State Farm Investigation In Calif. Spotlights Adjuster Issues
A California regulatory investigation into State Farm's California subsidiary is spotlighting common issues in the insurance recovery process following major disasters, but experts also say that the insurer's high level of exposure opened it up to more consumer scrutiny.
Q&A: Policyholder Atty On Career Win Against Calif. FAIR Plan
A major ruling last week that fire insurance offered by California's insurer of last resort doesn't meet minimum standards under state law should redefine the conversation around what constitutes insurable fire risk, according to one of the plaintiff's lawyers. Here, Law360 talks to policyholder attorney Dylan Schaffer of Kerley Schaffer LLP about the decision and case he regards as the most meaningful in his career.
Bankruptcy Motion Marks Rising Salience Of Cyber Coverage
Unprecedented arguments in a data company's bankruptcy petition that cite a failure to maintain adequate cyberinsurance coverage underscores the growing view that this specialty coverage can represent an important, if not essential, form of risk mitigation for certain organizations. Here, Russell Squire of Reed Smith LLP's insurance recovery group spoke to Law360 about how arguments in one case represented growing recognition of the importance of cyberinsurance and the liability risks posed by data breaches.
State Farm Investigation In Calif. Spotlights Adjuster Issues
A California regulatory investigation into State Farm's California subsidiary is spotlighting common issues in the insurance recovery process following major disasters, but experts also say that the insurer's high level of exposure opened it up to more consumer scrutiny.
Q&A: Policyholder Atty On Career Win Against Calif. FAIR Plan
A major ruling last week that fire insurance offered by California's insurer of last resort doesn't meet minimum standards under state law should redefine the conversation around what constitutes insurable fire risk, according to one of the plaintiff's lawyers. Here, Law360 talks to policyholder attorney Dylan Schaffer of Kerley Schaffer LLP about the decision and case he regards as the most meaningful in his career.
Bankruptcy Motion Marks Rising Salience Of Cyber Coverage
Unprecedented arguments in a data company's bankruptcy petition that cite a failure to maintain adequate cyberinsurance coverage underscores the growing view that this specialty coverage can represent an important, if not essential, form of risk mitigation for certain organizations. Here, Russell Squire of Reed Smith LLP's insurance recovery group spoke to Law360 about how arguments in one case represented growing recognition of the importance of cyberinsurance and the liability risks posed by data breaches.
Expert Analysis
While many risks related to artificial intelligence may still fit under existing commercial insurance policies, th... (more story)
Insurers should take note of several critical components of Georgia's tort litigation overhaul — including limitat... (more story)
Expert witnesses can sometimes fall into traps when trying to teach juries complex topics by failing to consider t... (more story)
Property More
The Florida Senate hailed the signing late last week of a wide-ranging bill aimed at bolstering the state's handling of hurricanes, but a legal battle could lie ahead, as Gov. Ron DeSantis provided his signatu... (more story)
Dividend policies from auto insurers can offer carriers more premiums up front, strengthening their bottom line, while encouraging drivers to be more risk-averse once they have a vested interest in receiving s... (more story)
Insurance brokerage Marsh told a New York federal court that a competing brokerage orchestrated a scheme with former Marsh employees to steal clients in its surety business, noting that the competitor has face... (more story)
The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is asking an appellate court to reverse a summary judgment win in favor of its insurer, arguing two provisions of its policy mean it's covered for business losses it sustai... (more story)
An Illinois federal judge has thrown out a suit by a Kenyan firm alleging that an Illinois firm wrongly pushed it out of a fee-sharing agreement stemming from a settlement with Boeing over the 2019 Ethiopian A... (more story)
A property insurer for a golf course owner told a North Carolina federal court it should toss the owner's claims that the insurer failed to pay an additional $3.1 million in coverage for Hurricane Helene-relat... (more story)
An insurer asked a California federal court to decide who should receive a $4.1 million settlement of a homeowner's fire claims, saying it could not determine who was entitled to the payment because of a numbe... (more story)
Fire insurance offered by California's insurer of last resort does not meet the minimum coverage standards laid out in the state insurance code, a California state court ruled, finding the policy's definition ... (more story)
State Farm will likely face class certification in a California federal homeowners insurance case, the Ninth Circuit sought input from New York's top court over automakers' duties, and a New York federal court... (more story)
A hospital clinic accused its insurer in Texas federal court Wednesday of severely underpaying its hurricane claim following a "substandard, cursory inspection" ignoring "obvious" damages, saying it only offer... (more story)
General Liability More
A group of insurance carriers is asking a Delaware bankruptcy judge to reject cosmetic seller Avon Products' Chapter 11 plan, saying it would unfairly force them to pay possibly bogus talc injury claims.
In a closely divided order Wednesday, the Michigan Supreme Court held that insurance policies straddling the dates for which 2019 no-fault reforms went into effect are subjected to post-reform increased limits... (more story)
A New York bankruptcy judge Wednesday pushed back a hearing on the Chapter 11 plan of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse two months until she can hear arguments on insurance settlements that are central to the plan.
An event company's general liability insurer told a Washington federal court that it should owe no coverage to the company and others, including Live Nation, in two underlying lawsuits seeking damages for a fa... (more story)
The Idaho Supreme Court has dismissed a widow's suit against Sun Valley Co. alleging the company was negligent and liable for the death of her husband from hitting a snow machine while skiing, finding that the... (more story)
A grocery chain and a Chubb unit told a North Carolina state court they've agreed to drop their insurance coverage claims against each other with prejudice over a raft of underlying opioid lawsuits.
An insurer for a company specializing in providing nitrogen services for oil pipelines told a Texas federal court it should owe no coverage for a more than $1.7 million jury verdict against the company stemmin... (more story)
A man injured in a car crash cannot recover underinsured motorist, or UIM, coverage under his employer's commercial auto policy, the Fourth Circuit ruled, vacating his $1 million award based on guidance from W... (more story)
A water purification company that's faced a bevy of product liability lawsuits over a disinfectant product needs to pay only one $5 million retained limit before a Chubb unit's coverage obligations under umbre... (more story)
Scottsdale Insurance Co. informed a Florida federal judge on Tuesday it has settled its suit seeking an order that it doesn't owe coverage to the owner of a shopping plaza hit with a $1 million personal injury... (more story)
Specialty Lines More
A Missouri-based life insurer agreed to pay $45 million to settle a group of proposed and certified class actions accusing it of using certain nonmortality factors, contrary to policy language, to impose highe... (more story)
Three Hartford units have no duty to cover a brake and clutch manufacturer for an asbestos injury settlement, a New Jersey federal court ruled, finding the company's late notice of the claim doomed its chances at coverage.
Anthem has agreed to pay about $12.9 million to end a proposed class action alleging the insurer's coverage denials for inpatient mental health and substance use disorder treatments violated federal benefits a... (more story)
Nationwide Agribusiness Insurance Co. wants an Ohio federal court to order that a Connecticut-based insurer and a transportation company must cover wrongful death claims stemming from a tractor-trailer crash t... (more story)
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined accepting a petition for certiorari attacking the Ninth Circuit's "uniquely standardless approach" for asking state supreme courts to answer questions of state law, in... (more story)
A water treatment product manufacturer must face an AIG unit's counterclaim seeking to rescind extensions of two policies, a New Jersey federal court ruled Thursday, saying the insurer plausibly alleged that t... (more story)
A directors and officers liability insurer had a duty to defend and indemnify a venture capital investor in a now-resolved lawsuit over the sale of a company immediately after a merger, a California federal co... (more story)
An AIG unit urged the Illinois Supreme Court to find that a permit or regulation allowing a company to discharge toxins into the environment has no bearing on the application of a pollution exclusion, saying "... (more story)
Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP has launched a practice catering to the legal needs of insurance underwriters, product leaders and managing general underwriters and agents, hiring a former executive vice p... (more story)
Aflac is the latest target of an ongoing "cybercrime campaign against the insurance industry," the company said Friday, reporting that a breach has potentially exposed claims and health data, Social Security n... (more story)