Specialty Lines
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March 20, 2025
Opioid Orders Weigh Insurers' Role In Fighting Societal Harm
Rulings barring supermarket chain Publix and drugmaker Mallinckrodt from obtaining coverage for underlying opioid claims have contributed to insurers' continued success in defining their obligations to these claims while raising the question of whether insurance is intended to help protect against widespread societal harm.
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March 20, 2025
Bottler's Wine Contamination Coverage Bid Tossed For Good
A Nationwide unit prevailed again in getting a wine bottling company's coverage action thrown out, successfully arguing to a California federal court that a faulty work exclusion barred coverage for a since-settled lawsuit seeking $1.2 million in damages for wine contamination.
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March 20, 2025
Insurance Litigation Week In Review
The California Department of Insurance provisionally approved State Farm's request for an emergency rate hike, a North Carolina federal court found a convicted insurance mogul's company liable for $57 million in misappropriated client funds, and the Fifth Circuit reversed an insurer's win in a bar assault coverage dispute. Here, Âé¶¹´«Ã½360 takes a look at the past week's top insurance news.
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March 19, 2025
8th Circ. Upholds No-Coverage Ruling In Floor Paint Suit
A flooring company's insurer has no duty to cover roughly $134,000 in costs to remove and replace a vinyl floor because of a subcontractor's shoddy painting, the Eighth Circuit ruled Wednesday, rejecting the company's position that an exception in a faulty work exclusion applied to restore coverage.
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March 19, 2025
Insurers Say $40M Retirement Row Settlement Not Covered
Three excess insurers told a California federal court they should owe no coverage toward a $40 million settlement a third-party administrator of a church retirement's plan reached to resolve class action claims that it participated in a self-dealing scheme, arguing the claims predate the period they insured.
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March 19, 2025
Atty Fees Not Covered In Nursing Home Coverage Dispute
An Illinois federal court refused to rethink its finding that an insurer needn't cover a $666,000 attorney fee award against a nursing home operator in a wrongful death suit, saying in an amended ruling that the fees aren't covered damages under the policy or Illinois' Nursing Home Care Act.
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March 19, 2025
Âé¶¹´«Ã½360 Announces The Members Of Its 2025 Editorial Boards
Âé¶¹´«Ã½360 is pleased to announce the formation of its 2025 Editorial Advisory Boards.
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March 18, 2025
9th Circ. Denies Bid To Halt $24M Deal In AIG Hidden Fee Case
Lower court proceedings can still continue as a class member appeals the final approval of a $24 million settlement over claims that Travel Guard Inc., AIG and certain AIG units improperly added fees in travel insurance premiums, the Ninth Circuit ruled, rejecting the class member's emergency bid for a stay.
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March 18, 2025
BetterHelp Demands Insurer Assist In $7.8M FTC Payment
Online counseling company BetterHelp told a California federal court that its insurer must cover a $7.8 million Federal Trade Commission payment and must defend it in underlying litigation brought by consumers who claim the company violated laws via its collection, use and disclosure of private health information.
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March 17, 2025
Zurich Unit Needn't Cover Travel Agency In Abuse Suit
A Zurich unit had no duty to defend a travel agency accused of negligence in connection with an overnight school trip where a student, court papers allege, was bullied and sexually abused by classmates, a Florida federal court ruled Monday, saying a sexual abuse exclusion barred coverage.
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March 14, 2025
Calif. Insurance Chief OKs State Farm Rates Pending Hearing
The California Department of Insurance on Friday provisionally approved State Farm's request for an emergency rate hike following the Los Angeles fires, including a nearly 22% increase for homeowners, saying final approval will be contingent on the insurer justifying its request at a hearing.
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March 13, 2025
Viacom Coverage Win Pushes Boundaries For Related Claims
A recent Delaware Superior Court ruling that allowed National Amusements Inc., Shari Redstone and Viacom Inc. to draw from two pools of insurance coverage for underlying shareholder litigation cemented the state's treatment of related claims while outlining areas of uncertainty for future disputes.
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March 13, 2025
Canada's New PM Seen As Leader Conscious Of Climate Risk
As the former central banker Mark Carney assumes leadership over Canada's government, experts are pointing to his comments on climate change risks to insurers as a watershed moment in appreciating the financial risks of a warming planet.
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March 13, 2025
Allstate Unit Data Breach Row Signals Shifting Cyber Risks
A New York attorney general suit against an Allstate unit is raising concerns about more aggressive state enforcement and data breach risks from insurers while emphasizing existing cyber risk and coverage issues that have long plagued policyholders.
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March 13, 2025
Meet The State Rep. Working To Bring Firearm Insurance To Ill.
As state and local governments consider the ways in which insurance can be used to regulate firearm use, Rep. Bob Morgan is leading the charge in Illinois, creating a task force to bring insurance experts and other related leaders together to formulate liability insurance for firearm owners. Here, Âé¶¹´«Ã½360 speaks with Morgan as he works to discover whether a stand-alone policy or special endorsement can be used by individuals to promote safer firearm practices within the state.
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March 13, 2025
Insurers Must Cover Real Estate Cos. In False Claims Dispute
A pair of directors and officers insurers must provide coverage to real estate holding companies in an underlying False Claims Act whistleblower action, a Delaware Superior Court judge ruled, finding that a breach of contract exclusion does not bar coverage.
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March 13, 2025
Chubb Unit Can't Depose Smithfield CLO After 5-Year Lag
North Carolina's Business Court judge shut down a late deposition motion by a Chubb subsidiary seeking testimony from Smithfield Foods Inc.'s chief legal officer, criticizing the insurer for purportedly trying to open a "back door" to the coverage lawsuit's already-closed discovery process.
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March 13, 2025
Insurance Litigation Week In Review
Progressive's $48 million settlement for underpaying New York drivers was finalized, insurers escaped covering opioid litigation and claims, Viacom and National Amusements Inc. got to continue their quests for coverage of shareholder litigation, and California state legislators discussed insurance rates after the wildfires.
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March 11, 2025
Insurer Says It's Off The Hook For Pay Transparency Suit
Houston Casualty Co. said Tuesday that its liability insurance policy does not cover an underlying lawsuit accusing a Washington company that owns McDonald's franchises of violating the state's pay transparency law for job postings.
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March 11, 2025
Ex-Marvel Exec Asks Fla. Court To Revive Punitives Claim
Former Marvel Entertainment Chair Ike Perlmutter has asked the Florida Supreme Court to revive his punitive damages claim against his neighbor in a dispute over a hate mail campaign, arguing that the appellate decision blocking his claim breaks from decades of jurisprudence on punitive damages in Florida.
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March 11, 2025
Yacht Owner Seeks $1M From Marsh After Losing Coverage
A yacht owner asked a Florida federal court to find its insurance broker owed over $1 million for negligence for failing to provide or explain its policy, after it was denied coverage for a total loss grounding because the boat's fire suppression equipment wasn't inspected as required.
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March 10, 2025
Viacom And NAI Can Continue Shareholder Coverage Dispute
A Delaware Superior Court judge ruled in companion cases that Shari Redstone, National Amusements Inc. and Viacom Inc. can still seek coverage for millions after underlying shareholder litigation in the wake of Viacom's 2019 CBS merger, determining prior actions were unrelated to the underlying disputes at hand.
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March 10, 2025
4th Circ. Reverses $10M Coverage Cap For Aluminum Co.
The Fourth Circuit on Monday reversed a lower court's ruling capping an aluminum supplier's total recovery for losses related to a fire at $10 million, saying a molten material endorsement in the company's all-risk policies is ambiguous.
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March 06, 2025
Federal Insurance Monitor In Crosshairs Amid Executive Cuts
Republicans on the state and federal level are targeting the U.S. Department of the Treasury's insurance monitor amid President Donald Trump's effort to drastically reduce the size of the federal workforce across many departments, putting the future of the monitor and its work in doubt.
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March 06, 2025
Fla. Report Draws Serious Accusations Of Insurer Misconduct
A Florida analysis showing that carriers in the state were reporting millions in income losses while affiliated companies were earning billions is helping to reveal a long-standing pattern of insurer misconduct, according to consumer advocates.
Expert Analysis
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Finding Coverage For Online Retail Privacy Class Actions
Following recent court rulings interpreting state invasion of privacy and electronic surveillance statutes triggering a surge in the filing of privacy class actions against online retailers, companies should examine their various insurance policies, including E&O and D&O, for defense coverage of these claims, says Alison Gaske at Gilbert LLP.
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What We Know From Early Cyberinsurance Rulings
Recent cyber disruption incidents, like the Crowdstrike outage and the CDK Global cyberattack this summer, highlight the necessity of understanding legal interpretations of cyberinsurance coverage — an area in which there has been little litigation thus far, say Peter Halprin and Rebecca Schwarz at Haynes Boone.
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6 Considerations To Determine If A Cyber Incident Is Material
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent guidance on material cybersecurity incidents covers a range of ransomware scenarios, from a company paying a sum and regaining operations to recovering payment via cyberinsurance, but makes it clear that no single factor determines whether a cybersecurity incident is material, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.
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Insuring Lender's Baseball Bet Leads To Major League Dispute
In RockFence v. Lloyd's, a California federal court seeks to define who qualifies as a professional baseball player for purposes of an insurance coverage payout, providing an illuminating case study of potential legal issues arising from baseball service loans, say Marshall Gilinsky and Seán McCabe at Anderson Kill.
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Insurance Lessons From 11th Circ. Ruling On Policy Grammar
The Eleventh Circuit's recent decision in ECB v. Chubb Insurance, holding that missing punctuation didn't change the clear meaning of a professional services policy, offers policyholder takeaways about the uncertainty that can arise when courts interpret insurance policy language based on obscure grammatical canons, say Hugh Lumpkin and Garrett Nemeroff at Reed Smith.
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Ore. Insurance Litigation Is Testing The Bounds After Moody
Despite the Oregon Supreme Court’s attempt to limit application of its 2023 decision in Moody v. Oregon Community Credit Union, which for the first time awarded extracontractual damages stemming from alleged negligent claims handling, recent litigation shows Oregon insurance companies face greater exposure, says Sarah Pozzi at Cozen O’Connor.
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What's In NYDFS Guidance On Use Of AI In Insurance
Matthew Gaul and Shlomo Potesky at Willkie summarize the New York Department of Financial Services' recently adopted circular letter on the use of artificial intelligence in insurance underwriting and pricing, and highlight the material changes made to it in response to comments on the draft circular letter.
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After Jarkesy, IRS Must Course-Correct On Captive Insurance
The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy decision has profound implications for other agencies, including the IRS, which must stop ignoring due process and curtailing congressional intent in its policing of captive insurance arrangements, says Peter Dawson at the 831(b) Institute.
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3 Policyholder Tips After Calif. Ruling Denying D&O Coverage
A California decision from June, Practice Fusion v. Freedom Specialty Insurance, denying a company's claim seeking reimbursement under a directors and officers insurance policy for its settlement with the Justice Department, highlights the importance of coordinating coverage for all operational risks and the danger of broad exclusionary policy language, says Geoffrey Fehling at Hunton.
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M&A In The AI Era: Key Deal Terms To Watch
As the artificial intelligence market matures, so will due diligence needs, as M&A deals aimed at consolidation and new synergies raise unique legal and regulatory challenges, including potential antitrust and national security reviews, say attorneys at Skadden.
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Purdue Ch. 11 Ruling Reinforces Importance Of D&O Coverage
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Harrington v. Purdue Pharma, holding that a Chapter 11 reorganization cannot discharge claims against a nondebtor without affected claimants' consent, will open new litigation pathways surrounding corporate insolvency and increase the importance of robust directors and officers insurance, says Evan Bolla at Harris St. Laurent.
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Del. Bankruptcy Ruling Will Give D&O Insureds Nightmares
In Henrich v. XL Specialty Insurance, the Delaware Bankruptcy Court recently found that a never-served qui tam claim had been "brought" before a D&O policy's retroactive date, thereby eliminating coverage, and creating a nightmare scenario for directors and officers policyholders facing whistleblower claims, says David Klein at Pillsbury.
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Takeaways From Justices' Redemption Insurance Decision
The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Connelly v. U.S. examines how to determine the fair market value of shares in a closely held company for estate tax purposes, and clarifies how life insurance held by the company to enable redemption of a decedent’s shares affects that calculation, says Evelyn Haralampu at Burns & Levinson.