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Mealey's Catastrophic Loss

  • October 13, 2025

    Newsom Signs FAIR Plan Legislation For State ‘Insurer Of Last Resort’

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed California Assembly Bill 234, California FAIR Plan Association Governing Committee, a bill sponsored by Democratic Assembly Member Lisa Calderon, who stated that the bill “increases transparency of the FAIR Plan by requiring the Speaker of the Assembly and the Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Rules (or a designee) to serve as members” of the committee and “ensures the public has a seat at the table.”

  • October 10, 2025

    Judge Administratively Closes Hurricane Ian Coverage Suit After Parties Settle

    FORT MYERS, Fla. — A Florida federal judge on Oct. 9 administratively closed a breach of contract lawsuit arising from property damage caused by Hurricane Ian the same day a write-your-own insurer and its insured announced that they reached a settlement.

  • October 09, 2025

    Court: Expert Testimony Showed Evidence Hurricane Caused Damage, JNOV An Error

    WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A Florida trial judge improperly “supplanted the jury’s role as factfinder” when he reweighed photographic evidence and granted an insurer’s motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict (JNOV) after a jury considered expert testimony and evidence to find that Hurricane Irma created a hole in a home’s roof, a state appeals court ruled Oct. 8.

  • October 09, 2025

    Judge: Insurer’s Denial Letter Triggered SFIP’s 1-Year Statute Of Limitations

    FORT MYERS, Fla. — A federal judge in Florida concluded that an insurer’s denial letter triggered the one-year limitations period under a Standard Flood Insurance Policy (SFIP), granting the insurer’s motion to dismiss its insureds’ breach of contract lawsuit arising from flood damage caused by Hurricane Ian.

  • October 09, 2025

    Judge: Insureds’ Breach Of Contract Suit Over Flood Damage Is Time-Barred

    FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A federal judge in Florida granted an insurer’s motion to dismiss insureds’ breach of contract lawsuit arising from their flood damage, finding that the lawsuit is barred by the one-year statute of limitations that applies to standard flood insurance policies issued under the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).

  • October 08, 2025

    5th Circuit Affirms Ruling In Insurer’s Favor In Suit Prompted By Hail, Wind Damage

    NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Oct. 7 held that, absent an independent injury, an insured cannot file tort claims against an insurer under Texas’ Unfair Settlement Practices Act after receiving an appraisal award and statutory interest, affirming a lower federal court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the insurer in a coverage dispute over wind and hail damage.

  • October 07, 2025

    Judge Enters Dismissal After Parties Settle Hurricanes Laura, Delta Coverage Suit

    LAKE CHARLES, La. — Seven days after a federal judge in Louisiana granted an insurer’s motion for partial summary judgment, the judge entered a 60-day judgment of dismissal after the parties filed a joint notice of settlement of the insureds’ breach of contract, bad faith and negligence lawsuit seeking coverage for property damage that was caused by Hurricanes Laura and Delta.

  • October 07, 2025

    Insureds Appeal Take-Nothing Judgment In Coverage Dispute Arising From Storm Damage

    TYLER, Texas — Insureds filed a notice indicating that they are appealing a Texas federal court’s take-nothing judgment in favor of a commercial property insurer in a coverage dispute arising from property damage that was caused by a wind and hailstorm.

  • October 06, 2025

    Judge: Plaintiff Insurer Owed Indemnification For Suits Arising From Hurricane Zeta

    NEW YORK — A federal judge in New York granted a plaintiff insurer’s motion for summary judgment in its lawsuit seeking indemnification for underlying actions arising from damages caused when Hurricane Zeta’s winds purportedly caused a tower crane that was working on top of a New York construction project to become loose and “spin,” finding that the defendant insurer has a duty to defend against the underlying lawsuits and owes the plaintiff insurer $476,575.25.

  • October 06, 2025

    Judge Denies Insurer’s Motion To Dismiss Breach Of Contract Claim In Flood Dispute

    FORT MYERS, Fla. — A federal judge in Florida denied an insurer’s motion to dismiss its insureds’ breach of contract claim in a Hurricane Ian flood coverage dispute, holding that the court cannot determine if the insureds’ claims are untimely based on the pleadings.

  • October 03, 2025

    Magistrate Refuses To Dismiss Breach Of Contract Suit Over Hurricane Ian Damage

    FORT MYERS, Fla. — A federal magistrate judge in Florida denied an insurer’s motion to dismiss its insureds’ breach of contract lawsuit arising out of flood damage that was caused by Hurricane Ian, holding that the insurer failed to establish that the insureds filed their action outside the one-year statute of limitations.

  • October 02, 2025

    Texas Panel Reverses Ruling In Windstorm Insurer’s Favor In Hurricane Harvey Suit

    CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A Texas appeals panel on Oct. 2 reversed and remanded a lower court’s grant of a windstorm insurer’s motion for summary judgment in an estate’s breach of contract lawsuit arising from Hurricane Harvey damage, ruling that the insurer partially denied coverage by concluding that the estate did not perform a condition precedent under the policy’s personal property replacement cost endorsement and, therefore, the estate was entitled to seek judicial relief on its claim for recoverable depreciation.

  • October 02, 2025

    California Insurance Commissioner Issues Bulletin On Fire-Related Cancellation

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara issued a bulletin requiring insurance companies not to cancel or refuse to renew residential property insurance for properties located in a specified ZIP code within or adjacent to a fire perimeter for one year after the state of emergency that was issued by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sept. 19 related to the TCU Lightning Complex Fires near Chinese Camp, Calif.

  • October 01, 2025

    No Coverage Owed For Washington State University’s Coronavirus Losses, Panel Affirms

    SPOKANE, Wash.— A Washington appeals panel on Sept. 30 affirmed a lower court’s grant of an insurer’s motion for judgment on the pleadings in a business interruption coverage dispute arising from the coronavirus pandemic, concluding that it is bound by the Washington Supreme Court's ruling in Hill and Stout PLLC v. Mutual of Enumclaw Insurance Company in holding that a business’ shutdown because of the COVID-19 pandemic does not constitute a “direct physical loss or damage” to insured property pursuant to an all-risk insurance policy.

  • October 01, 2025

    Property Owners Affected By Hurricanes Allege Scheme By Attorneys, Law Firms

    NEW ORLEANS — A complaint requesting class action status was brought against attorneys, law firms and a professional liability insurer in a Louisiana federal court, alleging that the attorneys committed legal malpractice and breach of contract by setting “up a scheme in an attempt to quickly settle thousands” of Hurricane Laura, Delta, Zeta and/or Ida cases and “collect an exorbitant fee” that they would all share.

  • September 30, 2025

    Insured Appeals Federal Court’s Ruling That Flood Damage Claims Are Time-Barred

    LAKE CHARLES, La. — An insured filed a notice appealing a Louisiana federal court’s ruling that her claims for flood damage caused by Hurricane Delta and a separate flood event are time-barred under a Standard Flood Insurance Policy (SFIP) and must be dismissed with prejudice, challenging the court’s grant of the insurer’s motion for summary judgment on her claims for breach of contract and bad faith.

  • September 29, 2025

    Texas High Court Denies Review In COVID-19 Contamination Suit

    AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas Supreme Court on Sept. 26 denied an insured’s petition for review of a state appellate court’s ruling that a contamination exclusion bars coverage for the insured’s claim seeking coverage for damages and losses incurred as a result of the coronavirus.

  • September 29, 2025

    Texas High Court Won’t Review Baylor College Of Medicine’s COVID-19 Coverage Suit

    AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas Supreme Court on Sept. 26 denied Baylor College of Medicine’s petition seeking review of an appeals court’s conclusion that the presence of the COVID-19 virus at its premises did not cause “direct physical loss of or damage to” its property, challenging the appeals court’s reversal of a lower court’s judgment following a jury verdict in the school’s favor.

  • September 29, 2025

    Unit Owner Has No Right Of Action Against Insurer, Louisiana Panel Affirms

    GRETNA, La. — The Louisiana appeals panel concluded that a condominium unit owner does not enjoy a third-party beneficiary status and has no right of action against a commercial line insurer, affirming a lower court’s judgment sustaining the insurer’s peremptory exceptions and dismissing the unit owner’s breach of contract and bad faith claims in a Hurricane Ida coverage dispute.

  • September 29, 2025

    N.Y. Federal Judge Tosses Cafe Owner's Bad Faith Claim On Duplicity Grounds

    NEW YORK — A New York federal judge granted an insurer’s partial motion to dismiss a cafe owner’s breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing claim against it, finding that it is duplicative of the cafe owner’s breach of contract claim because both are based on the same alleged refusal by the insurer to pay business interruption losses following a gas services shutdown.

  • September 25, 2025

    Louisiana Panel Affirms Ruling In Insurer’s Favor In Hurricane Delta Coverage Suit

    LAKE CHARLES, La. — A Louisiana appeals panel affirmed a lower court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of a homeowners insurer in insureds’ breach of contract lawsuit arising from their property damage caused by Hurricane Delta, determining that the lower court’s ruling “was amply supported by the record” and it did not abuse its discretion when it denied the insureds’ third motion to continue the summary judgment hearing.

  • September 24, 2025

    Texas Panel Partly Rules In Favor Of Insurers In Coronavirus Coverage Suit

    DALLAS — A Texas appellate panel held that a lower court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of certain commercial property insurers in a breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit arising from the coronavirus pandemic, finding that one of the “follow-form” insurance policies included a coverage-extension endorsement that was not present in the lead policy and the insurer that issued that policy failed to demonstrate that the contamination exclusion superseded the endorsement.

  • September 23, 2025

    Insurer Answers Bad Faith Complaint In California Storm Damage Coverage Suit

    LOS ANGELES — Following a California court’s ruling that overruled its demurrer to an insured’s claim for breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing and denied its motion to strike all references to punitive damages, an insurer filed its answer to the insured’s first amended complaint in a coverage dispute over storm damage.

  • September 19, 2025

    Florida Panel Affirms Order Enforcing Settlement In Hurricane Coverage Dispute

    WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Without explanation, a Florida appellate court on Sept. 18 affirmed a lower court order requiring the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association (FIGA), as the purported statutory obligor for a homeowner’s now-insolvent insurer, to pay a $16,500 settlement agreed upon between the homeowner and his insurer related to hurricane damage.

  • September 15, 2025

    Summary Judgment Denied For Insurer In Fabric Water Damage Coverage Dispute

    BALTIMORE — A Maryland federal judge denied summary judgment to an insurer in a breach of contract and bad faith suit filed against it by its insured, a “high-end” fabric retailer seeking coverage for water damage, finding that “summary judgment is not appropriate” in part because of remaining questions as to whether the insured voided the policy pursuant to a fraud provision regarding alleged “bogus” estimates of damage.