Archives: Insurance Coverage

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Insurance coverage for sexual abuse in New York

By John Berringer on Posted in Insurance Coverage, Insurance General
With the passage of New York’s Child Victim’s Act (the “CVA”) and similar revival statutes around the United States, there have been literally thousands of formerly time-barred actions commenced against institutions such as churches and other religious organizations, schools, camps, and other groups working with children for damages on account of sexual abuse by their … Continue Reading

Key considerations for companies in procuring or renewing D&O coverage

By Miranda Jannuzzi and Andy Moss on Posted in D&O, E&O, Professional Liability, Insurance Coverage, Insurance General
Directors’ and Officers’ liability (“D&O”) insurance offers key protections to a company’s board members and management by serving as a financial backstop for their indemnification rights as well as their personal assets in the event directors or officers are the subject of claims or investigations based on their service to the company.  D&O insurance also … Continue Reading

A tightening cyber insurance market: War exclusions in the wake of Merck v. Ace

By David Cummings, Andrew Barrios and Andy Moss on Posted in Cyberliability, Insurance Coverage, Insurance General
As cyber risks continue to grow and evolve, the cyber insurance market is increasingly likely to take steps to limit its risk profile, often in the form of new or broadened policy exclusions. Cyber insurers are continuously evaluating, amending, and restructuring their insurance products (including their capacity, and, importantly, their pricing) to reflect what they … Continue Reading

A policyholder win: Court finds coverage for COVID-19 related losses

By Nat Ochoa and David E. Weiss on Posted in Business interruption, COVID-19, Insurance Coverage, Insurance General
Recently, a California federal court issued a favorable decision for policyholders seeking coverage for losses arising from COVID-19 who paid significant premiums to purchase substantial coverage limits including “coverage for business interruption losses from a virus.”  Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. v. Endurance Am. Spec. Ins. Co., Case No. SACV 20-02185 (C.D. Cal., June 15, 2022). … Continue Reading

Court’s denial of employment liability coverage for Biometric Information Privacy Act litigation should not discourage policyholders

By Andrew Barrios, John Vishneski and Claire Whitehead on Posted in Employment Practices Liability, Insurance Coverage, Insurance General
Although the policyholder bar has previously had success obtaining coverage for Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) litigation under an employment practices liability (EPL) policy, insurers recently notched a win by convincing a court to deny EPL coverage for an employee-based BIPA class action.  In Church Mutual Insurance Company v. Prairie Village Supportive Living, LLC, the … Continue Reading

Don’t forget the supplementary payments solution to the defense cost recoupment problem

By Stan Nardoni on Posted in Insurance Coverage, Insurance General
States continue to disagree about whether an insurer that defends its insured in a lawsuit can reserve a right to recoup its defense costs from the policyholder if the carrier wins a declaratory judgment that it owed no duty to defend.  Courts in New York and Nevada recently took opposite positions on the issue, but … Continue Reading

You’ve been sued: An insurance attorney’s top tips for securing (and preserving) coverage

By Maisie McDonald and John Vishneski on Posted in D&O, E&O, Professional Liability, Insurance Coverage, Insurance General
Do not assume insurance coverage is unavailable   Today’s insurance market is complex.  It encompasses a wide range of insurance policies covering all manner of events and circumstances.  Beyond more traditional coverage for personal injury or property damage (under commercial general liability (CGL) policies), companies now routinely purchase Directors & Officers (D&O) policies, Errors & Omissions … Continue Reading

Looking beyond “Physical Damage to Property”: Is Marina Pacific Hotel a winning framework for policyholders?

By Claire Whitehead and John Vishneski on Posted in Business interruption, COVID-19, Insurance Coverage, Insurance General, Property Damage & Business Interruption
It’s no secret that businesses of all shapes and sizes have suffered tremendous losses during the COVID-19 pandemic. From closures to the “Great Resignation” to ever-changing consumer demands, businesses have dealt with one problem after another. One of those problems is the denial of insurance coverage under  “all risk” commercial property policies. For the last … Continue Reading

Tailoring insurance to protect transactions and contingent risks

By Luke Debevec on Posted in Corporate and Transactional Insurance Coverage, Insurance Coverage, Insurance General
Parties to business transactions frequently seek to protect themselves against specific financing, litigation and transactional risks through insurance.  The types of insurance to protect business’s interests and risks in M&A is growing:  Insurance for breaches of contractual representations and warranties have become increasingly common, both for buyers and sellers. Standard-form policies may provide coverage for … Continue Reading

Pet insurance: Proposed model rules may afford better protection to paw-licyholders

By Lauren Gubricky and John Vishneski on Posted in Insurance Coverage, Insurance General
Pet insurance is becoming a popular choice for pet owners, fueled by an increase in pet ownership during the pandemic, advancements in veterinary medicine, and a growing recognition that pets (or “companion animals”) are members of the family. Although the pet insurance industry is accelerating at a record pace, many owners have been irritated by … Continue Reading

Can property or specie insurance provide coverage for crypto losses?

By Jessica E. Gopiao and Christopher Kuleba on Posted in Cryptocurrency, Cyberliability, Insurance Coverage, Insurance General
How cryptocurrencies are viewed by courts can be determinative when seeking coverage for a cryptocurrency-related loss, and whether cryptocurrency is “money,” “securities,” or “property” has been the subject of heavy debate. In our previous blog post, we explored how your current D&O and/or cyber insurance policies may provide coverage for crypto-related losses. In this article, … Continue Reading

Two state Supreme Courts reach commercially reasonable results by permitting post-loss assignments  

By Lisa Szymanski and Nicholas Rodriguez on Posted in Commercial General Liability, Insurance Coverage, Insurance General, Property Damage & Business Interruption
The well-established principle that a policyholder may assign benefits under an insurance policy following a loss was recently reaffirmed by state supreme courts in two jurisdictions:  South Carolina and Puerto Rico. These two jurisdictions join the majority rule, which holds that assignments following an insured loss are permissible because they do not change the scope … Continue Reading

Insurance applications seeking an insured’s subjective opinions cannot support insurer defenses of misrepresentation or concealment

By Keith Meyer on Posted in Insurance Coverage, Insurance General
When applying for insurance, prospective (or existing) insureds are frequently asked to confirm, either in a formal application or in a side letter, that they are not aware of any circumstances, incidents or events that could result in a claim being made against it.  If the insured identifies any potential claim, the insurer will either … Continue Reading

War exclusion: changing battlefields and coverage implications

By Stephanie Gee and Cristina Shea on Posted in Cyberliability, Insurance Coverage, Insurance General
In early February of this year, we wrote about a New Jersey court’s recent decision in Merck & Co., Inc. et al. v. Ace American Ins. Co. et al., Case No. UNN-L-2682-18 (N.J. Sup. Ct.) regarding the applicability of a “war exclusion” for acts of cyberwarfare.  Shortly thereafter, the Russian invasion of Ukraine once again … Continue Reading

Are your crypto risks insured? Look at D&O and cyber policies first

By Jessica E. Gopiao, Christopher Kuleba and Andy Moss on Posted in Cryptocurrency, Financial Insurance Coverage, Insurance Coverage, Insurance General
Evidenced by its $1.29 trillion market cap, (CoinMarketCap, May 17, 2022) interest in cryptocurrency has skyrocketed in recent years (Haar, 2022). Indeed, as of April 2, 2022, the cryptocurrency market was larger than Italy’s GDP, the eighth largest in the world (Adams and Walker, 2022). Of course, with more interest and value comes more risk, … Continue Reading

Florida: the time to move for attorney’s fees post-appraisal

By Wesley Butensky and Christopher Kuleba on Posted in Insurance Coverage, Insurance General, Property Damage & Business Interruption
Most residential property policies provide for an “appraisal” as an alternative dispute resolution mechanism when the insurer concedes coverage for a loss in whole or part, but the amount of the loss is disputed. The resulting appraisal award is binding on the parties absent certain limited grounds for challenging the award or the insurer’s obligation … Continue Reading

Policyholders grapple with strategies for responding to New York’s new insurance disclosure law

By Ann Kramer, Eric Toepfer and Noel Paul on Posted in Insurance Coverage, Insurance General
Insurance disclosure requirements have just become far more complex and onerous for parties that face litigation in New York state courts. In our January article (updated in February), we discussed the particulars of New York’s new Comprehensive Insurance Disclosure Act as it stood when the legislation was signed into law in late December 2021 and as … Continue Reading

Recent opinions provide support for insureds seeking coverage for BIPA claims

By John Vishneski and Andrew Barrios on Posted in Commercial General Liability, Employment Practices Liability, Insurance Coverage, Insurance General
Since the Illinois Supreme Court’s ruling that class actions alleging violations of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (“BIPA”) trigger general liability coverage, the focus of BIPA coverage litigation has shifted to the applicability of three exclusions often found in general liability policies: (1) the Employment Related Practices exclusion, (2) the Violation of Statutes exclusion, … Continue Reading

Guaranteed Rate v. Ace American Insurance – a victory for policyholders seeking coverage for government investigations

By Zachary S. Roman and Dominic Rupprecht on Posted in D&O, E&O, Professional Liability, Financial Insurance Coverage, Government investigations, Insurance Coverage, Insurance General
Government investigations by SEC, DOJ, and state attorney generals are a significant source of exposure for companies and their directors and officers. Companies can spend millions of dollars responding to a government subpoena or investigative demand. The broadly worded demands for information or testimony typically require extensive searches through mountains of paper documents and electronically … Continue Reading

D&O insurance to counter ESG litigation – new issues for insurers and policyholders

By Kya Coletta and Benjamin Fliegel on Posted in D&O, E&O, Professional Liability, Environmental, Insurance Coverage, Insurance General
Strong environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) business policies are critical to address the fluctuating, unprecedented risks in this changing climate. Any company planning to expand and thrive in the next few decades must evaluate its collective conscientiousness for social and environmental factors, including preparing for the social and market upheavals resulting from greenhouse gas … Continue Reading

“Illinois’ ‘targeted tender’ rule – a powerful strategy for insureds to select and deselect triggered policies to maximize coverage

By Evan Knott and Andrew Barrios on Posted in Insurance Coverage, Insurance General
Businesses with liability insurance coverage governed by Illinois law should be mindful to take advantage of Illinois’ “targeted tender” rule, which provides insureds a unique strategy for maximizing insurance recoveries for claims triggering multiple different policies. This rule recognizes an insured’s right to “target tender” one or more concurrent insurance policies from a group of … Continue Reading

Responding to a cyber-related business interruption: best practices

By Brian Himmel and Andy Moss on Posted in Business interruption, Cyberliability, Insurance Coverage, Insurance General
One of the top issues facing business today is the risk of business interruption resulting from a cyber-related attack. Regardless of the form of attack – ransomware, denial of service, data theft, or other form of malware – any resulting failure of an organization’s network systems can have severe consequences, financial and otherwise. These may … Continue Reading

The duty to defend requires an early judgment

By Benjamin Fliegel on Posted in Business interruption, Commercial General Liability, Construction Coverage, Corporate and Transactional Insurance Coverage, Cyberliability, Employment Practices Liability, Financial Insurance Coverage, Insurance Coverage, Insurance General
If an insurance company owes a duty to defend, the dispute should be decided promptly, on the pleadings. Any delay undermines the duty to defend. The scope of the duty to defend should be adjudicated on the pleadings as quickly as possible to give policyholders the true value of their policies and the benefit of … Continue Reading
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