The House Financial Services Committee completed its work on a large scale financial regulatory overhaul on Wednesday, when the committee voted to approve the final piece of the Administration’s reform proposal – systemic risk legislation.  The bill – H.R. 3996 – was approved along party lines by a vote of 31-27, setting the stage for consideration on the House floor next week.

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Read More House Committee Completes Action on Financial Regulatory Reform Legislation, Stage Set for Floor Vote Next Week

Last week, the Associated Press announced that the number of bankruptcy filings in federal courts this year have increased by more than one-third.     Based on numbers from the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, the Associated Press reports that about 1.4 million bankruptcy cases were filed between October 1, 2008 and September 30, 2009.…

Read More Federal Court Bankruptcy Filings Are Up By More Than One-Third

The Texas Department of Insurance (“TDI”) has planned a public hearing for Wednesday, December 9, 2009, on whether the TDI should adopt a rule banning the use of discretionary clauses in insurance contracts.  The hearing is the result of a petition filed by the Texas Office of Public Insurance Counsel (“OPIC”) requesting the ban. 

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Read More Texas To Hold Public Hearing Regarding Use of Discretionary Clauses In Insurance Contracts

On December 1, 2009, the New York Appellate Division, First Department, unanimously affirmed Justice Marcy S. Friedman’s March 10, 2009 Decision and Order (entered March 13, 2009, Supreme Court, New York County), dismissing Millennium’s complaint as against defendant Select Insurance Company. 

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Read More UPDATED: NY Appellate Court Affirms Motion Court’s Dismissal of Complaint Seeking Defense Costs Under Directors and Officers Errors and Omission Policy for Investigations That Resulted in Disgorgement of Improperly Acquired Funds

Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge’s Insurance and Reinsurance Department recently published its latest Newsletter, Insurance & Reinsurance Review – December 2009, which contains eight articles about various topics in the insurance and reinsurance industry. 

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Read More Insurance and Reinsurance Review – December 2009

On Tuesday, November 24, 2009, New York Superintendent James Wrynn released a draft of revised rules for no-fault automobile insurance (the “Proposed Draft”).  If promulgated, the Proposed Draft would be the first significant regulatory reform to no-fault automobile insurance in New York since 2002. 

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Read More New York Superintendent Seeks Revisions to No-Fault Insurance Regulation

A Connecticut Superior Court recently awarded summary judgment against an insurer on the basis that the a home seller’s misrepresentation regarding the existence of lead paint in the home constituted an “occurrence” under her insurance policy and, therefore, the insurer had a duty to defend the seller in a lawsuit alleging negligent misrepresentation and was liable for paying the stipulated judgment agreed to by the parties. …
Read More Connecticut Superior Court Held that Home Seller’s Misrepresentation Regarding Lead Paint Constituted “Occurrence” and Insurer Had a Duty to Defend

In Eppich v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, No. 08-CV-01697-PAB-MEH (Sept. 30, 2009), the United States District Court for the District of Colorado held that an insurer failed to meet its burden on summary judgment of establishing that an accident caused by a motorcycle that was not “street legal” at the time it struck and injured a woman riding her bicycle on a trail fell within an uninsured motorist coverage’s exclusion for “land motor vehicle[s] . . . designed for use mainly off public roads.” …
Read More Colorado District Court Denies Insurer’s Motion for Summary Judgment and Finds Issues of Fact as to Reasonableness of Insurer’s Denied Claim for Uninsured Motor Vehicle Coverage

The United States District Court for the Northern District of California, applying California law,  has held that an “insured v. insured” clause exclusion in a D&O policy for claims asserted by an insured against an insured did not preclude the insurer from paying for the entire defense costs incurred by insured and non-insured claimants. …
Read More California Federal Court Rules that “Insured v. Insured” Exclusion Does Not Preclude Insurer’s Payments of Defense Costs in Claim Brought Jointly by Insureds and Non-insureds

On November 17, 2009, a bill was introduced in the United States House of Representatives that would ban insurance companies from canceling, or refusing to renew, the policies of homeowners as the result of Chinese manufactured drywall in the home. …
Read More Chinese Drywall – Legislation Introduced That Would Prevent Chinese Drywall Related Homeowners Policy Cancellations or Non-renewals