Attorney errors and omissions policies universally contain a prior knowledge clause which precludes coverage for claims made during the policy period if, before the inception of the policy, the attorney had knowledge of the “actual alleged negligent act, error, or...
Recently, the South Carolina Supreme Court held that a “step-down” clause within an automobile liability policy was void. In Nationwide Mutual Fire Insurance Co. v. Walls, _____ S.E.2d _____, 2021 WL 908511 (S.C. 2021) the insured was in the process of committing a...
In Allstate Insurance Co. v. Irwin, _____ S.W.3d _____, 64 Texas Sup. Court Justice 1058, 2021 WL 2021446 (Texas, 5/21/21), the Texas Supreme Court affirmed an award entered in a declaratory judgment action, finding that entitlement to UIM benefits could be...
The Nevada Supreme Court held in Nautilus Insurance Co. v. Access Medical, LLC, 482 P.3d 683 (Nev. 2021), on first impression, that the liability insurer could obtain recoupment of defense costs from its insured after establishing that no duty to defend existed. The...
In AKC, Inc. v. United Specialty Insurance Co., 2021-Ohio-3540, ___N.E.3d ___, 2021 WL 4557194 (Ohio 10/6/21), the insured argued that a standard policy exclusion for sewer back-ups and overflows was ambiguous because the exclusion did not contain the specific word...
In BonBeck Parker, LLC v. Travelers Indemnity Co. of America, 14 F.4th 1169 (10th Circ. 2021) the Court held that the Travelers policy permitted either party to request an appraisal on “the amount of loss,” which was a phrase with an ordinary meaning in the insurance...
In Pinto v. Farmers Insurance Exchange, 61 Cal. App. 5th 676, 276 Cal. Rptr. 3d 13 (2d Dist. 2021), the California Court of Appeals, Second District, held that the proof required to establish insurer bad faith for failure to settle required the plaintiff to prove both...
The Illinois Supreme Court ruled in Sproull v. State Farm Fire and Casualty Co., ___ N.E.3d ___, 2021 Ill. 126446, 2021 WL 126446 (Ill. 9/23/21) affirming 172 N.E.3d 1186 (Ill. App. 5th Dist. 7/24/20), as an issue of first impression that homeowner insurance companies...
The Georgia Supreme Court recently permitted a bad faith failure to settle lawsuit to proceed against the insured even when the insurer had not received notice of the underlying personal injury lawsuit. In Geico Indemnity Co. v. Whiteside, 857 S.E.2d 654 (Ga. 2021),...
In Nede Management, Inc. v. Aspen American Insurance Co., 68 Cal. App. 5th 1121 (2021), the Court ruled that just because an insured disagreed with the insurer-appointed defense counsel’s handling of its defense, or where the Complaint sought compensatory and punitive...