In Pioneer State Mutual Insurance Company v. Bear Creek Gravel, Inc., 956 N.W.2d 377 (2021), the North Dakota Supreme Court affirmed a trial court ruling finding that a regular use exclusion set forth in an employer’s policy did not impose restrictions on an...
Insurance Law
LOUISIANA COURT FINDS UM REGULAR USE EXCLUSION VIOLATED LOUISIANA LAW
In Higgins v. Louisiana Farm Bureau Casualty Insurance Company, 315 So.3d 838 (2021), the claimant was injured in a motor vehicle accident while operating a truck owned by his employer. The tortfeasor was underinsured. The employer’s policy did not have underinsured...
NORTH DAKOTA SUPREME COURT WEIGHS IN ON REGULAR USE EXCLUSIONS IN COMMERCIAL POLICY
Recently, the North Dakota Supreme Court held that an employee’s use of a company owned vehicle did not constitute regular use within the purview of a regular use exclusion. In Pioneer State Mutual Insurance Co. v. Bear Creek Gravel, Inc., 2021 WL 1114155 (N.D. March...
FAILING TO RENDER AID AT AN ACCIDENT NOT COVERED
The Mississippi Supreme Court recently affirmed a trial court ruling that a policy motor vehicle exclusion barred coverage for a claim of delay in rendering aid after an accident, In Champ v. Mississippi Farm Bureau Casualty Insurance Co., 2021 WL 790679 (Miss. March...
POLICY BUYBACK LIMITATIONS
Insurance companies may negotiate with their policyholder a settlement of a coverage dispute through a coverage buyback agreement. In this situation, after a potentially noncovered loss has taken place, a settlement of the coverage dispute is negotiated whereby the...
Covering the Disgorgement of Legal Fees Reprinted from Claims Journal, January 27, 2016
Typical legal malpractice policies do not provide coverage for the disgorgement of attorney’s fees that were received by the insured attorney during the representation that gives rise to the malpractice claim. However, recently the United States District Court in...
A ROADMAP FOR THE NAIC’S UNFAIR CLAIMS SETTLEMENT PRACTICES ACT
As a part of its effort to insure enactment of uniform insurance laws, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) drafted the Unfair Claims Settlement Practices Act which required specific insurance adjuster conduct and claims handling. The Model Act,...
DETERMINING THE NUMBER OF OCCURRENCES FROM CARBON MONIXIDE POISONING By Steven Plitt (Reprinted from Claims Journal, March 13, 2014)
Does a carbon monoxide leak in a duplex apartment building constitute a single occurrence or multiple occurrences for purposes of liability insurance? This question was recently answered by the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeal in Kosnoski v. Rogers, 2014 WL...
Failing to Initiate Settlement Negotiations is Risky Business (Reprinted from Claims Journal, November 7, 2017)
Two recent cases have addressed insurance company extracontractual exposure for failing to initiate settlement negotiations. In Stalley v. Allstate Insurance Co., 2016 WL 1752764 (M.D. Fla. April 29, 2016) the court considered the so-called “Powell rule” where the...
MASSACHUSETTS SUPREME JUDICIAL COURT FOLLOWS THE MINORITY RULE IN ESTABLISHING PRIORITY OF COVERAGE BETWEEN TRUE EXCESS POLICIES AND DE FACTO EXCESS POLICIES IN THE AUTOMOBILE LIABILITY CONTEXT
As an issue of first impression, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court adopted the minority rule on priority of coverage, holding that after a primary automobile liability policy is exhausted, true excess policies and policies that are excess by virtue of other...
