Mealey's Insurance Pleadings : Mealey's : Legal News & Analysis

Mealey's Insurance Pleadings

September 17, 2024
Review Of Ruling In Benzene Suit Not Warranted, Insured Says In Response Brief

AUSTIN, Texas — Review of a Texas appellate court’s finding that a policy’s arbitration provision applies only to disputes arising under the insurance policy and not to disputes arising under a settlement pertaining to benzene-related claims filed against the insured is not warranted because the appellate court properly found that the settlement agreement’s forum-selection clause requires disputes over the settlement agreement to be resolved in court, the insured says in response to the insurer’s petition for review filed in the Texas Supreme Court.
September 16, 2024
Bump-Up Exclusion Unambiguously Bars Coverage, Insurers Argue To 4th Circuit

RICHMOND, Va. — Asserting that an appellant insured “has it backward,” insurers asked the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to affirm a lower federal court’s holding that a “bump-up” exclusion unambiguously precludes directors and officers liability insurance coverage for the $90 million settlement of two underlying lawsuits arising from a 2015 merger.
September 11, 2024
Judge Dismisses $1M Crime Coverage Suit Following Stipulation By Law Firm, Insurer

FLINT, Mich. — Following a stipulation of dismissal by the parties, a federal judge in Michigan dismissed with prejudice a law firm insured’s breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit alleging that its insurer owed $1 million in crime coverage for its $1,602,107.98 in total losses stemming from a fraudulent funds transfer.
September 11, 2024
Insurer Dismisses Suit To Void Policy, Deny Coverage For Code Violation Fraud

LOS ANGELES — A commercial insurer, without explanation, dismissed without prejudice its suit against its insured limited liability company in a California federal court seeking rescission of the insured’s policy and a declaration that the insurer is not obligated to pay for fire damage to the property due to the insured’s alleged material misrepresentations in the policy application regarding the absence of safety code violations and liens on the property when an investigation revealed otherwise.
September 10, 2024
Insurer Says Potential For Coverage Of Asbestos Suits Exists Under Other Policies

FORT WORTH, Texas — In response to motions for summary judgment in Texas federal court, an insurer claims that policies issued by two other insurers should be found to afford coverage for underlying asbestos bodily injury suits filed against a mutual insured because some of the underlying claims potentially allege exposure during the insurers’ policy periods.
September 05, 2024
Reinsurer Files Suit Over TPA’s Alleged Mishandling Of Insurance Claims

BILLINGS, Mont. — Seeking declaratory judgment and damages for claims that it alleges were mishandled and misallocated, a Bermuda-based reinsurer sued an insurer and third-party administrator (TPA) in Montana federal court.
September 05, 2024
Citing FAA, Insurer Raises Third-Party Subpoena Prehearing Issue In Federal Court

DETROIT — An insurer has petitioned a Michigan federal court to compel compliance with third-party subpoenas for prehearing discovery depositions in a $950,742.64 dispute over a medical excess reinsurance agreement that has gone to arbitration.
September 04, 2024
Settlement Reached With 2nd Insurer In Faulty Construction Coverage Dispute

DENVER — One month after a plaintiff insurer and one of the defendant insurers filed a joint notice of settlement in a Colorado federal court in a dispute over coverage for a construction company accused of causing damages to homes through faulty construction, the plaintiff insurer filed another notice indicating that it has reached a settlement with the last remaining insurer defendant.
September 04, 2024
Insurer Challenges Panel’s Affirmation Of Judgment In Favor Of Contractor’s Assignee

ATLANTA — An insurer asked the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to reconsider its ruling that affirmed a lower federal court’s $557,500 summary judgment in favor of a contractor insured’s assignee in a lawsuit seeking coverage for damage incurred as a result of the insured’s misconduct.
September 04, 2024
Global Medical Device Company Dismisses Claims Against Primary D&O Insurer

FORT MYERS, Fla. — A primary directors and officers liability insurer and a global medical device company insured filed a joint stipulation of dismissal with prejudice of the insured’s breach of contract lawsuit seeking coverage for defense and settlement costs arising from an underlying False Claims Act lawsuit.
September 03, 2024
Parties Dismiss Counterclaims In Coverage Dispute Over Earplug Liability Suits

WILMINGTON, Del. — Plaintiffs and their insurer on Aug. 30 agreed to voluntarily dismiss two of the insurer’s counterclaims four days after a Delaware judge denied the plaintiffs’ motion for reargument of his ruling in favor of liability insurers in a coverage lawsuit arising from an underlying earplug product liability multidistrict litigation that resulted in a $6 billion settlement and millions of dollars of defense costs.
August 30, 2024
Bank Faces Another Negligence, Fraud Suit In Connection With Vesttoo Collapse

NEW YORK — Asserting fraud and negligence claims against China Construction Bank Corp. (CCBC) and related entities, a company affected by the collapse of Vesttoo Ltd. filed suit in New York state court for damages that it says include at least $140 million in cedent premium payments that went into designated segregated accounts.
August 28, 2024
Woman Sues Long-Term Care Insurer On Breach Of Contract, Bad Faith Theories

OKLAHOMA CITY — A long-term care (LTC) insurer “intentionally, by design, conducted an inadequate investigation in order to avoid the facts that would further substantiate coverage,” a woman with cognitive impairment whose benefits were terminated claims in a complaint filed in a federal court to recover LTC benefits on breach of contract and bad faith theories.
August 27, 2024
Convenience Store Seeks CGL Coverage For Suit Arising From Mallory Beach Death

ATLANTA — A convenience store chain insured sued its commercial general liability insurers in a Georgia federal court for breach of contract and declaratory relief, seeking personal and advertising injury coverage for an underlying civil conspiracy and outrage/intentional infliction of emotional distress lawsuit arising from the boat crash that killed Mallory Beach.
August 27, 2024
Appellant: Mortgage Lender Charged Insurance Premiums That Were Strictly Prohibited

RICHMOND, Va. — A plaintiff in a putative class action tells the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that the Credit Grantor Closed End Credit Provisions (CLEC) “strictly prohibit” a mortgage lender’s charge of insurance premiums in connection with a loan, seeking reversal of a lower federal court’s ruling that granted the lender’s motion for judgment.
August 22, 2024
Statutory Reinsurer Urges 7th Circuit To Affirm Dismissal In Preclusion Row

CHICAGO — In an appellee brief asserting in part that the appellant “has yet to provide any justification in law, equity, or logic, why [the appellee] should not be allowed to exercise the same right as the property owner,” a statutory reinsurer urges the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to affirm a dismissal ruling in an interlocutory appeal concerning whether mine subsidence claims are barred by claim and issue preclusion.
August 22, 2024
Dismissal Recommendation In Crop Insurance Interpretation Row Draws Objections

SAVANNAH, Ga. — Objecting to a Georgia federal magistrate judge’s recommendation that a crop insurance case be dismissed because it “is simply not at a stage where the Court may properly exercise its jurisdiction,” a farm argues in part that it “has shown that going forward with the arbitration under the cloud of possibly invalid or incorrect or incomplete policy or procedure interpretations will result in a wrong arbitration decision which, under current case law, cannot be challenged.”
August 22, 2024
Reinsurer Takes Timely Notice, Other Issues To 5th Circuit In Indemnity Row

NEW ORLEANS — Fighting a $2,866,423.97 judgment that includes attorney fees, a reinsurer told the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that the challenged decision “appears to be the first case to vest virtually unfettered discretion with an insured (or ceding company in this case) to decide when to notify its insurer (or reinsurer) of a claim.”
August 19, 2024
Homeowners Say Insurer Wrongfully Denied Coverage For Mine Subsidence Damages

OWENSBORO, Ky. — An insured couple claims that an insurer breached its contract and acted in bad faith by denying their claim for damages to their home caused by mine subsidence because the damages were documented and clearly caused by mine subsidence and not by earth movement or wear and tear as the insurer maintained in its coverage denial letter.
August 19, 2024
District Court’s Collapse Ruling Was Not Clearly Erroneous, Insurer Says

CINCINNATI — A district court’s finding that no coverage is owed for a structurally unsound wall that remained standing after a portion of the wall collapsed during a building renovation was not clearly erroneous because the wall remained standing and did not collapse as required for coverage to be afforded under the policy, the insurer says in its Aug. 16 appellee brief filed in the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
August 15, 2024
Insurer Says Pollution Exclusion Bars Coverage, Exception Does Not Apply

SAN FRANCISCO — An insurer reiterates in an appellant reply brief filed in the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that a district court erred in finding that a pollution exclusion does not bar coverage for an underlying environmental contamination lawsuit because the underlying lawsuit fails to allege that there was any sudden and accidental pollution.
August 15, 2024
Insureds Appeal Ruling That Their Damage Was Caused By Defect, Deterioration

LOS ANGELES — Insureds are asking the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to review a California federal judge’s holding that damages to their property “were caused by a defect, weakness, inadequacy, fault, or unsoundness in design, repair, construction, or materials — which in turn caused wear, tear, . . . deterioration, and wet or dry rot” and that, as a result, their loss is excluded from coverage under their homeowners insurance policy.
August 15, 2024
Building Owner Appeals No Coverage Ruling In Suit Over Structural Damage

PHOENIX — A building owner insured filed a notice in an Arizona federal court indicating that it is appealing the court’s July 26 ruling that granted a commercial property insurer’s motion for summary judgment in its breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit seeking coverage for structural damage to its building, challenging the court’s conclusion that its loss was reasonably foreseeable and almost certain to occur and, as a result, the risk was not covered.
August 14, 2024
Insurer Argues Policy Exclusions Bar Coverage For Fraud Claims Against Insureds

CHICAGO — An insurer filed suit in an Illinois federal court, seeking a declaratory judgment that it has no duty to defend or indemnify its insureds against underlying fraud claims because various exclusions in the investment adviser, professional services and directors and officers liability insurance policy bar coverage.
August 14, 2024
Insured: Insurer Acted In Bad Faith In Denying Claim For Damage Caused By Collapse

PHILADELPHIA — An insured sued its commercial property insurer for breach of contract and bad faith in a Pennsylvania federal court, seeking coverage for damage caused by the partial collapse of the façade of a seven-story residential rental building.