Tag Archives: Policyholders

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

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

Insurance companies in run-off

By Elizabeth F. Vieyra and Tim Law on Posted in Insurance Coverage, Insurance Insolvency & Regulatory
What is an insurance company “in run-off”? An insurance company is considered to be in run-off when it ceases selling new insurance policies. The essential business of an insurance company is risk pooling. Insurance companies evaluate risks, price and sell insurance policies that assume risks, and pay claims to policyholders that suffer losses covered by … Continue Reading

FCA v. Arch and others – The UK Supreme Court’s final word on business interruption insurance losses in light of the COVID-19 pandemic

By Peter Hardy, Margaret Campbell, Mark Pring, Laura-May Scott, Catherine Lewis, Emily McMahan, Charlotte Stewart-Jones and Thomas Morgan on Posted in Insurance Coverage, Property Damage & Business Interruption
The United Kingdom Supreme Court (UKSC) handed down its judgment on 15 January 2021 in The Financial Conduct Authority v. Arch Insurance (UK) Limited and Others. This test case was brought by the FCA on behalf of SME business interruption (BI) policyholders who have suffered financial losses as a result of COVID-19. The High Court … Continue Reading

D&O insurance basics (Part 2)

By Andy Moss and Carolyn Rosenberg on Posted in Commercial General Liability, D&O, E&O, Professional Liability, Insurance Coverage, Insurance General
Directors’ and officers’ liability (D&O) insurance protects the personal assets of corporate directors and officers in the event of a lawsuit or other “claim” made against them for, among other things, an alleged breach of their duties in managing the organization.  D&O insurance directly covers individual directors and officers for their defense costs, judgments against … Continue Reading

D&O insurance basics (Part 1)

By Carolyn Rosenberg and Andy Moss on Posted in D&O, E&O, Professional Liability, Insurance Coverage, Insurance General, Uncategorized
This is the first of two posts discussing several major aspects of directors’ and officers’ liability (“D&O”) insurance coverage.  Companies approaching a policy renewal deadline, looking to place D&O insurance for the first time, considering increasing the size or structure of an existing D&O insurance program, or otherwise evaluating their overall risk management strategy may … Continue Reading

COVID-19 event cancellation insurance – good news and bad news

By Mark Pring, Elizabeth F. Vieyra and Anthony B. Crawford on Posted in Commercial General Liability, Insurance Coverage, Insurance General
A concert promoter cancels a sold-out show of a world-renowned recording artist, reimbursing millions of dollars in ticket sales as a result.  If the reason for the cancellation was COVID-19, does insurance cover that? Event Cancellation Insurance Basics Event cancellation insurance generally provides coverage only when there has been a triggering event under the policy.  … Continue Reading

Join us for an on-demand webinar “What policyholders really need to know about insurance for COVID-19”

By Elizabeth F. Vieyra on Posted in Commercial General Liability, D&O, E&O, Professional Liability, Insurance Coverage, Insurance General, Property Damage & Business Interruption, Uncategorized
Reed Smith Insurance Recovery partners John Shugrue, John Ellison, Amber Finch, Richard Lewis, and Matthew Weaver offer discussion and analysis on key issues relevant to businesses seeking, or evaluating whether to seek, coverage for COVID-19 losses. This webinar is available on demand and you can register here. Here’s a brief summary of the topics addressed in … Continue Reading

Will your EPLI policy cover “wage and hour” claims in the wake of the California Court of Appeal’s decision in Southern California Pizza?

By Lilit Asadourian, Maisie McDonald and Lavinia S. Osilesi on Posted in Employment Practices Liability, Insurance Coverage, Insurance News of Note
It has long been acknowledged that typical Employment Practices Liability Insurance (EPLI) policies exclude coverage for “wage and hour” claims.[1] [2]  However, a recent California Court of Appeal decision, Southern California Pizza Co., LLC v. Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s, London Subscribing to Policy Number 11EPL-20208,[3] narrows the definition of what is a wage and hour … Continue Reading

Evaluating Insurance Coverage In The Rapidly Evolving World of 3D Printing

By John Schryber on Posted in Insurance Coverage, Insurance General
As 3D printing becomes more prevalent, liability risks to individuals and businesses will likely rise.  Corporate policyholders should explore whether their existing insurance provides adequate coverage or whether additional coverage is needed. This technology presents many types of risks, including design and intellectual infringements, product liability risks and environmental liability risks, to name a few. … Continue Reading
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