Goldberg Segalla, Author at The Insurance & Reinsurance Report

January 22, 2019 General

FEMA Rescinds Prior Ruling that Halted National Flood Insurance Program during Government Shutdown after Wave of Backlash from Insurance Industry

In the midst of the partial federal government shutdown, on Wednesday, December 26th, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced that the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), the main source for flood insurance in the U.S., would have limited ability to issue new or renewal policies, or issue increased coverage on existing policies, although claims would be paid on policies that were in force before midnight on December 21, 2018. A wave of backlash from the insurance, banking, and housing industries followed, and FEMA has …

December 27, 2018 General

The Insurance and Reinsurance Report Named Best Niche and Specialty Blog of 2018!

We are pleased to announce that the Insurance and Reinsurance Report blog has been named the best legal news blog in the country and earned 5th place overall in The Expert Institute’s Best Legal Blog Contest for 2018!

The Expert Institute — a leading legal service provider for identifying, verifying, and retaining expert witnesses — holds this annual contest to vet and recognize the best legal blogs out of the thousands that are on the web. In the 2018 Best Legal Blogs Contest — what …

December 14, 2018 General

The Insurance & Reinsurance Report: Year in Review — Why We Think It’s the Best Legal News Blog of 2018

Goldberg Segalla’s Insurance and Reinsurance Report is in the running for The Expert Institute’s Best Legal News Blog of 2018. Fans and readers of the Report and others who stay abreast of developments in the legal blogosphere are invited to vote for the best legal news blog through the following link:

https://www.theexpertinstitute.com/legal-blog/the-insurance-reinsurance-report/

Honored to be in the running and by the support we’ve seen thus far, we took this opportunity to reflect on some of the Insurance and Reinsurance Report’s most notable accomplishments of 2018.…

November 21, 2018 Class Actions

Third Circuit Revives Consumer Fraud Act Class Action against Insurer Based on Adjuster’s Alleged Deceptive Conduct

The Third Circuit’s recent decision in Alpizar-Fallas v. Favero, __ F.3d __, 2018 WL 5987140 (3d Cir. Nov. 15, 2018), is a stark reminder that the process of adjusting an insurance claim is not exempt from the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act, N.J.S.A. 56:8-1 et seq. (CFA). In Favero, Progressive Garden State Insurance Company (Progressive) insured, under two separate policies, the drivers of two vehicles involved in an accident. After the accident, a Progressive adjuster allegedly visited Ana Lidia Alpizar-Fallas (Plaintiff), one of …

November 13, 2018 General

We Need Your Vote!

Attention blog readers!

We are proud to announce that our Insurance and Reinsurance Report blog has made it to the voting round in The Expert Institute’s 2018 Best Legal Blog Contest! Over the past month, this contest received thousands of nominations, which were then narrowed to the “most exciting, entertaining, and informative legal blogs online today.” The polls are now open – if you like our blog, please consider voting.

How it works: You can submit one vote per blog. In order to cast your …

November 6, 2018 Fraud

No Second Chances: New Jersey Appellate Division Prohibits Alleged Insurance Fraudster From Re-Litigating Issue Of Whether There Was An Underlying Auto Accident

The New Jersey Appellate Division held that an individual alleged to have submitted a fraudulent insurance claim as a result of an auto accident was collaterally estopped from litigating for a second time the issue of whether there was in fact an auto accident. In Badolato v. McMillan, No. A-5474-16, 2018 WL 5091799 (App. Div. Oct. 19, 2018) an individual, Charyse McMillan, filed a claim with New Jersey Manufacturers Insurance Company (NJM) for personal injury protection (PIP) benefits as a result of injuries she …

October 31, 2018 Policy Conditions, Considerations, Construction, and Formation

Years Later, Hurricane Sandy Claims Still Present Unique Coverage Questions

The Second Circuit’s recent reversal of summary judgment involving a coverage dispute over a $50M Hurricane Sandy storm surge claim is an important reminder to always closely read the policy. At first blush, the policy in question was a seemingly standard all-risk commercial property policy that featured a flood exclusion and a separate windstorm or hail deductible endorsement. The coverage analysis in this case should have been straightforward – storm surge falls within the scope of the flood exclusion vitiating coverage – which is exactly …

October 30, 2018 Arbitration / First Party Property / Policy Conditions, Considerations, Construction, and Formation

What on Earth? Court Finds Ambiguous Property Appraisal Award for Earthquake Damage

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois recently held that outstanding coverage issues and an ambiguous notation in an appraisal award precluded a finding that an insurer satisfied its coverage obligations. Windsor Oaks, LLC v. Cincinnati Ins. Co., No. 17-CV-689-SMY-SCW, 2018 WL 4303141 (S.D. Ill. Sept. 10, 2018).

The insured, a hotel owner, submitted to its insurer a property claim for earthquake damage. The insurer retained an engineering expert, who determined the hotel did not sustain earthquake damage. Accordingly, the insurer …

October 24, 2018 Industry News

Insured Can’t Claim Damages in Proof of Loss Were “Puffed” Up to Avoid Federal Jurisdiction: Federal Court Deems Damages Demand in Sworn Proof of Loss Submitted to Insurer More Credible than Complaint’s Unsworn Estimate

On October 10, 2018, a Florida federal court ruled that an insured’s precise damages estimate, set out in an exhibit to his complaint against his insurer, of $73,963.19, was less credible than his pre-suit demand in his proof of loss form of $100,709.34.

The insured, Roger Ulloa, sued his insurer, Integon National Insurance Company, alleging it failed to fully pay his property damage claim in the wake of Hurricane Irma. Integon removed the case to federal court on the basis that Ulloa’s pre-suit estimate …

October 11, 2018 Commercial General Liability / Occurrence

This is No “Accident”: Ohio Court Rules CGL Policy Doesn’t Cover Shoddy Subcontractor Work

One of the ongoing battles in construction defect coverage law around the country is whether a general contractor’s commercial general liability (“CGL”) policy obligates the insurer to defend and indemnify the general contractor in a lawsuit based on faulty work performed—not by the general contractor—but on its behalf by a subcontractor. Yesterday, Ohio joined a small minority of states when its high court ruled that damage from a subcontractor’s faulty work is not an accident triggering an insurer’s defense obligation.

The case dealt with construction …