The Wisconsin Supreme Court, in a split decision, reaffirmed the "four corners" rule governing a liability insurance company's duty to defend. The High Court confirmed that under Wisconsin law there were no exceptions to the rule that extrinsic evidence cannot create...
Insurance Law
THE LOUISIANA SUPREME COURT RECENTLY HELD THAT THE DUTY TO DEFEND IN LONG LEGACY DISEASE CASES SHOULD BE PRO RATED BETWEEN THE INSURANCE COMPANY AND THE INSURED IN SITUATIONS WHERE AN OCCURRENCE-BASED POLICIES PROVIDED COVERAGE FOR ONLY A PORTION
In Arceneaux, et al. v. Amstar Corp., et al., 299 So.3d 277, 2015-0588(La., 9/7/16), the Louisiana Supreme Court allocated the costs of defending long legacy disease claims between the insurer and insured based on a time-on-the-risk allocation model. Under existing...
Louisiana Supreme Court Adopts Pro Rata Allocation Of Defense Costs Approach On Long Latency Disease Cases
In Daniel Arceneaux, et al. v. Amstar Corp., et al., 2015-0588 (La. 9/7/16), 2016 WL 4699163 (La. 9/7/16), the Louisiana Supreme Court held that in long latency disease cases the cost of the duty to defend should be prorated between the insurers and the insured when...
The Wyoming Supreme Court Recently Adopted The Notice-Prejudice Rule In A Historic Jurisprudential Review Of Why The Notice-Prejudice Rule Is A Better Approach Than The Traditional Rule Which Does Not Require Prejudice
The Wyoming Supreme Court in Century Surety Co. v. Jim Hipner, LLC, 2016 WY 81, 377 P.3d 784 (2016), engaged in a jurisprudential review of the enforceability of non-prejudicial notice requirements in insurance policies and why courts have moved away from the...
Colorado Supreme Court Rejects The Use Of Extrinsic Evidence To Create Ambiguity In An Insurance Contract
In American Family Mut. Ins. Co. v. Hansen, 2016 CO 46, 275 P.3d 115 (Colo. 2016), the Colorado Supreme Court found that when a discrepancy exists between the policy declarations page and an extrinsic lienholder statement regarding who was an insured, the discrepancy...
Wisconsin Supreme Court Eliminates Any Doubt That There Is No Exception To The Four-Corners Rule In Duty To Defend Cases In Wisconsin
In a split decision, the Wisconsin Supreme Court in Water Well Solutions Service Group, Inc. v. Consolidated Ins. Co., 2015 WI 54, 369 Wis.2d 607, 881 N.W.2d 285 (2016), reaffirmed the "four-corners" rule governing a liability insurer's duty to defend in Wisconsin....
In A Surprising Decision, A Federal District Court, Applying Florida Law, Granted Summary Judgment To An Insurance Company On A “Failure To Settle” Claim Because The Insured’s Liability Was Not Clear
Florida is a testing ground for creative lawyering designed to set up insurance companies on failure to settle claims. However, in Welford v. Liberty Ins. Corp., 2016 WL 3360431 (N.D. Fla., 6/2/16), at least one Federal District Court refused to countenance yet...
In A Self-Evident Decision, The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals Recently Held That An Insurance Company’s Failure To Re-Evaluate A Case Value After The Trial Court Eliminated A Key Affirmative Defense Justified A Bad Faith Failure To Settle Verdict
The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals in Bamford, Inc. v. Regent Ins. Co., 822 F.3d 403 (8th Cir. 2016), held that the District Court had properly denied an insurance company's post-verdict motions challenging the jury's verdict in a bad faith failure to settle case and...
Montana Courts Finds That Falling Boulders Constitute “Earth Movement” For Purposes Of Policy’s “Earth Movement” Exclusion
The Montana Supreme Court in Parker v. Safeco Ins. Co. of America, 384 Mont. 125, 2016 MT 173, 376 P.3d 114 (2016), held that an earth movement exclusion was not limited solely to damages caused by soil movement. The Court found that earth movement included damage...
Does a Parent Corporation Have Standing to Bring a Declaratory Judgment Action Against One of Its Subsidiaries Insurers? This question was recently answered by the California Court of Appeals.
The California Court of Appeals recently held in D.Cummins Corp. v. U.S. Fidelity & Guar. Co., 246 Cal.App.4th, 201 Cal.Rptr.3d 585 (1st Dist., 2016), that a parent corporation lacked standing to sue one of its subsidiary's insurers for declaratory relief. In this...