Blog: Insurance Claims

The high-profile cyberattack on Colonial Pipeline Company is a poignant reminder of the new and ever-evolving risks corporate policyholders face. In addition to the risk of loss or damage from conventional causes, such as physical damage to property and equipment, companies must also contemplate their exposure to losses involving electronic transactions and electronically stored information. […]

David G. Jordan and Samantha M. Oliveira are regular contributors to the Construction Law Handbook, Chapter 17.  Click here to purchase.

In a significant victory for policyholders, the Northern District of Illinois has found a duty to defend under a commercial general liability (“CGL”) policy for damages related to COVID-19. In reaching this decision, the court made several significant findings regarding the scope and interpretation of “damages,” “because of,” and “bodily injury” in the context of […]

Emerald Holding, Inc. v. W.R. Berkley Syndicate Limited and Great Lakes Insurance SE US District Court – Central District of CA; Case No. 8:21-CV-00340 Emerald Holding Inc. (“Emerald”), a leading operator of business-to-business trade show events across the United States, has suffered millions of dollars in losses from canceled or postponed in-person events in order […]

In the case of NextSun Energy Littleton, LLC v. Acadia Ins. Co., the United States District Court of Massachusetts held that once direct physical damage from a covered peril causes a covered business interruption loss, any increase in the duration of such business interruption, due to the enforcement of an ordinance or law, extends the […]

Insurers have a duty to handle claims in good faith. Depending on the jurisdiction, an insurer’s failure to settle, unreasonable denial of a claim, or improper claims handling can expose the insurer to damages above the policy limits. Automobile accidents were a driving force behind bad faith litigation last year, with four significant appellate-level decisions […]

Both state and federal courts across the country wrestled with insurance coverage for COVID-19 business interruption claims throughout 2021 with no foreseeable end in sight. That didn’t prevent courts from addressing a myriad of other interesting coverage dilemmas, stemming from ransomware incidents, Biometric Information Privacy Act claims, and SEC-ordered corporate disgorgements. What remains certain each […]

COVID-19 business interruption coverage litigation may have stolen the show in 2020, but those cases should not eclipse other important insurance coverage cases decided throughout this past year. As the courts nationwide struggled with the insurance coverage implications of COVID-19 related business loss, other significant coverage decisions were overshadowed. Read on to learn about how […]

A Missouri court recently refused to apply a New York choice of law provision to policyholder’s Missouri statutory insurance bad faith claim. In Maritz Holdings, Inc. v. Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s London,1 the policyholder, Maritz, sought insurance coverage for cyber-security breaches that resulted in the theft of electronically stored gift card information. Lloyd’s of London provided Maritz […]

The State of Connecticut recently joined a growing list of state governments attempting to hold ExxonMobil (“Exxon”) accountable for causing climate change, bringing the total number of such states to 21. Connecticut alleges that the oil & gas giant lied to the public for decades about climate science and its own contributions of harmful toxins […]

On November 4, 2020, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, San Antonio Division ruled that 124 separate cases of food poisoning at the Pasha Mediterranean Grill restaurant over a four-day period arose out of a single occurrence. As a result of the Court’s ruling in Travelers Casualty Insurance Company of America v. […]

In Optical Services USA/JCI v. Franklin Mut. Ins. Co.,1 the New Jersey Superior Court denied the insurer’s motion to dismiss the policyholders’ COVID-19 coverage suit. The Plaintiffs, in this case, were optometrists’ offices forced to close by New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy’s Executive Order No. 107, which temporarily shut down non-essential businesses to help slow the spread […]