SDV Insights

The New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division, published an important decision addressing several fundamental issues regarding how a commercial general liability (CGL) policy applies to long-term property damage.

On October 4, the Second Circuit held that a sub-subcontractor’s insurer had no duty to defend or indemnify an owner and general contractor after a constructio ...

SDV Partner Gregory Podolak recently published "Overbroad Wrap Exclusion Can Hamper Additional Insured Risk Transfer," another Expert Commentary article for IRMI.

A California Court of Appeal recently released a policyholder-friendly decision clarifying the meaning of the often-arising Faulty Workmanship exclusions — j.(5) ...

In early September, California, again, proved itself to be a pro-policyholder state, in a recent court of appeal decision. The court of appeal stated that manuscript additional insured endorsement language which provided coverage, "but only with respect to liability arising out of 'your work' and only as respects ongoing operations..." and "but only with respect to liability arising out of 'your work' which is ongoing...", did not unambiguously foreclose coverage for completed operations.

On September 28, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court rendered an opinion adopting a two-part test for proving a claim under Pennsylvania's bad faith statute. To prevail on a statutory bad faith claim, "the plaintiff must present clear and convincing evidence (1) that the insurer did not have a reasonable basis for denying benefits under the policy and (2) that the insurer knew of or recklessly disregarded its lack of a reasonable basis."

The Connecticut Appellate Court recently held that a single "per-person" auto policy limit of insurance applied to a spouse's loss of consortium claim because it was not truly independent from the related bodily injury claim.

If you have a commercial general liability policy that is subject to South Dakota law, damages resulting from faulty workmanship constitute an “occurrence” ...

LAW360.com recently surveyed attorneys to offer tips for what general contractors should - and shouldn't - do when pursuing additional insured coverage. According to the article, "With the broad array of risks present on a typical construction site, one of a general contractor's top options to shield itself from liability for property damage and bodily injury claims is to secure expansive "additional insured" coverage through its subcontractors."

On June 15, 2017, Governor Rick Scott ratified H.B. 377, which amends Florida's statute of repose for construction defect claims to include, for the first time, a definition for contract completion.