Mealey's Emerging Insurance Disputes : Mealey's : Legal News & Analysis

Mealey's Emerging Insurance Disputes

May 09, 2025
Employers Liability Exclusion Bars Coverage For Contractor, N.C. Panel Affirms

RALEIGH, N.C. — A North Carolina appeals panel held that a general liability insurance policy’s employers liability exclusion precludes coverage for an estate’s underlying lawsuit brought against a contractor insured, affirming a lower court’s rulings in the insurer’s declaratory judgment lawsuit arising from a fatal fall.
May 09, 2025
No Coverage Owed Under Charterer Legal Liability Policy, Majority Affirms

SAN FRANCISCO — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals majority affirmed a lower federal court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of a charterer legal liability insurer in a coverage dispute arising from a deckhand’s injury, finding that the policy was not triggered because the insured is liable for causing injuries to the seaman by breaching its duties as the owner of a natural gas extraction platform and not for breach of its duties as a charterer.
May 09, 2025
Justice Refuses To Dismiss Archdiocese’s Claims In Sexual Abuse Coverage Dispute

NEW YORK — A New York justice denied general and excess liability insurers’ motion to dismiss the Archdiocese of New York’s claims for breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing and violations of New York General Business Law Section 348 in a coverage dispute arising from close to 1,700 underlying sexual abuse lawsuits, rejecting the insurers’ contention that the breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing claim is duplicative of the breach of contract claim.
May 08, 2025
Texas Panel Affirms Rulings In Insurer’s Favor In Coverage Suit Over Fatal Shooting

TYLER, Texas — A Texas appeals panel affirmed a lower court’s grant of a homeowners insurer’s motion for partial summary judgment in its declaratory judgment lawsuit disputing coverage for an underlying wrongful death action, further affirming the lower court’s denial of the defendants’ motion to dismiss the insurer’s lawsuit for lack of jurisdiction.
May 07, 2025
3rd Circuit Denies Bank’s Petition For Rehearing In Coverage Dispute

PHILADELPHIA — The Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on May 6 denied a bank’s petition seeking rehearing of the panel’s earlier holding that a management liability insurance policy’s “Changes in Exposure” provision unambiguously bars coverage for an underlying breach of fiduciary duty lawsuit, standing by its affirmation of a lower court’s judgment in favor of insurers in the bank’s lawsuit seeking coverage after it became liable for an underlying judgment for the wrongful acts of an acquired company.
May 06, 2025
Panel: Intentional Acts, Criminal Acts Exclusions Bar Coverage For Shooting Death

ATHENS, Ohio — An Ohio appeals panel affirmed a lower court’s grant of a homeowners insurer’s motion for judgment on the pleadings after it intervened in a wrongful death lawsuit, finding that the policy’s intentional acts and criminal acts exclusions barred coverage.
May 06, 2025
10th Circuit Affirms Ruling In Favor Of Excess Insurer In $40M Coverage Dispute

DENVER — The 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a lower federal court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of an excess liability insurer in its declaratory judgment lawsuit disputing $40 million in coverage for underlying claims arising from its hospital insured’s inadequate surgical-sterilization procedures, concluding that the insurance policy’s definition of “medical incident” unambiguously applies to the injuries of one person and that the insurer does not owe coverage for multiple patients’ claims grouped together.
May 06, 2025
Judge Rules On Dismissal Motions In Coverage Suit Over Unlawful Recording Claims

SAN DIEGO — A federal judge in California granted in part and denied in part defendant insurers’ motions to dismiss a cyber liability insurer’s lawsuit seeking equitable contribution and indemnification for an underlying lawsuit alleging their mutual insured intentionally failed to disclose that hidden cameras were installed in operating rooms and recorded patient procedures in an effort to investigate drug theft.
May 05, 2025
7th Circuit Vacates, Remands Ruling In Coverage Dispute Over BIPA Violations

CHICAGO — The Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on May 2 vacated and remanded a lower federal court’s ruling in favor of a commercial liability insurer in its lawsuit disputing coverage for an underlying putative class action alleging that a food ingredient manufacturer insured violated the Illinois' Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA), finding that the statutory violation policy exclusion does not preclude coverage.
May 05, 2025
Insurer Seeks 11th Circuit Review Of Lawyers’ Professional Liability Coverage Suit

ATLANTA —A professional liability insurer asked the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to reverse a lower federal court’s dismissal of its lawsuit seeking a declaration that it has no duty to defend or indemnify an attorney and law firm against an underlying legal malpractice lawsuit, arguing that “oral argument would materially assist” the 11th Circuit “in understanding the proper application of the misappropriation exclusion” in its policy.
May 02, 2025
Wyoming High Court Answers Certified Question In Insurer’s Suit Against Engineer

CHEYENNE, Wyo. — The Wyoming Supreme Court on May 1 answered a certified question from the 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in a subrogated homeowners insurer’s appeal of a Wyoming federal court’s ruling that its claim against an engineering firm that designed a home’s plumbing is time-barred by the two-year statute of limitations for professional negligence claims, finding that under Wyoming Statutes Annotated Section 1-3-107, the absence of contractual privity is not relevant in deciding when the statute of limitation attaches in a tort action and the statute of limitation attaches to the design that was the legal cause of the purported injuries.
May 02, 2025
Roofing Contractor’s Insurer Wins Judgment; Policy’s Prior Works Exclusion Applies

CHICAGO — An Illinois federal court issued a final judgment in favor of an insurer in its suit seeking a declaration that it has no duty to defend or indemnify its roofing contractor insured in an underlying lawsuit alleging that the insured’s negligent repair work contributed to the collapse of a building façade, killing two people; the judgment was issued two weeks after a judge ruled that the policy’s Prior Works Exclusion applies because the repair work at issue was completed before the policy’s coverage became effective.
April 30, 2025
Residents Sue State-Mandated Insurer ‘Of Last Resort’ Over Los Angeles Wildfires

LOS ANGELES — California residents sued the California Fair Plan Association (CFPA) and its largest members in a state court seeking damages for the defendants’ alleged bad faith breach of their property insurance policies following the Los Angeles wildfires in January.
April 30, 2025
Assignee Seeks To Appeal Suit Against Insurance Agency To Pennsylvania High Court

PHILADELPHIA — An insured’s assignee filed a petition in a Pennsylvania court asking for allowance to appeal the court’s ruling that affirmed a lower court’s grant of an insurance agency’s motion for judgment on the pleadings in its breach of contract lawsuit seeking coverage for an underlying wrongful death settlement, challenging the court’s finding that the suit is barred by the statute of limitations.
April 29, 2025
Alaska Federal Judge Grants Insurer’s Motion To Dismiss COVID-19 Coverage Suit

ANCHORAGE, Ala. — Following the Alaska Supreme Court’s answers to two certified questions in a coronavirus coverage dispute, a federal judge in Alaska on April 28 entered judgment in favor of an insurer after granting its motion to dismiss an insured’s breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit seeking coverage for loss of business income under the Communicable Disease Suspension of Operations provision in the insurance policy.
April 28, 2025
Judge Dismisses Coverage Suit Over Claims Insured Misrepresented Cannabis Products

ROCKFORD, Ill. —The same day a commercial general liability insurer filed a notice of voluntary dismissal without prejudice, an Illinois federal judge dismissed the insurer’s lawsuit seeking a declaration that it had no duty to defend or indemnify in an underlying putative class lawsuit alleging that its insureds knowingly or recklessly misrepresented and advertised their products as cannabis concentrates and misclassified the products to avoid regulations.
April 28, 2025
Panel Says No Additional Coverage Owed For Underlying Carbon Monoxide Suit

SAN FRANCISCO — An insured landlord is not entitled to additional coverage for the settlement of a tenant’s underlying bodily injury suit arising out of carbon monoxide poisoning because the apartment insurance policy’s liability limit applies only to the year in which the occurrence took place, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said April 25 in affirming a district court’s finding that the stacking of annual policy limits is prohibited by the policy.
April 28, 2025
9th Circuit: Care, Custody Or Control Exclusion Bars Coverage For Aircraft Damage

PHOENIX — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a lower federal court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of an insurer in its lawsuit disputing coverage for damage to an aircraft, finding that the policy’s care, custody and control exclusion bars coverage.
April 25, 2025
Texas High Court Grants Agreed Motion To Dismiss Insurer’s Petition For Review

AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas Supreme Court on April 25 granted a commercial property insurer and its insured’s agreed motion to dismiss the insurer’s petition seeking review of a lower court’s partial summary judgment order in a coronavirus coverage dispute, according to its orders pronounced.
April 25, 2025
Federal Judge: No Coverage Owed For Defendant’s Admitted Acts Of Child Exploitation

JACKSON, Miss. — A federal judge in Mississippi granted an insurer’s motion for summary judgment in its declaratory judgment lawsuit disputing coverage for a defendant’s admitted acts of child exploitation, finding that two of the defendants were not insureds under the policies at issue and the alleged underlying intentional conduct was not “an accident” and, therefore, no coverage was owed.
April 24, 2025
N.Y. Justice Denies Summary Judgment Motions By NFL, Insurers In Concussion Suit

NEW YORK — A New York justice denied motions for summary judgment filed by the National Football League and insurers in a coverage dispute over underlying lawsuits alleging that the NFL negligently failed to protect former players from brain injuries purportedly caused by concussive head impact, saying that the court cannot determine that coverage has been established as a matter of law.
April 23, 2025
On Remand, Judge Rules For Professional Liability Insurer On Bad Faith Claim

SALT LAKE CITY — On remand from the 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, a federal judge in Utah granted a professional liability insurer’s motion for summary judgment on the remaining bad faith claim in a coverage dispute arising from a medical malpractice lawsuit.
April 23, 2025
Class Action Alleges Toyota, Progressive Violated Federal Wiretap Act

SHERMAN, Texas — A class action was filed in a Texas federal court alleging Toyota Motor North America Inc., Progressive Casualty Insurance Co. and a provider of data analytics services in the automotive industry violated the Federal Wiretap Act and seeking to hold the defendants responsible for the injuries they inflicted on tens of thousands of class members because of their unauthorized collection and dissemination of private information from Toyota vehicles.
April 22, 2025
Homeowners Accuse Insurers Of ‘Nefarious Conspiracy’ In Suit Arising From Wildfires

LOS ANGELES — California homeowners affected by the Los Angeles wildfires sued insurers in a California court for violations of the state’s Cartwright Act and unfair competition law (UCL), alleging that the insurers participated in a “nefarious conspiracy to eliminate competition between them, and to intentionally and systematically force Plaintiffs to obtain fire insurance from the state’s insurer of last resort.”
April 21, 2025
Majority Reverses Ruling In Insurer’s Favor In Bad Faith Suit Over Fatal Shooting

ATLANTA — A majority of the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on April 18 reversed a lower federal court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of an insurer in a lawsuit alleging that the insurer acted in bad faith when it failed to make a settlement offer in an estate’s lawsuit alleging negligent security against the insured, finding that a jury could reasonably find that the insurer knew or should have known that the insured’s liability was clear.