In Progressive County Mutual Ins. Co. v. Freeman, 694 S.W.3d 924, (Tex. App. [Houston], 2024), the injured claimant was occupying a police patrol car as a member of the Houston Police Department. The tortfeasor who caused the accident had a per person policy limit of...
Firm News
THE DECK IS NOT STACKED IN FAVOR OF COVERAGE
In Kuhn v. Owners Ins. Co., 241 N.E.3d 397, 2024 Ill. 129895 (Ill. May 23, 2024), the Illinois Supreme Court issued an anti-stacking decision involving situations where an insurance policy insured multiple vehicles. In this case, Owners Insurance Co. issued a...
THE SUPREME COURT OF SOUTH CAROLINA RICOCHETS ON THE ISSUE OF COVERAGE FOR DELIBERATE SHOOTINGS UNDER UIM COVERAGE
In Progressive Direct Insurance Co. v. Groves, 882 S.E.2d 464, 2022 (S.C. 2022) rehearing denied (2023), the South Carolina Supreme Court reversed the trend in coverage regarding deliberate shootings. In Groves, Jimi shot another driver while stopped at a stop light,...
CONTRACTOR WHO PERFORMS WORK ON A NEBRASKA HOUSE CANNOT BRING A FIRST PARTY BAD FAITH CASE AGAINST THE INSURER THROUGH ASSIGNMENT
In Millard Gutter Co. v. Shelter Mutual Ins. Co., 312 Neb. 606, 980 N.W.2d 420 (Neb. 2022), the Nebraska Supreme Court held that an insured’s assignee lacked standing to bring a first party bad faith lawsuit in Nebraska. This case involved Millard Gutter Company as...
FAULTY PLEADING RESULTS IN LACK OF BUSINESS INTERRUPTION COVERAGE ALLEGEDLY CAUSED BY COID-19
The Oklahoma Supreme Court recently rejected an Indian tribe’s Covid-19 business interruption claim. In Cherokee Nation v. Lexington Ins. Co., 2022 Ok. 71, 521 P.3d 1261 (2022) rehearing demand 12/19/2022, the insured Indian tribe sought coverage under its tribal...
LOUISIANA COURT RULES THAT INSURER WAS NOT OBLIGATED TO DEFEND SUCCESSOR CORPORATION IN ASBESTOS LITIGATION
In Brilliant National Services, Inc. v. Travelers Indemnity Co., 349 S.3d 581 (La. App. 2022), the insured had exposed various individuals to asbestos. The insured later transferred some of its assets to a successor company. The Court found that the transferred...
WISCONSIN COURT REFUSES TO ENFORCE POLICY’S ANTI-ASSIGNMENT CLAUSE
In Pepsi Cola Metropolitan Bottling Company, Inc. v. Employers Insurance Co. of Wausau, 979 N.W.2d 627 (Wis. App. 2022), the Wisconsin Court held an occurrence-based policy’s anti-assignment clause was ineffective to preclude assignment of policy benefits for losses...
PROFESSIONAL SERVICE EXCLUSION DOES NOT APPLY TO RAPE
In Westchester General Hospital, Inc. v. Evanston Ins. Co., 48 F.4th 1298 (11th Cir. 2022), applying Florida law, the Court found that a professional services exclusion contained within a hospital general liability policy was not applicable to a claim arising out of...
NEW YORK REJECTS TRANSFERRED INTENT DOCTRINE
In Vermont Mutual Insurance Group v. LePore, 211 Ad.3d 1217, 179 NYS 3d 479 (NYAD 2022), the appellate division of the New York Supreme Court rejected the transferred intent doctrine in a homeowner policy/intentional acts case. In the LePore case, the daughter of the...
COURT FINDS THAT EQUITABLE CONTRIBUTION CLAIMS CAN BE MADE IN AN “ALL SUMS” APPROACH TO ALLOCATING COVERAGE AMONG MULTIPLE POLICIES
In Chemical Solvents, Inv. v. Greenwich Insurance Co., 2023 WL 179772 (6th Cir. 1/13/22), the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals held that when an insurance company had been targeted by a policyholder for indemnification in a “all sums” allocation jurisdiction, the...