Employee Benefits
4th Circuit: Insurer Must Pay AD&D Benefits to Beneficiary of Drunk Driver Killed in Crash
Finding the term “accident” as applied to a claim arising from a drunk driving crash to be “ambiguous,” the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has ordered an insurer to pay accidental death and dismemberment benefits under two ERISA benefits plans to the widow of a drunk driver. The circuit court pointed out that the insurer could have defined “accident” or even imposed a limitation on benefits for any loss resulting from the insured’s driving with a blood alcohol content above the legal limit of the state in which the vehicle was driven. Instead, it ruled, the policy language left “accident” undefined and “susceptible to more than one interpretation. Read More

Fire Insurance
Lease Did Not Expressly Rebut Presumption that Landlord and Tenant Were Coinsureds under Landlord’s Fire Policy, Nebraska’s Top Court Rules
The terms of a lease between a landlord and a tenant did not permit an action by the landlord’s insurer against the tenant for fire damages allegedly caused by the tenant’s negligence, the Nebraska Supreme Court has held. It concluded that the provisions of the lease were insufficient to overcome the presumption that the tenant was a coinsured under the landlord’s fire insurance policy and the landlord and his insurer therefore could not bring a subrogation action against the tenant. Read More

Automobile Insurance
No-Fault Law Does Not Require Insurer to Pay Entire Cost of Modifying Van for Insured’s Wheelchair, Michigan’s Top Court Holds
The Supreme Court of Michigan has held that the state’s no-fault insurance act did not require an insurer to pay the entire cost of a van modified to accommodate the insured’s wheelchair, including both the base price of the van and the separately introduced modifications, but only required that the insurer pay for the modifications. Read More

Automobile Insurance
Eighth Circuit Finds Policy Had Been Properly Canceled for Nonpayment Days Before Insured and Person in His Car Were Killed
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit has affirmed a district court’s decision that an insurance company had canceled an automobile policy effective four days before the insured and a passenger in his car were killed in an accident.  Read More