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Mealey's Emerging Insurance Disputes

  • January 28, 2025

    3rd Circuit Stays Underwriting Association Mandate Pending Certiorari Filing

    PHILADELPHIA — Pending filing of a petition for writ of certiorari in the U.S. Supreme Court, the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals without explanation granted an unopposed motion to stay the mandate of its ruling that the state-created Pennsylvania Professional Liability Joint Underwriting Association (JUA), which provides coverage to health care providers including those previously insured by insurers in liquidation, is a public entity rather than a private one.

  • January 28, 2025

    Indiana High Court: Discovery Of Smartphone Data Requires ‘Some’ Evidence Of Use

    INDIANAPOLIS — Weighing the need for requested discovery from a smartphone in an auto accident lawsuit with the phone owner’s privacy rights, an Indiana Supreme Court majority established an analytical framework in which it held that the party requesting such discovery “must provide ‘some evidence’” of the smartphone’s use before a court can grant a corresponding discovery motion.

  • January 27, 2025

    Judge Dismisses Lloyd’s From Freddie Mac’s D&O Coverage Suit Following Settlement

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal judge in the District of Columbia granted Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. (Freddie Mac) and Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s of London’s motion to dismiss with prejudice the dispute between them after they indicated that they have settled Freddie Mac’s breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit seeking directors and officers liability coverage for underlying expenses it incurred on behalf of its directors, officers and employees who were subpoenaed by the Securities and Exchange Commission during an investigation and subsequent lawsuit.

  • January 27, 2025

    Panel Affirms Ruling In Favor Of Insurer, Agent In Camp Fire Coverage Dispute

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A California appeals court on Jan. 24 affirmed a lower court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of a homeowners insurer and an insurance agent in a negligence lawsuit arising from the November 2018 Camp Fire, concluding that the agent’s alleged misrepresentations pertain to the scope of coverage under an insurance policy that was no longer in effect at the time of the wildfire loss.

  • January 24, 2025

    Excess CGL Insurers Dispute Coverage For Hundreds Of Opioid Suits Against Insured

    WILMINGTON, Del. — Excess commercial general liability insurers sued their management consulting firm insured and other insurers in a Delaware court, seeking a declaration that they have no duty to defend and indemnify against more than 260 underlying lawsuits seeking to hold the insured accountable for contributing to and profiting from the opioid epidemic.

  • January 24, 2025

    Hawaii Court Won’t Stay Allocation Proceeding Pending Subrogation Ruling

    HHONOLULU — Without explanation, a Hawaii Supreme Court justice denied a motion to stay a lower court’s allocation proceeding pending the resolution of reserved questions on how the subrogation rights of property and casualty insurance carriers bear on a proposed global settlement of claims related to the August 2023 Maui wildfires.

  • January 24, 2025

    Panel Partly Reverses Ruling In Retirement Facilities’ Coronavirus Coverage Suit

    CHICAGO — An Illinois appellate court panel reversed a lower court’s dismissal of insureds’ claim against one insurer in their lawsuit seeking “Contaminated Food/Communicable Disease Coverage,” finding that the application of the policy’s “Pathogenic or Poisonous or Chemical Materials” exclusion “would completely eviscerate that coverage and render it illusory,” but otherwise affirmed the lower court’s ruling in the insureds’ lawsuit prompted by the losses incurred by their continuing care retirement facilities following the COVID-19 outbreak.

  • January 24, 2025

    Federal Court Dismisses Hospital’s Coronavirus Coverage Suit Following Settlement

    BOSTON — A Maryland federal court dismissed without prejudice a hospital insured’s breach of contract lawsuit seeking coverage for its losses arising from the COVID-19 pandemic after the insured and its commercial property insurer announced that they reached a settlement.

  • January 24, 2025

    Settlement In Principle Reported In Row Over Jet Leased To Russian Operator

    SAN FRANCISCO — Citing “reports that Plaintiffs have reached settlements in principle with all Defendants,” a California state court judge vacated an April 7 trial date and other deadlines in an international aviation insurance coverage dispute involving Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

  • January 22, 2025

    Federal Judge Dismisses Insurer From D&O Coverage Dispute Brought By Freddie Mac

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — One day after Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. (Freddie Mac) and Houston Casualty Co. filed a joint stipulation and motion to dismiss, a District of Columbia federal judge dismissed the insurer from Freddie Mac’s breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit seeking directors and officers liability coverage for underlying expenses it incurred on behalf of its directors, officers and employees who were subpoenaed by the Securities and Exchange Commission during an investigation and subsequent lawsuit.

  • January 22, 2025

    11th Circuit Grants 7-Eleven’s Motion To Dismiss Appeal In Injury Coverage Suit

    ATLANTA — The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals granted a 7-Eleven store’s unopposed motion to dismiss its appeal of a Florida federal court’s grant of insurers’ motion for summary judgment in its declaratory judgment lawsuit seeking coverage for a customer’s underlying bodily injury action alleging that a 7-Eleven employee physically struck him numerous times, finding that the general liability insurance policy’s assault and battery exclusion applied and the liquor liability insurance policy is inapplicable.

  • January 21, 2025

    Insurers Appeal Ruling In D&O Coverage Dispute With Under Armour

    BALTIMORE — Insurers filed a notice indicating that they are asking the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to review a Maryland federal court’s grant of Under Armour Inc.’s motion for judgment on the pleadings in its directors and officers liability insurers’ lawsuit seeking a declaration that they owe no coverage for underlying investigations brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice, shareholder demand letters and a securities class action.

  • January 21, 2025

    Federal Judge: No Coverage Owed For Fire Damage To Insured’s Cannabis Crops

    NEW HAVEN, Conn. — A federal judge in Connecticut on Jan. 21 entered judgment in favor of an insurer after granting its motion 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, concluding that there is no coverage owed because the insured’s loss did not result from a suspension of its operations.

  • January 21, 2025

    Judge: Injuries Not Caused By ‘Occurrence,’ No Homeowners Insurance Coverage Owed

    PHILADELPHIA — A federal judge in Pennsylvania granted a homeowners insurer’s motion for judgment on the pleadings in its declaratory judgment lawsuit disputing coverage for an underlying assault and battery action against its insured, concluding that the insurer has no duty to defend and indemnity its insured because the underlying complaint alleges intentional and not accidental conduct.

  • January 21, 2025

    10th Circuit Tosses Appeal Of Tax Court Ruling On Purported Microcaptive

    DENVER — In an unpublished order citing the lack of a “final decision to review,” a 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel dismissed an appeal filed by appellants who unsuccessfully sued the commissioner of Internal Revenue in U.S. Tax Court over purported microcaptive insurance.

  • January 21, 2025

    Judge Dismisses Class Action Alleging Insurer Violated Insureds’ Right To Privacy

    CHICAGO — A federal judge in Illinois granted an insurer and an association of insurance companies’ motions to dismiss a putative class action alleging that they retained and disclosed the insureds’ protected health information in violation of their right to privacy pursuant to Illinois state law, finding the negligence and invasion of privacy claims barred by the immunity provision in the Illinois Insurance Code.

  • January 21, 2025

    Excess Insurers Dismissed From Suit Over Sexual Abuse Claims Against Foster Home

    TACOMA, Wash. — A federal judge in Washington dismissed two excess insurers from assignees’ declaratory judgment, breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit seeking coverage for an underlying settlement of six sexual abuse lawsuits brought against a foster home insured, finding that at the present time there is no “substantial, reasonable, and/or practical likelihood that the dispute will trigger the excess policies” and the claims are not justiciable.

  • January 17, 2025

    Investment Adviser Sues Insurers For Breach Of Contract In Delaware Court

    WILMINGTON, Del. — An investment adviser insured sued its investment management liability insurers for breach of contract in a Delaware court, seeking a declaration that the insurers have a duty to advance defense costs and indemnify it against underlying claims for unjust enrichment, breach of fiduciary duty and violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

  • January 17, 2025

    Argument Set For Hawaii Supreme Court Case On Wildfire Settlement Subrogation

    HONOLULU — An amicus curiae group called the “Consolidated Class Plaintiffs” will take part in Feb. 6 oral argument after the Hawaii Supreme Court expanded the time allotted in the case concerning reserved questions on how the subrogation rights of property and casualty insurance carriers bear on a proposed global settlement of claims related to the August 2023 Maui wildfires; additionally, a pending opposed motion seeks to stay a lower court’s allocation proceeding.

  • January 17, 2025

    Panel Affirms Ruling In Insurers’ Indemnification Dispute Over $1M Appeal Bond

    RICHMOND, Va. —The Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a lower federal court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of a plaintiff insurer alleging a defendant insurer breached their indemnity agreement for a $1 million appeal bond, rejecting the defendant insurer’s argument that it has no duty to indemnify under the equitable estoppel theory.

  • January 16, 2025

    N.J. High Court Decision Is Cited In Discovery Ruling On Reinsurance Info

    TRENTON, N.J. — Declining to compel production of information concerning a reinsurance policy, a New Jersey federal magistrate judge concluded that Statewide Ins. Fund v. Star Ins. Co. and the state statute that authorized a joint insurance fund (JIF) rendered the discovery requests at issue “not relevant and not proportional to the needs of the case.”

  • January 16, 2025

    Discovery Referee Rules On Motions To Compel In Coverage Suit Over Opioid Epidemic

    WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — A discovery referee granted in part insureds’ and insurers’ motions to compel discovery in a coverage dispute arising from the opioid epidemic brought in a North Carolina court.

  • January 15, 2025

    Texas Sues Allstate For Collecting, Selling ‘Trillions Of Miles’ Of Driving Data

    CONROE, Texas — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a petition in Texas state court against The Allstate Corp., accusing the “insurance giant” of secretly collecting the driving behavior of more than 45 million Americans and selling the data to third parties in violation of the state’s data privacy and insurance laws.

  • January 15, 2025

    Set-Off Provision In Insured’s $1M Settlement Does Not Offset Judgment, Panel Affirms

    CHICAGO — The Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Jan. 14 affirmed a lower federal court’s ruling in favor of hospital in a professional liability insurer’s lawsuit seeking a declaratory judgment that an underlying $1 million settlement between the hospital and its software consulting company insured offsets a $750,000 judgment that was entered against its insured in the underlying lawsuit, finding that the underlying judgment creates a new liability for which the hospital can seek additional recovery.

  • January 15, 2025

    Connecticut Judge Stays Suit Seeking Coverage For $13.4M Wrongful Death Judgment

    NEW HAVEN, Conn. — A Connecticut judge denied an insurer’s motion to dismiss a breach of contract lawsuit seeking coverage for an underlying $13,364,383 wrongful death judgment awarded against its insured but granted the insurer’s alternative motion to stay the coverage suit pending the insured’s appeal of the underlying jury verdict.