The South Dakota Supreme Court in Mordhorst v. Dakota Truck Underwriters and Risk Administrative Services 886 N.W.2d 322 (S.D 2016) recently found that a rule 12-B6 motion to dismiss was not appropriate in a worker's compensation bad faith case notwithstanding the...
Year: 2017
INSURANCE SUBBROKER HELD TO NOT OWE DUTY TO WARN OF AN INSURANCE COMPANY FRAUD DURING THE PLACEMENT OF INSURANCE
Under Illinois statutory and common law an insurance broker owes a duty only to the named insured who has purchased insurance from the broker. Recently, the question arose under Illinois law regarding whether a sub broker, who played an administrative role in the...
INDIANA COURT OF APPEALS HOLDS THAT POLICY SIR EXHAUSTION REQUIREMENT APPLIES TO ADDITIONAL INSURED AND NOT JUST THE NAMED INSURED
The Indiana Court of Appeals in Walsh Construction Co. v. Zurich American Insurance Co. 2017 WL 1151033 (IN Ct App March 28th 2017) acknowledged that under Indiana law in situations that arise between the insurer and the named insured, the insurer's responsibility is...
A 10-to-1 RATIO OF COMPENSATORY DAMAGES TO PUNITIVE DAMAGES WAS RECENTLY PERMITTED BY THE CALIFORNIA COURT OF APPEALS IN AN INSURANCE BAD FAITH CASE
The California court of appeals in Nickerson v. Stonebridge Insurance Co. 5 Cal App, 5th 1,209 Cal Rptr. 3d 690 (2d Dist., November 3, 2016) recently found that the Court was constrained by case law in California and the California constitution from allowing a...
CALIFORNIA COURT FINDS THAT SPECULATION UPON HOW AN EMPLOYEE WAS INJURED DID NOT GIVE RISE TO A POTENTIAL FOR COVERAGE AS AN ADDITIONAL INSURED
The issue of whether a general contractor qualified as an additional insured under a sub contactor excess policy for a work related injury turned on whether there was evidence that the sub-contractor caused the claimants injuries according to the recent case of Advent...
MAINE SUPREME COURT WAYS IN ON APPORTIONING DAMAGES
The Maine Supreme Court in Harlor v. Amica Mutual Ins. Co., 2016 WL 6518589 (ME November 3, 2016) held that when an insurance company refuses to defend its insured on a mixed complaint containing allegations of both potentially covered and uncovered claims the insurer...
KENTUCKY COURT FINDS THAT OWNED-BUT-NOT-SCHEDULED POLICY EXCLUSION FROM UIM COVERAGE WAS ENFORCEABLE
Kentucky Supreme Court held in Philadelphia Indem. Ins. Co., Inc. v. Tryon, 502 S.W.3d 585 (Ky. 2016) that UIM exclusion pertaining to owned-but-not-scheduled automobiles were enforceable under Kentucky law provided that the policy expressly and plainly apprised the...
THE CALIFORNIA COURT OF APPEALS FINDS THAT A 10:1 RATIO OF COMPENSATORY DAMAGES TO PUNITIVE DAMAGES IS APPROPRIATE IN AN INSURANCE BAD FAITH CASE AND THAT THE RATIO SHOULD BE NO HIGHER
In Nickerson v. Stonebridge Life Ins. Co., 5 Cal.App.5th 1, 209 Cal.Rptr.3d 690 (2nd Dist. 2016), the California Court of Appeals recently reduced a $19M punitive damages award in an insurance bad faith case to $475,000 applying a 10:1 ratio of compensatory damages to...
CALIFORNIA COURT OF APPEALS HOLDS THAT AUTOMOBILE POLICY’S COLLISION COVERAGE DID NOT REQUIRE THE INSURANCE COMPANY TO PAY FOR THE CAR’S LOST MARKET VALUE
In Baldwin v. AAA Northern California, Nevada & Utah, 204 Cal.Rptr 3d 433 (1st Dist. 2016), the Court held that an automobile insurer had no obligation to pay the "pre-accident value" of the insured vehicle under the policy's collision coverage provision which...
THE IDAHO SUPREME COURT REFUSES TO ENFORCE UIM POLICY ANTI-STACKING PROVISIONS
The Idaho Supreme Court in Gearhart v. Mutual of Enumclaw Ins. Co., 160 Idaho 666, 378 P.3d 454 (Idaho 2016), found that a UIM anti-stacking provision was ambiguous and, therefore, unenforceable. In Gearhart, the Court considered a UIM policy's anti-stacking clause...