Effective November 8, 2007, the Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation implemented Regulation 67, which provides new requirements for the retention and maintenance of records necessary for market conduct examinations. …
Read More Rhode Island Adopts Record Retention Regulation for Insurance Companies

Last week, Standard & Poor’s (“S&P”) revealed that a $190 million catastrophe bond issued by special purpose vehicle KAMP RE 2005 Ltd. (“KAMP RE”) on behalf of Swiss Reinsurance America Corp., (“Swiss Re”) is about to be triggered. …
Read More KAMP RE Cat Bond About to be Triggered

On Tuesday, Washington voters approved a measure to allow plaintiffs to receive treble damages from claims alleging bad faith claims handling by an insurer.   This is a marked increase from the current law that limits recoveries resulting from bad faith of an insurer to the actual damages incurred. 

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Read More Washington Voters Approve Measure to Allow Treble Damages in Insurer Bad Faith Actions

In Zurich American Ins. Co. v. The Superior Court of Los Angeles County, et al., No. B194793 (Cal. App., 2nd Dist., Oct. 11, 2007), an appellate panel reversed a lower court’s order and held that the attorney-client privilege extends to communications between an insurer’s employees regarding legal advice and strategy, even if such communications do not contain advice directly from counsel, when disclosure is reasonably necessary for the transmission of that information or to further the purpose of the legal consultation. …
Read More California Appellate Court Rejects Narrow Definition of Attorney-Client Privilege With Respect to Documents Contained in Insurer’s Claims Files

The Federal District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi recently unsealed the court record in a lawsuit filed by State Farm Fire and Casualty Company (“State Farm”) against the Attorney General of Mississippi, Jim Hood. 

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Read More State Farm Sues Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood

On November 8, 2007, Louisiana Attorney General Charles C. Foti, Jr. announced that his office filed a petition in New Orleans Civil District Court suit against Allstate Insurance Company, Lafayette Insurance Company, Xactware, Inc., Marshall & Swift/Boeckh, LLC, Insurance Services Office, Inc., State Farm Fire and Casualty Company, USAA Casualty Insurance Company, Farmers Insurance Exchange, Standard Fire Insurance Company and McKinsey & Company for alleged violations of the Louisiana Monopolies Act. …
Read More Louisiana AG Files State Antitrust Suit Against Insurers

In Transportation Insurance Company v. The Regency Roofing Companies, Inc., C.A. No. 05-80830 (S.D. Fla. Oct. 2, 2007), the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida recently ruled that the “known loss” exclusion in a commercial general liability (“CGL”) policy did not preclude coverage for mold related injuries that arose from the insured’s faulty roof installation and repair. 

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Read More Federal District Court Holds “Known Loss” Exclusion Does Not Apply to Mold Damage Resulting From Faulty Roof Repair

In Encarnacion v. 20th Century Ins. Co., Nos. B179825 & 182737 (Cal. Ct. App. Sept. 27, 2007), an unreported decision, a California appeals court recently affirmed a multimillion-dollar verdict against an insurer that failed to settle the underlying suit for the $100,000 policy limit. 

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Read More California Court Affirms Multimillion-Dollar Verdict Against Insurer That Failed to Settle Underlying Case for $100,000 Policy Limit

In Garcia v. Federal Ins. Co., No. SC06-2524 (Fla. Oct. 25, 2007), on two questions certified by the Eleventh Circuit, the Florida Supreme Court recently held that an employer’s insurance policy was not ambiguous and that it covered an employee, as an additional insured, only when the employee was vicariously liable for her employer’s conduct. 

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Read More Coverage for Additional Insured Limited to Vicarious Liability

Bermuda Premier Ewart Brown of the Progressive Labour Party (“PLP”) has announced, through a video posted on YouTube, that Bermuda will hold its first general election since 2003. 

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Read More Bermuda Dissolves Parliament, Will Hold General Election In December