parties to a coverage dispute over fire damage that occurred after a construction worker discarded oil-soaked rags filed a stipulation of dismissal in Idaho federal court.

  • May 21, 2026

    2nd Circuit Briefing Wraps Up In ‘Combined Period’ Disability Benefits Case

    NEW YORK — Briefing before the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has concluded in a disability benefits appeal centered on a residual disability provision, with the appellees arguing in their answering brief that the trial court correctly concluded that the provision was not ambiguous and permitted termination of the benefits at age 65, and the beneficiary contending in his reply brief that the parties’ “competing interpretations demonstrate that the Provision is susceptible to more than one reasonable meaning, which is sufficient to establish ambiguity under New York law.”

  • May 21, 2026

    Homeowners Argue Insurer, Lower Court Wrong To Find No Claims Without Indemnity

    SAN FRANCISCO — In a reply brief filed in the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, homeowners argue that an insurer in its appellee brief repeats a lower court’s structural error: “no indemnity, therefore no other claims”; the homeowners say that once a developer tendered its complaint, which triggered the duty to defend, the insurer was required to perform claim-handling obligations.

  • May 21, 2026

    FIGA: Court Should Strike Entitlement To Attorney Fees In Hurricane Coverage Suit

    SARASOTA, Fla. — The Florida Insurance Guaranty Association (FIGA) moved to strike homeowners’ claim for attorney fees in Florida state court in their breach of contract dispute with FIGA over its alleged failure to cover damage caused by Hurricane Ian, asserting in part that attorney fees are not a covered claim for which FIGA must make payment.

  • May 20, 2026

    FIGA Appeals Order Denying Entitlement To Attorney Fees In Water Coverage Dispute

    MIAMI — The Florida Insurance Guaranty Association (FIGA) filed a notice of appeal in a Florida appellate court of a lower court order denying its motion for entitlement to attorney fees in a dispute with a condominium association over FIGA’s alleged failure to cover water damage.

  • May 19, 2026

    Insured Seeks To Stay Silica Coverage Suit Until Underlying Suits Are Resolved

    LOS ANGELES — An insured filed a motion to stay its silica coverage suit pending in California federal court until the underlying silica bodily injury suits are resolved, noting that a stay would prevent the insured from having to litigate on two fronts.

  • May 19, 2026

    Insurer Moves To Stay Contamination Coverage Suit Until State Court Issues Ruling

    SEATTLE — An insurer says an insured’s suit seeking coverage for environmental contamination at a gas station formerly operated by the insured should be stayed until a trial court issues a ruling on a motion to confirm the intended scope of relief because the state trial court’s ruling can help guide the disposition of the insured’s federal court suit.

  • May 15, 2026

    Operators Of Denny’s Franchises Seek CGL Coverage For Settlement Of Labor Suit

    SEATTLE — The operators of three Denny’s franchises and their executive officer and director sued their primary and excess commercial general liability insurers in a Washington federal court for breach of contract, bad faith, declaratory relief and violations of Washington’s Insurance Fair Conduct Act and Consumer Protection Act, alleging that they had to fund the defense and $425,000 resolution of an underlying wage-and-hour class action after the insurers walked away from the mediation.

  • May 15, 2026

    Reinsurer Disputes Billing On $31M Environmental Pollution Guaranty Settlement

    CLEVELAND — A reinsurer seeks a declaration in an Ohio federal court that it has no obligation under facultative reinsurance certificates to reimburse an insurer for a $31 million guaranty settlement paid in an environmental coverage dispute over remediation costs at a Kentucky aerospace manufacturing site.

  • May 15, 2026

    Cosmetic Company, Insurer Conditionally Settle Consumer Fraud Coverage Dispute

    LOS ANGELES — A cosmetic company insured and its commercial general liability insurer told a California federal court that they have reached a conditional settlement of the insured’s action seeking coverage for three underlying putative class action lawsuits alleging that the company deceptively sold beauty products by failing to disclose the dangerous risks and side effects of lash enhancement serums’ “key ingredient.”

  • May 13, 2026

    Food Processor Appeals Confirmation Of Reinsurance Arbitration Award

    NEW YORK — A food-processing company filed a notice of appeal in a New York federal court, appealing to the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals the New York court’s denial of its petition to vacate a confidential reinsurance arbitration award and grant of a reinsurer’s cross-motion to confirm the award in a dispute arising from a fire at a poultry rendering facility in Alabama.

  • May 12, 2026

    Panel’s Ruling Conflicts With Prior Decision In Contamination Dispute, Insurer Says

    SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals should grant a petition for panel or en banc rehearing in a dispute over coverage for environmental contamination remediation costs because the panel’s finding that an annual aggregate limit provision in the umbrella liability insurer’s policies is ambiguous conflicts with a prior decision issued by the Ninth Circuit, the insurer says in its petition.

  • May 11, 2026

    Interlocutory Appeal In Silica Exposure Coverage Suit Warranted, Insurers Say

    LOS ANGELES — An interlocutory appeal is warranted in a silica exposure coverage suit because a California federal judge’s order denying a motion for judgment on the pleadings filed by the insurers involves questions of law regarding the scope and application of silica exclusions in the insurers’ policies, the insurers say in a motion for certification of interlocutory appeal.

  • May 08, 2026

    Assignee’s Bad Faith Lawsuit Over $3.2M Consent Judgment Will Proceed To Mediation

    WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — The assignee of a stable owner insured notified a Florida federal court that its recently reopened bad faith lawsuit seeking to recover from an insurer a $3.2 million consent judgment arising from the settlement of an underlying fraud action will proceed to mediation later this year.

  • May 08, 2026

    Reinsurer Argues That Related Arbitration Rulings Undercut Vacatur Petition

    NEW YORK — A reinsurer filed a notice of supplemental authority urging a New York federal court to confirm two arbitration awards and reject an intergovernmental risk pool’s Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) vacatur challenge, arguing that recent reinsurance arbitration rulings involving comparable arbitration provisions held that arbitral reliance on insurance and reinsurance custom and practice, rather than rules of law, does not establish a basis for vacatur.

  • May 08, 2026

    Insurers Say Pollution Exclusion Bars Coverage For Contamination Suit

    PITTSBURGH — No coverage is owed to an insured for an underlying environmental contamination suit filed against it because the underlying claims are barred by the pollution exclusion included in primary and excess policies, the insurers maintain in a complaint filed in Pennsylvania federal court.

  • May 08, 2026

    Pollution Exclusion Bars Coverage For Violation Notice, Insurers Say In Complaint

    CHICAGO — No coverage is owed under primary and umbrella policies for a state environmental agency’s notice of violation because the policies’ pollution exclusion bars coverage, two insurers say in a complaint filed in Illinois federal court.

  • May 06, 2026

    California Department Of Insurance Accuses Insurer Of 432 Claims Handling Violations

    OAKLAND, Calif. — The California Department of Insurance accused an insurer of 432 violations following an examination and investigation into its handling of claims arising from the Eaton and Palisades fires in Los Angeles County and ordered the insurer to show cause why it should not have to pay a monetary penalty under California Insurance Code Section 790.035 for its unfair claims settlement practices.