Mealey's Catastrophic Loss : Mealey's : Legal News & Analysis

Mealey's Catastrophic Loss

July 29, 2024
No Coverage Owed For Fire Damage To Insured’s Cannabis Crops, Insurer Argues

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — An insurer moved for summary judgment in its declaratory judgment lawsuit disputing coverage for the insured’s claim for losses arising from an exploding lamp that caused fire damage to 998 marijuana plants, arguing to a Connecticut federal court that the insured’s flowering room’s two-month unavailability had no effect on its production process to warrant business income coverage and the insured’s only purported losses stem from its inability to sell cannabis products that were derived from the fire-damaged crops and property.
July 24, 2024
Panel: Cosmetic-Loss Exclusion Bars Coverage For Damage Arising From Hailstorm

CINCINNATI — The Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held that a lower federal court properly concluded that an insured failed to create a genuine dispute regarding whether an insurance policy’s cosmetic-loss exclusion bars coverage for its claimed roof damage arising from a hailstorm, finding that there is undisputed proof that the alleged damage was cosmetic in nature.
July 24, 2024
Mass. High Court: ‘Surface Water’ Meaning Is Ambiguous As To Rainwater Accumulation

BOSTON — Answering a question from the First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court concluded July 23 that rainwater that lands and accumulates on an insured hospital building’s second-floor outdoor rooftop courtyard or its parapet roof does not unambiguously constitute “surface waters” under Massachusetts law pursuant to the commercial insurance policy, resolving the ambiguity in favor of the insured in a water damage coverage dispute.
July 23, 2024
California High Court Denies Request To Publish Opinion In Wildfire Coverage Suit

SAN FRANCISCO — The California Supreme Court denied a homeowners insurer’s petition to publish an appeals court’s opinion that ruled that it did not breach the policy or the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing and did not commit financial elder abuse because it paid the proper insureds “all (if not more than)” it had a duty to pay under the policy coverages for dwelling repairs, personal property damage and temporary additional living expenses for their property damage caused by the Woolsey Fire.
July 23, 2024
Insureds: Insurers’ ‘Greed’ Put ‘Selfish Profits’ Ahead Of Maui Wildfire Victims

MAUI, Hawaii — Insureds sued their insurers for bad faith in a Hawaii court, 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.”
July 23, 2024
9th Circuit: California High Court’s Answer Resolves Appeal In Insurer’s Favor

SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on July 22 affirmed a lower federal court’s ruling in favor of an insurer after the California Supreme Court answer “no” to the panel’s certified question and found that the “actual or potential presence of the COVID-19 virus on an insured's premises generally does not constitute ‘direct physical loss or damage to property’ for purposes of coverage under a commercial property insurance policy.”
July 22, 2024
5th Circuit Panel Refuses To Reconsider No Coverage Ruling In Hailstorm Suit

NEW ORLEANS — A per curiam panel of the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on July 19 denied insureds’ petition to reconsider its earlier finding that a lower federal court correctly determined that under Texas Supreme Court precedent, an insurer is entitled to summary judgment on insureds’ bad faith and statutory damages claims in a hailstorm coverage dispute.
July 22, 2024
Contamination, Pollution Exclusion Bars Coverage For Coronavirus Losses

TOPEKA, Kan. — The Kansas Court of Appeals on July 19 affirmed a trial court’s ruling in favor of all-risk insurers that denied coverage for COVID-19 losses sustained by an insured because the policies’ contamination or pollution exclusion bars coverage for any contamination, seepage or pollution that endangers or threatens to endanger the health, safety or welfare of individuals.
July 19, 2024
Bad Faith Claims Related To Initial Denial Of Hurricane Claim Cannot Proceed

MONROE, La. — A homeowners insurer is entitled to summary judgment on bad faith claims related to the insurer’s initial denial of coverage for hurricane damages because there is no evidence to support a finding that the initial denial of coverage was unreasonable; however, the insurer is not entitled to summary judgment on the bad faith claims related to the insurer’s post-litigation conduct because the record is not clear as to when the insurer received additional information in support of the insured’s claim for damages, a Louisiana federal judge said July 18 in partially granting the insurer’s motion for summary judgment.
July 19, 2024
Insureds File Contempt Motion In Hurricane Coverage Row With Guaranty Association

LAKE CHARLES, La. — Insureds whose rental property purportedly incurred hurricane damage filed a contempt motion in Louisiana federal court against an independent adjustor for its failure to respond to a subpoena in their hurricane coverage dispute with the Louisiana Insurance Guaranty Association (LIGA), which was substituted for their now-insolvent insurer.
July 18, 2024
Reinsurer Communication, ‘Apex Doctrine’ Discovery Disputes Decided In Coverage Row

SAN FRANCISCO — In separate orders resolving two discovery disputes in a breach of contract and bad faith suit over coverage for property damages wineries sustained during California wildfires, a California federal magistrate judge granted a motion to compel production of the insurer’s communications with reinsurers regarding the claims and denied an “apex doctrine” request to bar one of insurer’s employees from deposition.
July 17, 2024
Fact Issues Remain On Whether Pollution Exclusion Applies To Coronavirus Losses

SANTA ANA, Calif. — A California federal judge denied an insurer’s motion for summary judgment on the issue of the applicability of a pollution and contamination exclusion after determining that questions of fact exist as to whether the exclusion bars coverage for business losses sustained by an insured in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic; however, the judge granted the insurer’s motion on a bad faith claim after determining that the claim cannot survive because a legitimate coverage dispute exists.
July 17, 2024
Subcontractors Are Not Parties To Subrogation Waiver, Maryland High Court Affirms

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — The Supreme Court of Maryland affirmed an appeals court’s finding that contractual waivers of subrogation do not bar an all-risk insurer’s claims alleging that tornado damage to an Amazon warehouse was caused by subcontractors’ negligence in designing and building the warehouse because the subcontractors were not intended third-party beneficiaries of the subrogation waiver, further affirming the appeal court’s ruling that the language of the subcontract waiver clause is ambiguous.
July 17, 2024
Stay Granted In Hurricane Coverage Row After Guaranty Association Substitution

LAKE CHARLES, La. — A Louisiana federal judge granted a motion to stay filed by defendant Louisiana Insurance Guaranty Association (LIGA), which was substituted for a now-insolvent insurer in a hurricane coverage dispute, finding the stay appropriate due to the possibility of the restoration company that intervened in federal court intervening in a similar state court suit.
July 17, 2024
11th Circuit Affirms Insured Did Not Establish Covered Loss Caused Property Damage

ATLANTA — The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a Florida federal judge’s grant of an insurance company’s motion for summary judgment in a man’s breach of contract dispute over the insurer’s denial of a claim stemming from damages his property sustained during Tropical Storm Eta, finding that there is no genuine dispute that the policy’s gradual or sudden loss exclusion applied to the insured’s claim.
July 16, 2024
Judge Orders Arbitration Of Coverage Dispute Over Hurricane Ida Damages

BATON ROUGE, La. — A Louisiana federal judge granted a group of insurers’ motion to compel arbitration of claims brought against them by a commercial property owner seeking payment for damages from Hurricane Ida, finding under principles of equitable estoppel that the arbitration agreement is enforceable as to the domestic insurer as well as the foreign insurers.
July 16, 2024
Federal Judge Rules For Homeowners Insurer In Dispute Over Tornado Damage

DALLAS — A federal judge in Texas granted a homeowners insurer’s motion for summary judgment in a insured’s breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit arising from property damage caused by a 2019 tornado, finding that summary judgment is proper because the insured has already received the benefits she is owed under her insurance policy.
July 15, 2024
Panel Affirms No Coverage Ruling In Manufacturer’s Coronavirus Coverage Suit

NEW YORK — The Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on July 12 affirmed a lower federal court’s judgment in favor of an insurer in a manufacturer insured’s breach of contract lawsuit seeking coverage for its losses arising from the coronavirus pandemic, saying it is “unpersuaded” that the adsorption of coronavirus particles constitutes physical loss or damage under both the policy language and Connecticut law.
July 15, 2024
California High Court Dismisses Tribe’s Appeal In Coronavirus Coverage Dispute

SAN FRANCISCO — The California Supreme Court dismissed an Indian tribe insured’s appeal of a state appellate court’s finding that the insured and its experts failed to present sufficient evidence to demonstrate that the coronavirus caused property damage to the tribe’s casino and resort.
July 12, 2024
Question Of Fact Exists On Coverage For Hail Damage; Bad Faith Claim Fails

SAN ANTONIO — A Texas federal judge denied an insurer’s motion for summary judgment on a breach of contract claim after determining that a question of fact exists as to whether hail damage on the roof of an insured building occurred during the applicable policy period; however, the judge granted the insurer’s motion on the claim for bad faith after determining that the bad faith claim could not survive as there is a legitimate dispute over coverage for the insured’s claim.
July 12, 2024
Panel Affirms No Coverage Ruling In Television Producer’s Coronavirus Coverage Suit

PASADENA, Calif. — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on July 11 affirmed a lower federal court’s grant of an insurer’s motion for judgment on the pleadings in a television series producer insured’s breach of contract lawsuit seeking coverage for its losses incurred from coronavirus-related disruptions and delays in the production of its show, rejecting the insured’s contention that the lower court should have permitted it to present extrinsic evidence before it granted the insurer’s motion.
July 12, 2024
Clothing Boutique, Insurer Withdraw 2nd Circuit Appeal In Coronavirus Coverage Suit

NEW YORK — An insurer and its clothing boutique owner insured stipulated that the insured’s appeal in its breach of contract and declaratory judgment lawsuit seeking business interruption and property damage coverage for its losses arising from the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent shutdown orders has been withdrawn with prejudice from the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
July 11, 2024
5th Circuit Affirms Court’s Refusal To Allow Insured To Amend Hurricane Laura Suit

NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on July 10 affirmed a federal court’s ruling that denied an insured’s motion to amend her complaint in a breach of contract and bad faith coverage lawsuit arising from Hurricane Laura damage, finding that the insured did not ask for leave to file an amended complaint until after her claims were dismissed and “well after” her attorney was aware of the deficiencies in her complaint.
July 11, 2024
Bad Faith Claims Barred By Homeowners Policy’s Suit Limitation Provision

LAKE CHARLES, La. — Bad faith claims alleged against a homeowners insurer by insureds in a coverage dispute over property damages caused by Hurricanes Laura and Delta must be dismissed because the insureds failed to file their suit within two years as required by the policy’s suit limitation provision, a Louisiana federal judge said in granting the insurer’s motion to dismiss.
July 10, 2024
Mississippi Federal Judge Allows Experts’ Testimony In Insurance Coverage Dispute

NATCHEZ, Miss. — A federal judge in Mississippi denied an insurer’s motion to exclude two experts retained by a couple alleging that they were not adequately reimbursed for storm damage and refused to grant summary judgment after finding that material issues are in dispute.