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Mealey's Insurance

  • September 03, 2024

    California Federal Judge Continues Jury Trial In Contamination Suit

    RIVERSIDE, Calif. — A California federal judge continued a jury trial in an environmental contamination coverage suit filed by an insured seeking coverage for groundwater contamination discovered at a local airport.

  • September 03, 2024

    No Reasonable Juror Could Find Water Damage Was Sudden, Accidental, Panel Says

    SAN FRANCISCO — The First District California Court of Appeal affirmed a trial court’s judgment in favor of a homeowners insurer after determining that the trial court did not err in instructing the jury regarding the cause of the loss because no reasonable jury could have found that the cause of a burst water pipe was sudden and accidental and, therefore, covered under the policy.

  • September 03, 2024

    Discovery Issues Derail Summary Judgment Bid In Cleanup Costs Coverage Row

    PADUCAH, Ky. — After a report of discovery issues prompted denial of a summary judgment motion without prejudice in a dispute over pollution-related cleanup costs, a Kentucky federal magistrate judge has set new discovery deadlines and given the plaintiff leave to move to compel production.

  • August 28, 2024

    California Judge Enters Judgment In Hotel Insureds’ Coronavirus Coverage Dispute

    LOS ANGELES — A California judge entered an amended judgment on a jury’s special verdict in favor of a commercial property insurer in hotel insureds’ breach of contract lawsuit arising from the COVID-19 pandemic after the parties signed a confidential settlement agreement and successfully requested dismissal of the insureds’ appeal.

  • August 28, 2024

    Insureds Failed To Comply With Policy; Bad Faith, Breach Of Contract Claims Fail

    HOUSTON — A Texas federal judge granted a property insurer’s motion for summary judgment on breach of contract and bad faith claims because the insureds failed to comply with their duty to cooperate under the policy when they disposed of personal property before the insurer was able to inspect the damaged property.

  • August 27, 2024

    Only Direct Claim Survives Dismissal Bids In Lawsuit Over Asbestos Judgment

    NEW YORK — Saying that amending those claims would be futile, a New York federal judge granted dismissal of bad faith, negligence and tortious interference claims against an insurer and a third-party claims administrator in a suit over a multimillion-dollar asbestos exposure judgment.

  • August 27, 2024

    Insured Dismisses Additional Claims Against Insurer In Contamination Coverage Suit

    DETROIT — An insured dismissed claims against an insurer named in the insured’s environmental contamination coverage suit pending in Michigan federal court, and the insurer agreed to dismiss its counterclaim against the insured and its cross-claims against two of the other defendant insurers.

  • August 27, 2024

    Professional Services Exclusion Bars Coverage For Gas Tank Explosion Suits

    PHILADELPHIA — A professional services exclusion included in a policy’s coverage parts for commercial general liability and contractor's pollution liability bars coverage for two underlying negligence suits stemming from a gas tank explosion alleged to have been caused by the insureds’ negligent inspection of the tank, the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said in affirming a district court’s opinion.

  • August 26, 2024

    Insurer Failed To Show Water Leak Did Not Cause Asbestos Contamination, Judge Says

    SEATTLE — A Washington federal judge denied an insurer’s motion for summary judgment in a dispute over coverage for asbestos contamination that was discovered after a water leak in an insured cabin because the insurer failed to show that the water leak was not the efficient proximate cause of the asbestos contamination.

  • August 26, 2024

    Insured Settles With 2 Insurers Following 3rd Circuit’s Asbestos Ruling

    PHILADELPHIA — Following a settlement between an insured and two of its insurers in an asbestos coverage suit, the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals entered an order on Aug. 23 noting that after the Third Circuit’s mandate issues, the suit will continue on remand between the insured and the two remaining insurers consistent with the Third Circuit’s late-notice ruling.

  • August 26, 2024

    Settlement Reached In Asbestos Coverage Dispute Between Insurer, Insured

    ROME, Ga. — An insurer and an insured notified a Georgia federal judge that they reached a contingent settlement in a suit seeking a declaration that coverage is owed for an underlying asbestos bodily injury suit arising out of the insured’s talc products.

  • August 21, 2024

    Asbestos Plaintiffs Claim BNSF, Insurer Use ‘Float’ To Profit Off Asbestos Claims

    GREAT FALLS, Mont. — BNSF Railway Co. and its insurer Zurich American Insurance Co., which were recently held liable for $8 million in asbestos-related damages by a jury, commodify asbestos claims and trade on “human suffering” by delaying payment and refusing to settle in an effort to profit off the “float” between the time when they receive claims and when they make payments, plaintiffs allege in a complaint in Montana federal court.

  • August 20, 2024

    Contamination, Exposure Coverage Suit Transferred From New York To Maryland

    NEW YORK — A New York federal judge on Aug. 19 transferred an insurer’s suit seeking a coverage declaration for a number of toxic exposure and environmental contamination lawsuits filed against its insured to Maryland federal court, where the insured filed an identical lawsuit against the insurer, because the insured met its burden of showing that Maryland is the more convenient venue for the parties and witnesses.

  • August 20, 2024

    Stay Of Insured’s Environmental Contamination Suit Is Warranted, Ill. Panel Says

    MOUNT VERNON, Ill. — A trial court did not err in granted a motion to stay an insured’s lawsuit seeking coverage for underlying contamination suits arising out of the insured’s operation of a nearby landfill because the insured would not be prejudiced if its suit were stayed until the insurers’ declaratory judgment suit, filed in Missouri state court, is resolved, the Fifth District Illinois Appellate Court said in affirming the lower court’s ruling.

  • August 19, 2024

    Fact Issues Exist In Suit Seeking Reimbursement For Chemical Exposure Settlement

    AUSTIN, Texas — A Texas federal judge denied motions for summary judgment filed by two insurers in a dispute over coverage for the settlement of an underlying lawsuit arising out of an employee’s injuries caused by exposure to polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and other chemicals after determining that fact issues exist over whether the employee was a temporary employee or a permanent employee at the facility where he was exposed to the chemicals.

  • 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 13, 2024

    Excess Insurer Must Be Reimbursed For Defenses Costs Paid In Carbon Monoxide Suit

    BALTIMORE — An excess insurer is entitled to reimbursement from another insurer for defense costs incurred on behalf of an insured in an underlying suit seeking damages caused by carbon monoxide poisoning because the evidence shows that the insured timely tendered a copy of the underlying suit, which asserted covered claims under the other insurer’s policy, a Maryland federal judge said in granting the excess insurer’s motion for summary judgment.

  • August 12, 2024

    3rd Circuit Vacates, Remands Late-Notice Ruling In Asbestos Coverage Suit

    PHILADELPHIA — The Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Aug. 9 vacated and remanded a district court’s ruling in favor of insurers in an asbestos coverage suit, agreeing with the insured that the lower court failed to consider all of the factors when applying New Jersey’s late-notice test before entering summary judgment in favor of the insurers.

  • August 12, 2024

    No Coverage Owed For Suit Seeking Damages For Wastewater Discharges, Judge Says

    JACKSON, Miss. — A Mississippi federal judge denied an insured’s motion for judgment on the pleadings and granted a pollution liability insurer’s motion to dismiss after determining that the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ ruling in a nearly identical case forecloses the insured’s suit that seeks coverage for an underlying lawsuit alleging that the insured illegally discharged wastewater into a city sewage treatment facility.

  • August 09, 2024

    California High Court Reverses Ruling In Insured’s Favor In COVID-19 Coverage Suit

    SAN FRANCISCO — The California Supreme Court on Aug. 8 reversed an appeals court’s ruling in favor of a San Francisco restaurant owner insured in a coverage dispute arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, finding that the lower court erred by declining to enforce the specified cause of loss limitation under the policy’s “Limited Fungi, Bacteria or Virus Coverage” endorsement.

  • August 08, 2024

    Federal Judge Enters Order Of Dismissal In Contamination Suit Following Settlement

    DETROIT — A Michigan federal judge dismissed an insured’s complaint against an insurer in an environmental contamination coverage suit and dismissed the insurer’s counterclaim against the insured following a settlement between the parties.

  • August 07, 2024

    Insurers, Claims Administrator Seek Dismissal Of Lawsuit Over Asbestos Judgment

    NEW YORK — Sparring with a man who obtained a multimillion-dollar asbestos exposure judgment against a dissolved manufacturer, a third-party claims administrator urges a New York federal court to grant its dismissal motion, arguing in its reply brief that it “has located no legal precedent to support” the man’s theory that he is “an ‘implied assignee’” of the manufacturer.

  • August 06, 2024

    Claims Against Defendant Insurer Alleged Owed $28.9M Are Dismissed By Stipulation

    OMAHA, Neb. — Claims against one of what had been four remaining defendants in a suit National Indemnity Co. (NICO) filed over a $157.2 million settlement it reached with Montana regarding alleged asbestos exposures have been dismissed with prejudice under a joint stipulation that a Nebraska federal judge granted.