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Mealey's Insurance

  • 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.

  • February 25, 2026

    Texas Federal Judge Finds Most Of Insured’s Claims Stand In Payment Dispute

    DALLAS — A federal judge in Texas, in partially denying an insurance carrier’s motion for summary judgment, ruled that breach of contract and Texas insurance law claims that a homeowner brought against his insurer regarding coverage of damages after a pipe burst will survive but that a common-law bad faith claim will be dismissed.

  • February 24, 2026

    Insurer Files New Motion For Reconsideration In Water Damage Coverage Dispute

    LOS ANGELES — A general liability insurer filed a new motion asking a federal judge in California to reconsider his grant of summary judgment to developers on their declaratory judgment and breach of contract claims against the insurer after the judge issued docket-only orders striking the insurer’s earlier motions for reconsideration.

  • February 24, 2026

    Ohio Law Governs; Asbestos Claims Constitute Multiple Occurrences, Panel Says

    LIMA, Ohio — A trial court properly found that Ohio law governs three primary policies issued to an insured and that under Ohio law, underlying asbestos bodily injury suits constitute multiple occurrences rather than a single occurrence, the Third District Ohio Court of Appeals said in affirming the trial court’s judgment in favor of the insured.

  • February 24, 2026

    Duty-To-Indemnify Claim Is Unripe, Chemical Facility Operator, Contractor Say

    BATON ROUGE, La. — An insurer’s claim seeking a declaration that it owes no duty to indemnify its insured and others named in underlying mercury exposure bodily injury suits stemming from the decommissioning of a chemical plant should be dismissed or stayed until the underlying suits are resolved because questions pertaining to the insurer’s duty to indemnify are unripe, the operator of the chemical facility and a contractor, both of which seek coverage under the insured’s policies, say in response to the insured’s motion to dismiss.

  • February 24, 2026

    Pollution Exclusion Does Not Bar Coverage For Herbicide Exposure Claims, Judge Says

    WILMINGTON, Del. — A pollution exclusion does not apply as a bar to coverage for underlying suits alleging that the herbicide paraquat causes Parkinson’s disease because the pollution exclusion applies only to traditional environmental pollution claims and cannot be interpreted to bar coverage for the underlying claims, a Delaware judge said in granting an insured’s partial motion for summary judgment.

  • February 23, 2026

    Pollution Exclusion Does Not Bar Coverage For Chemical Exposure Suit, Panel Says

    PORTLAND, Ore. — A district court erred in finding that a commercial general liability insurer has no duty to defend or to contribute to the defense of its insured named in an underlying chemical exposure suit because the policies’ pollution exclusion does not bar coverage based on the allegations in the underlying suit, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said Feb. 20 in reversing and remanding the court’s summary judgment ruling.

  • February 20, 2026

    Judge Strikes Motions For Reconsideration In Water Damage Coverage Dispute

    LOS ANGELES — A federal judge in California issued docket-only orders striking a contractor’s commercial general liability insurer’s motions asking the judge to reconsider his grant of summary judgment to developers on their declaratory judgment and breach of contract claims against the insurer.

  • February 19, 2026

    Judge: Insurer Owes Duty To Defend Contractor Under ‘Other Insurance’ Provision

    BOSTON — A federal judge in Massachusetts found that a subcontractor’s insurer owed a duty to defend a contractor in an underlying suit regarding water damage due to alleged faulty workmanship, finding that the subcontractor’s insurer was the primary insurer under the other insurance provision in the contractor's insurance policy.