Homeowners Insurance
Sinkhole Coverage Battles Continue in Florida as Court Confirms It Will Not Apply Statutory Definition of "Structural Damage" Retroactively
A federal district court in Florida has confirmed that the new statutory definition of "structural damage" will not be applied retroactively in an insurance coverage case involving a sinkhole. Read More

Homeowners Insurance
West Virginia's Highest Court Finds "Collapse" to be Ambiguous and Rules that It Includes Something Less than "Complete Falling In"
West Virginia's highest court, the Supreme Court of Appeals, has ruled that the term "collapse" as used (but not defined) in a homeowner's insurance policy was ambiguous, meant something less than "complete falling in" of a kitchen floor, and included "substantial impairment of the structural integrity" of the floor. The court also held that whether an insured should have known that decay was causing her kitchen floor to sink was a genuine issue of material fact that had to be decided by a jury. Read More

Homeowners Insurance
Statements in Bankruptcy Schedules Doom Insured's Ability to Later Claim Damages under Her Homeowners Policy Based on Judicial Estoppel
A homeowner"s statements in her bankruptcy case about property she owned have doomed the claim the subsequently filed under her homeowners policy for damages she allegedly suffered as a result of a fire in her home based on judicial estoppel. Read More

Homeowners Insurance
Lead Exclusion in Landlord's Policy Did Not Violate Public Policy, Appellate Court Holds
An intermediate appellate court in New York has affirmed a trial court's decision that a lead exclusion in a landlord's insurance policy did not violate public policy and barred coverage of a tenant's claims for bodily injury allegedly sustained as a result of lead poisoning. Read More