Expert Analysis

Rising Tech Cargo Theft Exposes Coverage Gaps

Rising cargo theft losses tied to high-value technology shipments expose major gaps in cargo and inland marine cov... (more story)

Brain Computer Interfaces Boot Up Multipronged Legal Issues

As neurotechnology companies begin to conduct human clinical trials for brain computer interfaces, attorneys shoul... (more story)

Recent Actions Signal Increased NYDFS Health Cyber Focus

The New York Department of Financial Services' recent $2.25 million settlement with Delta Dental indicates that it... (more story)

Property More

Progressive Unit Says Trucking Co. Not Covered In Crash Suit

A Progressive insurer said it doesn't owe coverage to a trucking company accused of wrongfully double-brokering an Amazon load that was later involved in a crash, telling a New Mexico federal court Friday that... (more story)

Rental Co. Owes $2.8M For Faulty Heater Damage, Court Told

An equipment rental company is on the hook for $2.8 million in damage to a Washington school after a heater pumped soot and fuel residue into the building's ductwork, an insurer and the school operators said i... (more story)

AIG Unit, Ariz. Apartment Owner End $6M Coverage Dispute

An AIG unit agreed to toss its dispute over coverage for a $6 million agreement and stipulated judgment between a stucco subcontractor and the owner of an apartment construction project in Arizona, according t... (more story)

Real Estate Co. Says Insurer Owes $6.4M For Title Dispute

A real estate acquisition company told a Michigan federal court Thursday that its title insurer owes nearly $6.4 million for a deal that resolved a dispute over ownership of property along the Detroit River wh... (more story)

Insurance Litigation Week In Review

Insurers must plead defenses “as soon as practicable” in litigation between an insured and uninsured motorist. A Texas company can't pursue $40 million in coverage for an oil spill spat. A Chubb insurer must d... (more story)

Insurer Says E-Cig Co.'s Lies Bar Warehouse Fire Coverage

An insurer said it shouldn't have to pay out an electronic cigarette product wholesaler's $5 million claim for a warehouse fire, telling an Illinois federal court that the company misrepresented important fact... (more story)

Detroit, Water Authority Must Face Insurers' Flood Payout Suit

A Michigan federal judge on Tuesday largely kept intact three insurers' lawsuit seeking reimbursement for payouts to residents of homes damaged after 2021 flooding, finding the city of Detroit and the Great La... (more story)

Rail Co.'s $5.6M Irma Costs Met Deductible, 11th Circ. Says

The Eleventh Circuit revived a Florida railroad company's insurance dispute over coverage for $5.6 million in costs to avoid Hurricane Irma damage, ruling claimed expenses for preventative maintenance exceeded... (more story)

Mich. Biz Can't Appeal AG Intervention In Fire Coverage Suit

A Detroit property owner can't seek Sixth Circuit review of the Michigan attorney general's intervention in the property owner's constitutional challenge to the state's Fire Insurance Withholding Program, as a... (more story)

Colo. Church Says Hailstorm Claim Payment Falls Short

A Vermont insurer has not paid the full amount a Denver church says it is owed under the parish's policy for a May 2024 hailstorm and shortchanged the property's damage estimate by more than $650,000, the chur... (more story)

General Liability More

Insurers Say NY Law Firm, Providers Exaggerated Injury Suits

Insurance companies have alleged in a new federal complaint that a New York law firm coordinated a racketeering and fraud scheme with medical providers to manufacture and inflate personal injury litigation and... (more story)

Cities, Doctors' Group Seek Bar On ACA Marketplace Reforms

Several cities and groups representing doctors and small businesses urged a Maryland federal court to strike down recently finalized Affordable Care Act marketplace reforms, arguing they will strain community ... (more story)

Judge Won't Rethink Insurer's Duty To Cover Data Center Row

A California federal judge refused to allow Navigators Specialty Insurance Co. to file a reconsideration motion for a prior ruling that dismissed the insurer's claims in its coverage suit against a client comp... (more story)

5th Circ. Says ChampionX Lacks Rights Under Spill Policy

A Fifth Circuit panel on Tuesday affirmed a decision finding that ChampionX Corp. lacked the contractual standing to sue insurers for coverage of a $40 million oil spill lawsuit involving one of its subsidiari... (more story)

NC Man Gets OK For $10M Wrongful Murder Conviction Deal

A North Carolina federal judge has approved a $10 million compromise settlement that ends a North Carolina man's civil rights lawsuit alleging he was coerced as a teen into falsely confessing to the rape and m... (more story)

Publix Says Snack Co.'s Insurers Owe Slip-Fall Coverage

Publix has urged a Florida federal judge to find that insurers for salty snack food maker Snyder's-Lance Inc. should have covered the supermarket chain's defense in a $3 million slip-and-fall case under an agr... (more story)

Religious Org., Insurer Settle Abuse Coverage Dispute

A Missouri Christian ranch for at-risk boys has settled a lawsuit from its nonprofit insurer that claimed it did not owe coverage for a case alleging a former resident experienced physical and sexual abuse dur... (more story)

Chubb Unit Must Defend Calif. Diocese In Sex Abuse Suits

A Chubb insurer has a duty to defend a Roman Catholic diocese in California against more than 200 consolidated child sex abuse suits, a federal court ruled, saying the claims trigger an umbrella policy provisi... (more story)

Insurer Denies Coverage For Alleged Rodeo Horse Poisoning

An insurer for a seller of alfalfa and grass hay told a Texas federal court Monday that it does not owe coverage for a lawsuit alleging the business sold animal feed contaminated with toxic compounds from inva... (more story)

Mich. Firm Says Insurer Can't Avoid Bad Faith Counterclaim

A Michigan law firm urged a federal court not to toss a counterclaim alleging that its professional liability insurer handled the firm's bid for coverage of an underlying malpractice suit in bad faith, saying ... (more story)

Specialty Lines More

Policyholder Attys Praise Kaiser's Damages Bid In FCA Row 

Kaiser Foundation Health Plan's call for coverage of any multiplied damages in a $581 million False Claims Act settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice grabbed the attention of policyholder attorneys, wh... (more story)

M&A Claim Payouts Hit $1B High In North America, Aon Says

The frequency and severity of claims made under policies for mergers and acquisitions have risen in recent years, with Aon's North American clients recovering a record-breaking $1 billion across transactional ... (more story)

9th Circ. Revives Duty To Defend Claims In Wash. Crash Suit

A Ninth Circuit panel Tuesday partially revived a Washington couple's claims accusing Integon Preferred Insurance Co. of flouting its duty to defend them from a lawsuit over a 2017 pedestrian collision, revers... (more story)

Emory Says Insurer Shirked Coverage For COVID Tuition Row

Emory University said its insurer must cover $1.2 million in defense costs and costs incurred to settle a proposed class action over the school's switch to remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, telling... (more story)

Insurer Says No Coverage For Va. Medicaid Billing Row

An Argo Group unit told a Virginia federal court it isn't on the hook for two suits alleging a provider of therapeutic services for children and adolescents cheated Medicaid out of millions of dollars and tran... (more story)

'Operation Hard Money' Marks New Phase In Synthetic ID Fraud

A recent California mortgage fraud case dubbed "Operation Hard Money" shows synthetic identities are increasingly key to mortgage and money laundering schemes, so lenders would be wise to integrate verificatio... (more story)

Reed Smith Insurance Atty Talks Data Center Coverage Gaps

The data center construction boom is making the risks insurance coverage gaps more acute. David Weiss of Reed Smith LLP talks about the benefits of special policies and other considerations for owners and other players.

Insurance Litigation Week In Review

An insurance broker will get a second chance at claims against a rival company. A Liberty Mutual unit was wrongfully denied coverage for an Ohio fire. And a CNA Financial unit does not owe coverage for a jewel... (more story)

Insurer's $1M Settlement Breached Consulting Firm's Policy

A professional liability insurer breached its contract with an Illinois-based consulting firm when it exhausted policy limits by settling a suit against the firm's employee without the firm's consent, a federa... (more story)

Class Wants OK On $8.8M State Farm 'Diminished Value' Deal

More than 15,000 motorists asked a Washington federal judge Tuesday to give the initial approval to an $8.8 million deal to resolve a proposed class action alleging State Farm failed to adequately pay for the ... (more story)