Newsletter RSS

Mealey's Insurance

  • March 24, 2026

    Insureds Failed To Show Pollution Suit Is Potentially Covered, Judge Says

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A California federal judge on March 23 denied a motion to dismiss or stay a declaratory judgment suit filed by insurers after determining that the insureds failed to show how an underlying suit alleging that the insureds unlawfully discharged pollutants into area waterways states, or could state, a covered claim that would require the insurers to defend the insureds.

  • 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 24, 2026

    Insurers Must File Amended Complaint To Establish Jurisdiction, Judge Says

    NEW ORLEANS — A Louisiana federal judge ordered intervening insurers in an asbestos exposure liability suit to file an amended complaint to properly establish subject matter jurisdiction over claims related to coverage for the owners of the vessels named in an underlying asbestos bodily injury suit.

  • March 19, 2026

    COMMENTARY: America 250: A History Of Insurance & Insurance Coverage Law & Litigation In The United States, Part 2

    By Scott M. Seaman, Pedro E. Hernandez and Peter J. Lewis  

  • 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 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 19, 2026

    Absolute Lead Exclusion Clearly Bars Coverage For Underlying Suit, Panel Says

    BROOKLYN, N.Y. — An absolute lead exclusion bars coverage for an underlying personal injury suit stemming from exposure to lead in an insured building, a panel of the Second Department New York Supreme Court Appellate Division said in affirming a trial court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the insurer.

  • March 19, 2026

    Insurer Showed Issues Of Fact Exist On Missing Reinsurance Agreements, Panel Says

    CHICAGO — The First District Illinois Appellate Court reversed a trial court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of a reinsurer after determining that issues of fact exist regarding the existence of the reinsurance agreement under which the insurer seeks reimbursement for costs related to its insured’s asbestos liabilities.

  • March 17, 2026

    Remediation Company’s Negligent Misrepresentation Claim Fails, Panel Says

    RICHMOND, Va. — An environmental remediation company’s negligent misrepresentation claim against an environmental impairment liability insurer’s third-party claims administrator and a claims adjuster employed by the administrator cannot proceed because the claims administrator and adjuster owed no duty of care under North Carolina law to the remediation company, the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said in affirming a district court’s dismissal of the suit.

  • March 17, 2026

    Insureds’ Water, Mold Damage Coverage Suit Must Be Remanded, Federal Judge Says

    LOS ANGELES — An insureds’ suit seeking coverage for water and mold damage in their home must be remanded to state court because complete diversity of citizenship does not exist as the insureds have stated a valid claim for misrepresentation against the claims adjuster, a nondiverse defendant, a California federal judge said in granting the insureds’ motion to remand.

  • March 16, 2026

    Pollution Exclusion Bars Coverage For Claims Related To EtO Discharges, Panel Says

    CHICAGO — Following the Illinois Supreme Court’s determination that a pollution exclusion can apply to exposure to the emissions of ethylene oxide from an insured facility, the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals reversed a district court’s ruling in favor of the insureds after determining that the pollution exclusion bars coverage for the claims asserted against them.

  • March 16, 2026

    Ark. Appellate Court Finds Contractor Not Insured Under Subcontractor’s Policy

    LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — An Arkansas Court of Appeals panel affirmed a lower court’s entry of summary judgment in favor of a subcontractor’s insurer, finding that a general contractor was not an additional insured under the policy and, therefore, the insurer owed no duty to defend or indemnify the general contractor in an underlying action for alleged faulty workmanship.

  • March 13, 2026

    COMMENTARY: America 250: A History Of Insurance And Insurance Coverage Law And Litigation In The United States, Part 1

    By Scott M. Seaman, Pedro E. Hernandez and Peter J. Lewis

  • March 12, 2026

    5th Circuit Finds No Error In Lower Court’s Refusal To Consider Expert Affidavit

    NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a Texas federal judge’s ruling that breach of contract and bad faith claims alleged against a homeowners insurer in a dispute over coverage for water damage must be dismissed because the lower court did not err in failing to consider a late-filed affidavit by the insureds’ public adjuster.

  • March 11, 2026

    Judge Grants Default, Finds Faulty Construction Occurred Before Policy Period

    EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. — A federal judge in Illinois granted an insurer’s motion for default judgment against its insured, finding that the insurer doesn’t owe a duty to defend its insured in an underlying case seeking damages in connection with property damage that allegedly stemmed from the insured’s faulty construction work because the alleged damages occurred before the policy period.

  • March 10, 2026

    No Coverage Owed For Oil Spill Remediation Costs, Federal Judge Determines

    NEW BERN, N.C. — An insured’s breach of contract and bad faith claims alleged against its insurer cannot proceed because the insured failed to provide notice of an oil spill within seven days as required by the policy, a North Carolina federal judge said in granting the insurer’s motion for summary judgment and denying the insured’s motion for summary judgment.

  • March 10, 2026

    Pollution Exclusion Bars Coverage For Contaminated Sugar, Insurer Maintains

    STOCKTON, Calif. — A commercial general liability insurer filed suit in California state court against its insured, maintaining that no coverage is owed to the insured for an underlying lawsuit stemming from refined sugar that was destroyed or contaminated following the death of an employee in a silo where the sugar was stored because the policy’s pollution exclusion bars coverage based on the underlying allegation that the insured allowed the decedent’s bodily fluids and disinfectants to come into contact with the sugar left in the silo.

  • March 10, 2026

    No Coverage For Suit Arising From Insured’s Alleged Toxic Hair Products, Judge Says

    NEWARK, N.J. — A New Jersey federal judge dismissed an insured’s complaint seeking coverage for an underlying class action alleging that the insured’s hair products contain harmful and unsafe toxins because the underlying suit does not seek damages caused by bodily injury or property damage as required for coverage to exist under the policies at issue.

  • March 10, 2026

    Insurers Say Avon Debtors’ Bankruptcy Plan Does Not Moot Their Appeal

    WILMINGTON, Del. — Insurers challenging the confirmation of the Chapter 11 plan of liquidation for asbestos talc debtor AIO US Inc. and the plan’s asbestos trust say in their reply brief on appeal in Delaware federal court that the trust and its advisory committee fail in their assertion that the appeal is “equitably moot” because the plan has taken effect.

  • March 10, 2026

    Panel Says Pesticide Was Product Of Insured, Affirms District Court’s Ruling

    PASADENA, Calif. — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a district court’s partial grant of summary judgment in favor of an insured, agreeing with the lower court’s finding that a pesticide used by the insured was the product of the insured because the insured’s technician handled the pesticide during application.

  • March 05, 2026

    Massachusetts Justice Says Insured’s Primary Policies Must Be Deemed Exhausted

    BOSTON — After determining that the term “exhausted” as used in excess insurance policies is ambiguous and must be construed in an insured’s favor, a Massachusetts justice said the excess policies provide coverage for underlying asbestos claims as the insured’s primary insurance must be deemed exhausted based on the primary insurer’s insolvency.

  • March 03, 2026

    Federal Judge Says Abstention Warranted In Insurer’s Asbestos Adversary Proceeding

    RICHMOND, Va. — A Virginia federal judge granted a debtor insured’s motion to abstain from exercising jurisdiction over an insurer’s adversary proceeding, which seeks a declaration that no additional coverage is owed to the insured for thousands of asbestos liability claims, after determining that questions of state law weigh in favor of abstention.

  • March 03, 2026

    Insured’s Breach Of Contract Claim In Asbestos Dispute Should Proceed, Panel Says

    CINCINNATI — The Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals vacated and remanded a district court’s decision to grant a motion to dismiss an insured’s amended complaint seeking coverage for underlying asbestos liabilities, determining that the insured adequately states a claim for breach of contract.

  • March 03, 2026

    Broken Glass Counts As A Pollutant, New Jersey Federal Judge Determines

    NEWARK, N.J. — An insurer’s motion to dismiss must be denied because the insurer failed to meet its burden of showing that broken glass discovered on a school’s athletic field is not a pollutant and that no coverage is afforded for repairing the school’s field under the policy’s provision that covers expenses to extract pollutants from school land, a New Jersey federal judge said after determining that “the balance of authority tilts in favor of the conclusion” that a solid substance, such as glass, counts as a pollutant.

  • February 26, 2026

    Insurers’ Appeal Of Avon Debtors’ Bankruptcy Plan Moot, Trust Officials Say

    WILMINGTON, Del. — The confirmed Chapter 11 plan of liquidation for asbestos talc debtor AIO US Inc. has taken effect, and an asbestos trust under the plan has been established and funded, so challenges to the plan by insurers in their plan confirmation appeal in Delaware federal court are “equitably moot,” the trust and its advisory committee argue in their appellee brief.