Sams is editor of ClaimsJournal.com, the online resource and daily newsletter for property/casualty insurance claims professionals. ClaimsJournal is a member of the Wells Media Group. Sams can be reached at jsams@wellsmedia.com
February 24, 2021
A federal judge denied Society Insurance’s motions to dismiss three “bellwether” lawsuits filed by hospitality businesses that were denied coverage for revenue lost because of COVID-19 public health orders. U.S. District Judge Edmond Chang in Chicago, who was assigned a …
February 22, 2021
A New Orleans judge has denied a motion for declaratory judgment that insurance coverage is owed to a restaurant for business income that was lost when it was required to close its dining room because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The …
February 8, 2021
Convicted bank robber Willie Sutton, when asked why he robbed banks, famously said, “because that’s where the money is.” In today’s socially-distanced world, criminals increasingly are turning their attention to the money inside automated teller machines — whether outside a …
January 28, 2021
In a dispute between two insurers, a federal appellate court ruled that GEICO is solely liable for the cost of replacing a Lamborghini worth more than $100,000 that was totaled in a collision with another vehicle. A panel of the …
January 12, 2021
While insurers continue to win four out of five cases in early rounds, in the past month two property owners with policies that contained endorsements specifically providing coverage for diseases survived motions to dismiss their COVID-19 business interruption claims. On …
January 11, 2021
The defense team for Chubb Group’s Ace American Insurance Co. was confident that no jury would award more than $2 million in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of Mark Braswell, who died on May 16, 2014, when …
January 6, 2021
A wave of litigation over business-interruption losses caused by COVID-19 shutdown orders has started splashing into the appellate courts. Appeals of trial court decisions in at least 11 lawsuits have been filed so far, all but one of them by …
January 5, 2021
An appellate court in Florida has upheld the right of policyholders to assign their right to collect benefits from an insurance claim to contractors, reversing trial court rulings in favor of insurers. The Florida 3rd District Court of Appeals ruled …
December 30, 2020
Ace American Insurance Co. is not liable for the approximately $250,000 that an Arkansas school district paid to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit because the district did not notify the insurer about a complaint against it until more than six …
December 23, 2020
The defense team for Chubb Group’s Ace American Insurance Co. was confident that no jury would award more than $2 million in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of Mark Braswell, who died on May 16, 2014 when …