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Mealey's Insurance Pleadings

  • February 06, 2026

    Nursing Home Seeks Full Professional Liability Limits For ‘Killer Nurse’ Suits

    PITTSBURGH — A nursing home insured sued its insurer in a Pennsylvania federal court seeking a declaration that its full professional liability coverage is owed for underlying lawsuits arising from the alleged murder of six patients by a nursing home employee who pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree murder and 19 counts of criminal attempt to commit murder, arguing that the insurer unreasonably determined that the underlying actions constitute Medical Care Availability and Reduction of Error (MCARE) claims, which reduces the available coverage from $1 million per claim and $3 million in the aggregate to $500,000 per claim and $1.5 million in the aggregate.

  • February 05, 2026

    Insured Files Appeal, Says Coverage Owed Under Professional Liability Policy

    EL PASO, Texas — A trial court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of a professional liability insurer because an underlying suit filed against an insured attorney contains potentially covered claims, the insured says in an appellant brief filed in the Eighth Texas Court of Appeals.

  • February 04, 2026

    IRS Maintains That Captive Final Rule Was Based On Data And Prior Litigation

    DALLAS — Stating that “micro-captives can and have been used repeatedly for tax avoidance,” the Internal Revenue Service moved for summary judgment in a tax firm’s challenge to a final rule on microcaptive insurance arrangements, asserting that the factors used in identifying potential avoidance schemes were based on data and prior litigation and that the tax firm conflates disclosure requirements with disallowance.

  • February 03, 2026

    Confirmation Of Arbitration Award Sought After Reinsurance Contract Violation

    OKLAHOMA CITY — An insurer requests an order in an Oklahoma federal court confirming an arbitration award that directs a California-based corporation to post nearly $15 million in collateral after an arbitration panel determined that the corporation failed to comply with an obligation set forth in a quota share reinsurance agreement (QSRA) between the parties to provide reinsurance security.

  • February 03, 2026

    Insurer Says Pollution Exclusion Bars Coverage For Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Suit

    EL PASO, Texas — A commercial general liability insurer filed suit in Texas federal court, seeking a declaration that it does not have any duty to defend or indemnify its insureds in an underlying suit stemming from carbon monoxide poisoning at an insured motel because the policy’s pollution exclusion bars coverage.

  • February 02, 2026

    Insurer Says No Defense, Indemnity Owed For Suits Arising From Fatal Shootings

    SAN FRANCISCO — An insurer filed suit in a California federal court seeking a declaration that it has no duty to defend or indemnify its insureds against underlying actions arising from a fatal shooting spree, arguing that the purported shootings and resulting injuries occurred at or arose from operations at a location that is not listed as a described insured premises in the businessowners insurance policy and that the commercial umbrella insurance policy’s abuse and molestation exclusion bars coverage.

  • January 30, 2026

    Defendants Seek Dismissal Of Federal Crop Insurance Suit Alleging Program Fraud

    RALEIGH, N.C. —  An agricultural operator and several of his family members moved in a North Carolina federal court to dismiss a False Claims Act (FCA) suit alleging a coordinated scheme to defraud federally reinsured crop insurance programs through straw producers, yield shifting and misreported acreage, arguing that the government failed to plead with particularity the submission of any false claims for payment, improperly treated eligibility and insurance documents as actionable claims, asserted time-barred causes of action and did not adequately allege individualized participation supporting liability.

  • January 30, 2026

    Insurance Firms Sue Ex-Executive, Engineers Over Reinsurance Trade Secrets

    WILMINGTON, Del. — A group of insurance technology companies filed a complaint in a Delaware state court accusing former executives and engineers of misappropriating trade secrets, breaching fiduciary duties and contracts and conspiring with a program manager to launch a reinsurance and captive insurance company using confidential regulatory, program structure and market strategy information obtained during their employment.

  • January 29, 2026

    PHL Policyholders Move For Emergency Intervention Following Liquidation Notice

    WATERBURY, Conn. — A group of over-the-cap universal life insurance policyholders (UL policyholders) filed an emergency motion in a Connecticut state court to intervene in the rehabilitation of PHL Variable Insurance Co., arguing that they were required to continue paying premiums in reliance on repeated assurances of a forthcoming rehabilitation plan before the rehabilitator reported that liquidation was necessary, leaving their policies subject only to guaranty association limits.

  • January 27, 2026

    Contractor’s Insurer Sues For Declaratory Relief From Subcontractors’ Insurers

    LOS ANGELES — A general contractor’s insurer filed an action for declaratory relief and equitable indemnity and/or equitable contribution against subcontractors’ insurers in an underlying action brought by the owner of residential property alleging that construction defects caused damage to the property, arguing that none of the subcontractors’ insurers contributed to the general contractor’s defense as an additional insured under the subcontractors’ policies.

  • January 27, 2026

    Insurer, Hotel File Briefs On Jurisdiction In Sex Trafficking Coverage Suit

    ATLANTA — Three days after a commercial general liability insurer filed a supplemental brief to address whether a lower federal court’s declaration that it has a duty to defend against an underlying sex trafficking lawsuit is appealable, the hotel operator insured filed its own supplemental brief arguing to the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that it is not.

  • January 26, 2026

    Parties Dismiss 1 Insurer In Maui Wildfire Coverage Dispute 5 Days Before Trial

    MAUI, Hawaii — Five days before their scheduled trial, parties asked a Hawaii court to dismiss with prejudice all claims against one of the defendant insurers in the insureds’ bad faith action alleging that the insurers’ subrogation lawsuit seeking to recover compensation for the payments that they made to victims of the Aug. 8, 2023, Maui wildfires is “unfair, inequitable, and unlawful” because they “seek to take money away from their premium-paying insureds who are the real victims of the Maui Wildfires without showing that these victims have been fully compensated.”

  • January 26, 2026

    Review Of NRA’s Petition In Free Speech Suit Over Insurance Program Rescheduled

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Two weeks after The National Rifle Association of America filed a reply in support of its petition seeking high court review of the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ holding that a former superintendent of the New York department that regulates insurance is entitled to qualified immunity on the NRA’s First Amendment coercion and retaliation claims against New York state officials and the department, the U.S. Supreme Court rescheduled its distribution of the petition for conference.

  • January 23, 2026

    Insurer Files New Amended Complaint Against Parties To Construction Dispute

    ORLANDO, Fla. — After its first amended complaint against an apartment building owner, general contractor and several subcontractors was dismissed for a lack of clarity, an insurer filed a second amended complaint, bringing specific claims against each, arguing that it owed none of the defendants a duty to defend or indemnify in an underlying action stemming from allegedly faulty workmanship.

  • January 23, 2026

    Judge Dismisses Case After Settlement Reached in Microtunneling Defense Dispute

    SEATTLE — A federal judge in Washington granted a subcontractor and its insurer’s stipulation and proposed order of dismissal after the parties had notified the court that they had reached a settlement in a case brought by the subcontractor alleging that the insurer failed to defend it against a counterclaim in an underlying suit arising out of the subcontractor’s microtunneling work for a water project in Seattle.

  • January 23, 2026

    Coverage Denial For Mold Suits Was Bad Faith, Insureds Allege In Complaint

    PHILADELPHIA — Pollution liability and commercial general liability insurers of the owner and operator of military housing projects throughout the country acted in bad faith by denying coverage for underlying suits filed against the insureds by families who were injured by mold exposure in insured military housing units, the insureds say in a complaint filed in Pennsylvania federal court.

  • January 23, 2026

    Concrete Paver Company, Insurer Dispute Whether Insurer Owed Duty To Defend

    TAMPA, Fla. — A concrete paver company and a commercial general liability insurer filed replies to their cross-motions for summary judgment in an action brought by the concrete paver alleging that the insurer breached their contract by not defending it in an arbitration regarding defective pavers; the company argues that “the duty to defend applies so long as there is any potential for coverage,” while the insurer argues that there was no “occurrence” as required to trigger coverage.

  • January 23, 2026

    Pet Rescue Company Seeks Summary Judgment In Suit Over Faulty Plumbing Coverage

    SEATTLE — A pet rescue company filed a motion for summary judgment in federal court in Washington in a case it brought against its plumber’s insurers, seeking garnishment of the plumber’s policies to cover damages caused by the plumber’s faulty work.

  • January 22, 2026

    Contractor, Subcontractor Appeal Finding Insurer Owed No Duty To Indemnify

    PENSACOLA, Fla. — A contractor and subcontractor appealed to the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals a federal judge in Florida’s order finding that the subcontractor’s insurer owed no duty to indemnify the subcontractor or the contractor that hired it for damages owed after the U.S. Navy found defects in renovations the contractor, subcontractor and other subcontractors did on two buildings at the naval air station in Pensacola.

  • January 21, 2026

    GE, Others Say PCB Injury Indemnification Lawsuit Belongs In Federal Court

    ST. LOUIS — General Electric Co., along with other defendants, on Jan. 20 filed a supplemental memorandum in Missouri federal court arguing that Monsanto Co.’s motion to remand to Missouri state court the lawsuit it brought seeking indemnification for litigation related to alleged injuries from exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) should be denied because federal officer removal jurisdiction applies.

  • January 21, 2026

    Grain Production Firm Appeals Judgment Order In Defective Bin Coverage Dispute

    INDIANAPOLIS — On Jan. 20, a grain production firm appealed to the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals a federal judge in Indiana’s order vacating trial and entering final judgment in a case brought by a grain equipment company’s insurer against the grain equipment company and grain production firm regarding losses for the repair and replacement of leaky grain storage bins.

  • January 20, 2026

    Insurer: Judge Should Dismiss Subcontractor’s Remaining Claims

    LAS VEGAS — After a federal judge in Nevada granted partial summary judgment in favor of an insurer in a subcontractor’s action against it because the construction defect-related claims were not covered because the subcontractor was not an additional insured under the policy, the insurer filed a supplemental brief arguing that the remaining claims fail for the same reason.

  • January 20, 2026

    Homebuilder Argues Judge Wrong To Find No Coverage For Arbitration Award

    NEW ORLEANS — In its opening brief in the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, a homebuilder argues that a federal judge in Texas was wrong to grant summary judgment in favor of the builder’s commercial liability insurer in its suit seeking indemnification for an arbitration award for damages caused by construction defects in a home it built; it argues that the lower court abused its discretion in finding that no coverage existed under the policy.

  • January 20, 2026

    Insured Says Property Insurer Acted In Bad Faith By Relying On Pollution Exclusion

    DENVER — A property insurer breached its contract and acted in bad faith by relying on its policy’s pollution exclusion to deny a portion of an insured’s claim for damages caused by the release of asbestos during a fire in a nearby condominium unit, an insured maintains in a lawsuit filed in Colorado federal court.

  • January 16, 2026

    Homeowners: 9th Circuit Broke Precedent Finding No Coverage For Faulty Work

    SEATTLE — A group of homeowners filed a petition for rehearing and rehearing en banc on Jan. 15 in the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, arguing that a Ninth Circuit panel broke with precedent in finding that coverage for a development company from claims of faulty work brought by the homeowners is barred by a policy exclusion related to the construction of tract housing.