A Florida district court recently denied two insurers’ motion to dismiss a count for breach of the implied warranty of good faith and fair dealing.  Arlen House East Condo. v. QBE Int’l Ins. Ltd., No. 07-23199, 2008 WL 4500690 (S.D. Fla. Sept. 30, 2008).  The court rejected the insurers’ argument that the breach of implied warranty count was merely a “disguised” first-party statutory bad faith claim. 

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Read More Florida District Court Refuses to Dismiss Claim for Breach of Implied Warranty of Good Faith, Holding that It Was Not a Bad Faith Claim in Disguise

In Wachovia Ins. Serv., Inc. v. Toomey, No. 06-1110, 2008 WL 4379587 (Fla. Sept. 29, 2008), the Florida Supreme Court answered two interrelated, certified questions from the Eleventh Circuit. 

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Read More Florida Supreme Court Holds that an Insured Can Assign its Causes of Action Against a Nonparty Insurance Broker and Obtain a Release, Consistent with the Court’s Decision in Cope

At London’s Royal Courts of Justice today Mr Justice Burton handed down a hugely important decision regarding the trigger for employers’ liability policies in the context of long tail asbestos diseases. …
Read More UK: EL Policies Triggered by Exposure to Asbestos and Not Development of Disease

On Tuesday, November 18, 2008, the House Committee on Financial Services held a hearing regarding oversight of the Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (the “Act”), government lending and insurance facilities, and their impact on the current economy and credit availability. …
Read More Aon General Counsel Testifies Before House Committee on Financial Services on Proposed Insurance Program to Restore Liquidity to Financial Institutions

Sarah Wilson, Director and Insurance Sector Leader at the FSA has given a speech on the FSA’s view of life insurance. She acknowledged that the insurance sector was coming under increased attention as a result of the turbulence in financial markets but stressed that it was stronger and better placed to deal with the stressed market conditions than during the last bear market of 2003 

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Read More UK: FSA’s View of Life Insurance

In a recent decision, the Florida Supreme Court found that the statutory formula for calculating attorney’s fee awards for disputed workers’ compensation claims is ambiguous and held that the awards should be determined using a multi-factor reasonableness test. …
Read More Florida Supreme Court Holds Workers’ Compensation Attorney’s Fee Statute Ambiguous

The Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution (RCEP) was appointed “to advise [the UK government] on matters, both national and international, concerning the pollution of the environment; on the adequacy of research in this field; and the future possibilities of danger to the environment.” …
Read More Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution Issues Report on Nanotechnology

The United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has asked the Florida Supreme Court to decide if liability insurance policies cover damages for violations of a federal law prohibiting the transmission of unsolicited advertisements by facsimile. …
Read More 11th Circuit Asks Florida Supreme Court to Decide Whether Liability Policy Covers Injury Caused by Faxing Unsolicited Advertisements

As reported in our previous blog posts here and here, Congress has for some time been considering an Optional Federal Charter that would allow insurance companies to choose between state and federal regulation.  As an outgrowth of this concept and in light of the recent the federal bailout of insurance giant America International Group, Congress is now considering expanding the power of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (“FDIC”) to cover insurance companies. …
Read More FDIC Chairman Indicates that FDIC’s Powers Could Extend to Insurers