policy language News

Motorcycle Rally Organizers Lose Bid for Coverage for Auto Accident

A three-judge panel of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed a district court ruling that Berkshire Hathaway’s Covington Specialty Insurance Co. had no duty to indemnify its insureds against personal injury claims stemming from an auto accident at …

Appeals Court Rules Insurers Not Obligated to Defend Distributor of Opioids

Westfield National Insurance Co. and Motorists Mutual Insurance Co. are not required by their insurance contracts to defend generic drug distributor Quest Pharmaceuticals against dozens of opioid-related lawsuits. According to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, language in the …

No Coverage for Food Plant’s $2M Cost to Avoid Shutdown, Potential BI Claim

Ken’s Foods would likely have filed a $10 million business-interruption claim had it not spent $2 million to upgrade its wastewater treatment system, the company’s lawyer says. That doesn’t mean its insurer has a common-law duty to reimburse the company …

Ransomware Did Not Cause Direct Physical Loss, State High Court Says

A business owner’s insurance policy did not provide coverage for software damaged by a ransomware attack because there was no direct physical damage or loss, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled. “Computer software cannot experience ‘direct physical loss or physical damage’ …

Viewpoint: Hurricane Ian, Anti-Concurrent Loss Language, and Ambiguities

On September 28, 2022, the nearly Category 5 Hurricane Ian made landfall in southwest Florida with maximum sustained winds clocked at approximately 150 MPH. Reports out of Lee County, Florida have been particularly devasting, with images of communities wiped out …

Sunoco Subsidiary Sues AIG’s National Union Over Climate Change Lawsuit Coverage

Sunoco subsidiary Aloha Petroleum has filed a federal lawsuit in Hawaii against AIG’s National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh, saying the insurer has breached its duty to defend Aloha against climate change lawsuits brought by local governments in Honolulu …

Another State Supreme Court Rules No Coverage for COVID-19 Shutdown

The South Carolina Supreme Court on August 10 became the fourth state high court in the nation to rule that the virus that causes COVID-19 cannot cause a direct physical damage or loss covered by a commercial property insurance policy. …

Travelers Wants Out of Contract With Insured That Allegedly Misrepresented MFA Use

In what may be one of the first court filings of its kind, insurer Travelers is asking a district court for a ruling to rescind a policy because the insured allegedly misrepresented its use of multifactor authentication (MFA) – a …

From Pandemic to Cyber War, Clear Policy Wording Is Key for Insurers

Insurers and insureds alike agree that clear policy wording will be the path forward in dealing with concerns about cyber war in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. This isn’t the first time in recent history that reworking policy language …

Is It Covered? The Unimpeachable Case of What ‘Are’ Is

One claim dispute I was involved with I refer to in seminars as “The Unimpeachable Case of What ‘Are’ Is.” It illustrates how a single word, even the tense of a verb, in a policy form can make all the …