Blog: Insurance Claims

In a recent Seventh Circuit decision, Atlanta Gas Light Company v. Navigators Insurance Company, the court addressed a theme that policyholders are often confronted with by insurers – insurers disputing additional insured coverage where the named insured is not named in the underlying action. The court aptly rejected this position since it was undisputed that the bodily injuries alleged in the underlying lawsuits were due to a gas explosion that was “caused, in whole or in part, by” the named insured’s acts or omissions.

Originally published on IRMI.com, copyright 2026 International Risk Management Institute, Inc.

Subcontractor employee bodily injury claims (so-called action over claims) are a staple of construction risk management in the Empire State—so much so that the phrase “labor law” instinctively invites a shudder among the most experienced general contractors. The savvy among them intensely monitor case law developments and the evolution of the insurance market to ensure a cutting-edge, meticulously developed downstream risk transfer plan. And when guidance arrives from an appellate-level court, it’s a moment to take note.

In Connecticut, the “make whole doctrine” enables an insured to have priority for money recovered from a tortfeasor over an insurer’s right to the same source of money, where the amount paid by the insurer is insufficient to fully compensate its insured for the loss suffered.  Hence, by law (absent a contractual agreement stating otherwise), […]

The insurance landscape continues to evolve, shaped by litigation that tests the limits of policy language, coverage obligations, and public policy considerations. In 2025, courts across the country issued several significant rulings that will influence how insurers and policyholders navigate claims and risks. Notable trends in 2025 include disputes over property coverage for wildfire and […]

PUBLISHED IN THE BRIEF, VOLUME 55, NUMBER 1, FALL 2025. © 2025 BY THE AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION. REPRODUCED WITH PERMISSION. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS INFORMATION OR ANY PORTION THEREOF MAY NOT BE COPIED OR DISSEMINATED IN ANY FORM OR BY ANY MEANS OR STORED IN AN ELECTRONIC DATABASE OR RETRIEVAL SYSTEM WITHOUT THE EXPRESS WRITTEN […]

Partner Will Bennett contributes to the latest Engineering News-Record’s Risk Management & Insurance Today Special Advertising Section, “Contracts and Conditions.” The article explores the complex risk landscape of construction joint ventures and the importance of aligning JV agreements with insurance programs. As Will notes, “It is not intuitive to get a JV agreement and all […]

PUBLISHED IN THE BRIEF, VOLUME 54, NUMBER 2, WINTER 2025. © 2025 BY THE AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION. REPRODUCED WITH PERMISSION. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS INFORMATION OR ANY PORTION THEREOF MAY NOT BE COPIED OR DISSEMINATED IN ANY FORM OR BY ANY MEANS OR STORED IN AN ELECTRONIC DATABASE OR RETRIEVAL SYSTEM WITHOUT THE EXPRESS WRITTEN […]

The risks and losses associated with construction operations and property development push many insurance concepts to their limits. As a result, the construction industry has long been at the forefront of many complex insurance coverage issues and both drives but also depends on market standards to assess and adequately address risks.

Builder’s risk policies are manuscript and complex, and many contractors don’t fully understand the nuances of how and where the coverages they need come from in the policy. Time and again we see contractors taking risk contractually that builder’s risk insurance could have supported, but the policies fall short for reasons identified in the checklist. […]

Federal and state courts tackled a myriad of interesting insurance-related issues this past year. The U.S. Supreme Court also surprisingly addressed coverage issues in 2024, in not one—but two—decisions. It is rare for the Supreme Court to confront insurance coverage issues which usually involve matters of state law. The highest court’s assessment of the nuances […]

California’s complex saga of long-tail injury coverage under general liability policies took an interesting turn in the California Supreme Court’s recent decision in Truck Ins. Exch. v. Kaiser Cement.¹  In Truck, the court made it clear that Insureds can access excess policy limits without first exhausting all triggered underlying primary coverage, provided the underlying limits for the same policy period have been exhausted.

A recent decision by a federal court helps clear the path to coverage for property owners this hurricane season. The Court deemed one property policy’s flood exclusion inapplicable to bar coverage for water damage from backed-up drainage and overflow caused by excessive rainfall. The case, styled G.E.M.S. Partners LLC v. AmGUARD Ins. Co., — F.Supp. 3d —, No. CV 22-1664, 2024 WL 3568932 (D.N.J. July 29, 2024)), involved a familiar dispute between the insured and insurer following damage to covered property after a named storm’s heavy rainfall.