In a recent 93-page opinion found here, Judge William Smith of the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island  decided a host of issues relating to an insurer’s (and an excess insurer’s) duty to defend. 

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Read More Rhode Island Federal Court Decision Addresses Numerous Duty to Defend Issues

On October 9, 2007, North  Dakota Governor John Hoeven appointed Adam Hamm, 36, as the new Insurance Commissioner of North   Dakota.   On October 22, Hamm will succeed Jim Poolman, whose resignation became effective on September 1, 2007  before his term expired to become an insurance industry consultant. 

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Read More Adam Hamm Appointed as New North Dakota Insurance Commissioner

Last week we reported that Prudential Financial, Inc. and one of its subsidiaries, Prudential Retirement Insurance and Annuity Company, has sued State Street & Trust Corp. and State Street Global Advisors over losses allegedly suffered by Prudential clients in two bond funds managed by State Street  (see here). 

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Read More Alaska and Idaho Reportedly Investigate State Street Over Mortgage Investments as States Increase Scrutiny of the Mortgage Crisis

Recently, the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington held that a facultative reinsurer was not bound to follow the fortunes of its cedent for a loss that was outside the scope of the reinsured policy and not paid in good faith. 

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Read More Washington Federal Court Finds that Facultative Reinsurer is not Obligated to Pay a Loss Outside the Scope of the Underlying Policy

On September 28, 2007, a jury in an action venued in the United States District Court, Southern District of Mississippi, found that certain damage to the home of Kevin and Sherrye Webster was caused by wind, wind-blown debris and/or wind-driven rain, which were all covered perils under the Websters’ homeowners’ policy. 

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Read More Wind Loss Liability Verdict Leads To Settlement Of Katrina Suit Before Damages Phase

A California appellate court recently ruled that propulsion manufacturer Aerojet’s payment of approximately $175 million to settle regulatory enforcement actions over liability for groundwater contamination cannot be recovered under certain excess policies absent a final adjudication of liability. 

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Read More Under Certain Policy Language, Settlement Payments Not Recoverable Absent Adjudication in California

At the request of Governor Culver in June of this year, the Iowa Division of Insurance conducted a three-month review of issues relating to long-term care insurance.  The Governor’s request grew out of concerns at both the state and national level regarding long-term care insurance policies and increasing complaints about pricing, rate increases, denial of claims and questionable market practices. 

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Read More Iowa Seeks Reforms to Long-Term Care Insurance

New York Insurance Superintendent Eric Dinallo announced last week that the State is considering a new regulation requiring that all property insurers writing policies covering damage from hurricanes and other natural disasters establish on their books a catastrophe reserve.  If adopted, this regulation would be the first of its kind in the United States. …
Read More New York Proposes Mandatory Requirement for Property Insurers to Maintain Catastrophe Reserves

The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York recently broadly applied a so-called “prior and pending litigation” exclusion to limit coverage for the settlement of a lawsuit, finding that many of the lawsuit’s allegations overlapped with allegations made in a lawsuit filed prior to the inception of the policy. 

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Read More SDNY Applies “Prior And Pending Litigation” Exclusion To Limit Coverage Under D&O Policy

Recently, the United States District Court for the District of Nevada vacated an arbitration panel’s award that consisted of, among other things, punitive damages, finding that the award was in manifest disregard of the law and outside the scope of the panel’s jurisdiction. 

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Read More Nevada Court Vacates Arbitrator’s Award of Punitive, Other Damages