Uncategorized Archives - Page 3 of 21 - The Insurance & Reinsurance Report

July 31, 2019 Uncategorized

Eleventh Circuit Holds that Referencing Sealed Documents is Not Proper Notice

The Eleventh Circuit upheld a win for the insurer under a claims-made-and-reported policy in Crowley Mar. Corp. v. Nat’l Union Fire Ins. Co. of Pittsburgh, PA, No. 18-10953, 2019 WL 3294003 (11th Cir. July 23, 2019), finding that the insured did not provide timely notice. In so holding, the court rejected the insured’s argument that it provided timely notice by sending a letter to the insurer referencing an affidavit which the insured claimed alleged wrongful conduct against the insured, but was sealed, preventing the insurer from confirming the insured’s claim for coverage.

At issue …

July 30, 2019 Uncategorized

Florida’s Assignment of Benefits Reform Bill Becomes Law Ahead of Peak Hurricane Season

Florida’s new Assignment of Benefits (AOB) reform bill became law on July 1, 2019, a short time ahead of the peak of this year’s hurricane season. Time will tell if it results in the amelioration of the AOB litigation epidemic, fueled by Florida’s Attorney’s Fee Statute Section 627.428, awarding attorney’s fees to prevailing assignees in insurance disputes. The attorney’s fee statute is credited with having incentivized Florida contractors to litigate even minor differences[1] with insurers over repair work performed or proposed for insureds. Legal …

July 17, 2019 Uncategorized

Second Circuit Finds Insurer’s 52-Day Delay in Disclaiming Coverage Did Not Violate Insurance Law Section 3420(d)(2)’s Timely Disclaimer Requirement

The court of appeals for the Second Circuit recently confirmed that a liability insurer that waits to deny coverage so that it can investigate the facts giving rise to the disclaimer will not be estopped from denying coverage under Insurance Law Section 3420(d)(2), provided that the insurer does not use the investigation as a tactic to delay the disclaimer. United Fin. Cas. Co. v. Country-Wide Ins. Co., No. 18-3022, 2019 WL 2724267 (2d Cir. July 1, 2019).

Section 3420(d)(2) requires that for liability …

July 17, 2019 Uncategorized

Texas Supreme Court Opens the Door for Statutory Damages After Appraisal

Good faith use of the appraisal process to resolve legitimate valuation disputes under a property policy is no longer an absolute defense under Texas law to claims for statutory delay damages. In a pair of decisions regarding appraisal, the Texas Supreme Court held that when appraisal is invoked after the commencement of litigation, the prompt payment of the award by an insurer precludes statutory bad faith claims under Chapter 541 of the Texas Insurance Code, but potentially allows for statutory delay damages of interest and …

July 10, 2019 Uncategorized

When a Bad Apple Spoils the Bunch: An Appraiser’s Bias May Cost the Policyholder in the Long Run

In a long-awaited decision, Colorado’s highest court ruled a designated appraiser in a property insurance dispute must remain impartial and free from favoring one party over the other. Specifically, the Supreme Court held that the policy language required appraisers to be “unbiased, disinterested, and unswayed by personal interest.” This decision is a win for the insurance industry, although the Supreme Court created a framework that is certain to lead to disputes about an appraiser’s partiality in the future.

The decision in Owners Insurance Co. v. …

June 14, 2019 Uncategorized

Pennsylvania Federal Court Reinforces The Principle That Liability Policies Insure Against Legal Obligations Owed To Others

Defense and indemnity obligations owed under liability policies depend on the allegations made in the underlying lawsuit. In NVR, Inc. v. Motorists Mut. Ins. Co., 2019 WL 989393 (W.D. Pa. Mar. 1, 2019), NVR, an additional insured under a CGL policy sought coverage for two lawsuits that arose out of a heater explosion at a construction site. NVR was the defendant in personal injury litigation. In a separate lawsuit, NVR sought recovery for property damage that it incurred due to the explosion. The personal injury lawsuit …

May 16, 2019 Uncategorized

Climate Change Litigation: Where Are the Coverage Suits?

There is an interesting question surrounding the present generation of climate change lawsuits currently working their way through the court system. Specifically, where are the duty to defend actions related to these suits?

Background

By way of background, there are two types of climate change lawsuits currently working their way through the courts:

Those filed by government entities that seek to hold energy companies responsible for the costs that government entities are forced to expend in adapting to climate change, and which could be susceptible

July 6, 2018 Uncategorized

Streaming Insight: Q&A With Jonathan L. Schwartz

Goldberg Segalla marked spring 2018 with the launch of Timely Notice, our podcast that addresses in an engaging and easily digestible way many of the critical and cutting-edge issues facing insurance industry professionals as well as in-house and outside legal counsel.

We sat down with Jonathan L. Schwartz, partner in Goldberg Segalla’s Global Insurance Services Practice Group, to discuss what inspired him to create the podcast, what listeners will learn, and what the future holds.

What sparked the idea for Timely Notice, …

June 5, 2018 Uncategorized

Property Damage Repairs Prior to Notice of Loss to Insurer Forfeits Coverage

A recent Florida appellate opinion gives more teeth to repercussions for failing to give timely notice of a property damage loss to an insurer. In De la Rosa v. Florida Peninsula Insurance Company, 2018 WL 2246781 (Fla. 4th DCA 2018), a plumbing leak in the insureds’ residence resulted in interior water damage. Rather than report the claim immediately to the insurer, the insureds first completed all of the repairs. While the insureds retained some of the damaged plumbing components they failed to preserve them, …

May 29, 2018 Uncategorized

Landers and Restoring Time for Appraisals

Troy Beecher, an experienced insurance coverage attorney in Goldberg Segalla’s Orlando office, scrutinizes a recent decision from a Florida District Court of Appeal, Landers v. State Farm Florida Insurance Company, which liberalizes and encourages insurance bad faith litigation in Florida. Troy delves into the decision and why it undermines the purpose behind civil remedy notices. Troy otherwise discusses how the court neutered safeguards to a flood of bad faith action litigation stemming from property coverage disputes. Troy also shares his predictions on how the …