Industry news, expert analysis, and daily updates on the most significant insurance coverage legal developments—from the insurance and legal experts of The National Underwriter Company.
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Commercial Lines
No Coverage for Sheriff’s Employees Who Allegedly Had Sex with Prisoner without Her Consent
A federal district court in Illinois has ruled that an insurer was not obligated to defend claims against employees of a county sheriff that they had sex with a prisoner without her consent and provided her with unlawful drugs and alcohol, ruling that the alleged acts were not within their scope of employment. The case is U.S. Specialty Ins. Co. v. Rhoads, No. 11–CV–2217 (C.D. Ill. June 4, 2013). Read More
Employee Benefits
Court Denies Motion to Compel Insurer to Produce Document Cited in Privilege Log
A federal district court in Colorado has denied a motion to compel an insurer to produce a document cited in its privilege log, finding it protected by the attorney–client privilege. The case is Wellinger Family Trust 1998 v. Hartford Life and Accident Ins. Co., No. 11–cv–02568–CMA–BNB (D. Colo. June 5, 2013). Read More
Professional Liability Insurance
NY: Having Breached Duty to Defend, Liability Insurer May Not Cite Policy Exclusions to Escape Duty to Indemnify Insured for Judgment
New York’s highest court, the Court of Appeals, has held that, when a liability insurer has breached its duty to defend its insured, the insurer may not later rely on policy exclusions to escape its duty to indemnify the insured for a judgment against the insured. The court ruled that an insurance company that had disclaimed its duty to defend, “may litigate only the validity of its disclaimer,” and stated that if “the disclaimer is found bad, the insurance company must indemnify its insured for the resulting judgment, even if policy exclusions would otherwise have negated the duty to indemnify. This rule will give insurers an incentive to defend the cases they are bound by law to defend, and thus to give insureds the full benefit of their bargain. It would be unfair to insureds, and would promote unnecessary and wasteful litigation, if an insurer, having wrongfully abandoned its insured’s defense, could then require the insured to litigate the effect of policy exclusions on the duty to indemnify.” Read More
Exclusions
Court Refuses to Dismiss Claim Seeking Coverage for Alleged Loss of Dozens of Pallets of Chemicals at Warehouse
A federal district court in Louisiana has refused to dismiss a complaint against an insurance company seeking coverage for the alleged loss of several dozen pallets of bulk chemicals from a warehouse, finding that three exclusions in the policy did not clearly bar coverage. Read More
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Alternative Risk and Captives
Transparency Surrounding “Shadow Insurance” is Challenged in NY Report
The New York State Department of Financial Services did not give high grades to insurance companies regarding the disclosures they make about their involvement with “shadow insurance.” Read More
Alternative Risk and Captives
Shadow Insurance: The Specifics in the New York Report
After an 11 month investigation by the New York State Department of Financial Services, it has issued a report that asserts that insurers use “shadow insurance” in large measure “to do an end–run around higher reserve requirements that states established for certain term and universal life insurance policies.” A table in the DFS report that summarizes what it characterizes as “the artificial boosts in capital realized from the transactions involving non–New York–based affiliates utilizing parental guarantees,” as reported by nine New York–based insurers, found increases in risk–based capital (“RBC”) for those affiliates ranging from 0 percent to 794 percent in the aggregate (excluding what the DFS said was “one outlier reporting negative changes”). The average increase in RBC: about 248 percent.
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View All Legislative/Regulatory Developments |
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Steven A. Meyerowitz, ESQ.
Director, FC&S Legal
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Victoria Prussen Spears, ESQ.
Associate Director, FC&S Legal |
FC&S Legal Editorial Advisory Board |
Mitchell J. Auslander, Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP
Carrie Cope, Schuyler, Roche & Crisham, P.C.
Anjali C. Das, Wilson Elser
John F. Finnegan, Chadbourne & Parke LLP
Michele L. Jacobson, Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP
Timothy P. Law, Reed Smith LLP
Donald S. Malecki, Malecki, Deimling, Nielander & Associates, LLC
Cort T. Malone, Anderson Kill & Olick, P.C.
D. Milone, Kelley Drye & Warren LLP
Joseph P. Monteleone, Tressler LLP
Anne M. Murray, Rivkin Radler LLP
Jerold Oshinsky, Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman LLP
Seth B. Schafler, Proskauer Rose LLP
David D. Thamann, The National Underwriter Company |
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INDUSTRY NEWS |
Distracted Driving’s Dangers Highlighted in New AAA Study Read More
The Appearance of Coverage Read More
Generali to Sell Its Stakes in Mexico to Banorte for $857.5 Million Read More |
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NEW PRODUCTS |
ACE Launches New Contractors Pollution Liability Coverage for Health Care Industry Construction Projects Read More |
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PEOPLE |
Ecclesiastical Insurance Announces Changes to Senior Leadership Team Read More |
View All Industry News |
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CALENDAR |
Employment Practices Liability Insurance Read More
HarrisMartin’s Superstorm Sandy Insurance Coverage Litigation Conference Read More
Asbestos Claims & Litigation
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View Full Calendar |
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INSURANCE COVERAGE LAW REPORT |
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Focus On: Inadvertent Omission of Exclusion Created Only the Appearance of Coverage, Circuit Finds in Upholding Decision Overturning Jury Verdict in Insured’s Favor Read More
State Responses to Superstorm Sandy and Other Natural Disasters: Implications for Ceding Companies and their Reinsurers Read More
Insurance Certificates and Evidence of Insurance for Lease Transactions Read More |
View Entire June Insurance Coverage Law Report |
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