In Farm Bureau Life Insurance Co. v. Chubb Custom Insurance Co. et al., the Iowa Supreme Court affirmed the district court’s ruling that Farm Bureau was not entitled to liability coverage in its disputes with two applicants that were HIV positive.
Read More Iowa Supreme Court Upholds Denial of Coverage to Life Insurer For Failure to Disclose Applicants’ HIV Positive Status

On June 3, 2010 Judge Robert G. Doumar of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia found that a homeowner’s policy did not cover damages associated with Chinese manufactured drywall.
Read More Federal Court Rules No Coverage for Chinese Drywall Damages Under Homeowner’s Policy

Insurers and regulators are addressing Green Building issues at breakneck speed. With state regulators approving new policy endorsements and insurers offering Green Building discounts, insuring properties that are “green” is here to stay.
Read More Insurers Encourage Green Building

EAPD attorneys recently obtained dismissal of a declaratory judgment action seeking coverage under a commercial general liability (“CGL”) policy for the cost of repairing poorly finished concrete. …
Read More New Hampshire Court Dismisses Suit Seeking Coverage Under CGL Policy For Subcontractor’s Faulty Work

In Sousa v London Borough of Waltham Forest (CC (Leeds) (John Behrens) 12/1/2010) the court found that an insurer, having brought a subrogated claim, was entitled to recover from the defendant a success fee paid under a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA) as part of the insurer’s costs of the subrogated claim, in which the insurer had been successful. …
Read More UK: Subrogation and Conditional Fee Agreements

The Northern Ireland Executive has published its analysis of the responses to its consultation paper on pleural plaques. The paper is the latest from Northern Ireland in the wake of the House of Lords’ decision in Johnson v NEI International Combustion [2007] UKHL 39 which found that asymptomatic pleural plaques were not compensatable. …
Read More UK: Northern Ireland to Bring Back Compensation for Pleural Plaques

On April 20, 2010, an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig in the Gulf of Mexico touched off a subsurface leak in a BP oil well at the ocean’s floor.  At the time, the Deepwater Horizon was reportedly conducting drilling activities pursuant to a contract between Transocean Ltd. and Transocean subsidiaries, and BP America Production Company. …
Read More Lloyd’s Syndicates File Declaratory Judgment Action Against BP

This updates our December 3, 2009 posting.  The Texas Department of Insurance (“TDI”) has officially proposed regulations banning the use of discretionary clauses in insurance contracts.  The regulations are the result of a petition filed by the Texas Office of Public Insurance Counsel (OPIC) on October 28, 2009 requesting the ban. …
Read More UPDATE: Texas Moves Closer to Banning Use of Discretionary Clauses In Insurance Contracts

Pacific Employers Insurance Company (“PEIC”) entered into a facultative reinsurance certificate with Global Reinsurance Corporation of America, f/k/a Constitution Reinsurance Corporation (“Global”), which reinsured an umbrella commercial liability insurance policy issued by PEIC to Buffalo Forge Company. …
Read More Federal Court Finds that Limit of Liability Cap in Facultative Certificate Includes a Cedent’s Defense Expenses

In late May, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released a supplemental proposed rule that would result in Medicare payment reductions to hospitals.  Meanwhile, questions have begun to arise over the future of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC), given the upcoming inception of the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) that was created by the new healthcare overhaul law (Public Law 111-148 and 111-152). …
Read More Healthcare News from Capitol Hill and the Department of Health and Human Services – June 1, 2010