On July 24, 2014, the Massachusetts Appeals Court issued an opinion arising out of a subcontractor’s clear-cutting of environmentally-sensitive property in Western Massachusetts. The decision in Pacific Indemnity Company v. Lampro, et al., 86 Mass. App. Ct. 60 (2014), is notable because the court declared, as a matter of law, that the subcontractor’s erroneous actions were not a fortuitous event for which liability insurance was designed but, rather, a normal, foreseeable, and expected incident of doing business. …
Read More Massachusetts Appeals Court Declares That Failure To Follow Contract Conditions Is Not An “Occurrence” Under Landscaper’s General Liability Insurance Policy

The Connecticut Supreme Court recently held that an insurer has standing to pursue a declaratory judgment action against another insurer of a common insured to determine the existence of a duty to defend and the allocation of defense costs among them. Travelers Cas. & Sur. Co. of America, et al. v. The Netherlands Ins. Co., et al., No. S.C. 19089, — Conn. — (Conn. Aug. 5, 2014). A copy of the decision is available here. …
Read More Connecticut Supreme Court: Insurer Has Standing to Seek Declaratory Judgment Against Fellow Insurer of a Common Insured

The European Commission (the Commission) has invited interested parties to contribute to its consultation on the functioning of the Insurance Block Exemption Regulation (IBER). …
Read More EU: European Commission Announces Review of the Insurance Block Exemption Regulation

In Robin & Barbara Bache and others v Zurich Insurance Plc [2014] EWHC 2430 (TCC), the court was asked to determine a preliminary issue concerning interpretation of a property development policy. The claimants agreed to lease flats yet to be built from a developer, paying a 10% deposit under the agreement. The defendant provided a policy to the developer, for the benefit of the claimants, which stated that “the policy protects you if your developer goes into liquidation…against the loss of contract exchange deposit”.   …
Read More UK: Technology and Construction Court Interprets Policy in Favour of Insured

August 19, 2014
12:00 PM EST

In a fast-paced debate based on a management liability hypothetical, our panel of experienced insurance industry insiders will discuss multiple issues and precedents typically arising in duty to advance cases. …
Read More PLUS Complimentary Webinar: An Insurer’s Duty to Advance, Notwithstanding Coverage Defenses

Today, the NCAA reached a preliminary $75 million settlement for the various concussion-based class actions that were consolidated in In Re National Collegiate Athletic Association Student-Athlete Concussion Injury Litigation. …
Read More NCAA Reaches Preliminary $75 Million Settlement for Concussion-Based Class Actions

We have previously reported on the Law Commission and Scottish Law Commissions’ review of insurance contracts law (see our blog here). The Insurance Bill (the Bill), introduced to Parliament on 17 July 2014, contains the latest proposals to revise the law in this area (to view the latest Bill click here). …
Read More UK: Insurance Contract Law Reform – Insurance Bill Introduced to Parliament

On July 17, 2014, the Senate passed the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2014, extending the original Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (“TRIA”) for an additional seven years. If the bill is ultimately signed into law, it will mark a victory for Senator Schumer, who introduced the original version of the bill in April of this year, as well as many industry participants who have been advocating for an extension of TRIA in order to provide clarity and stability with respect to terrorism risks. …
Read More Senate Passes new TRIA Bill; Awaits Response from House

Insurance industry professionals and attorneys are closely following the most recent concussion-based litigations as they proceed through state and federal courts. In the aftermath of such class actions—which have and likely will continue to result in settlements or awards at least in the hundreds of millions of dollars—the focus shifts to the policies of insurers and reinsurers and whether those policies provide coverage for the underlying claims. …
Read More Declaratory Judgment Action Battles Follow Concussion Class Actions

A New York federal court recently held that the timeliness requirement of Section 3420(d)(2) of the New York Insurance Law does not apply to an insurer’s reservation of rights letter. The decision is helpful for carriers that write liability insurance in New York because it delves into the circumstances in which carriers may (and may not) be found to have waived the right to assert certain coverage defenses under Section 3420(d)(2). …
Read More New York Federal Court Holds That Insurance Law Section 3420(d)(2) Does Not Apply To Reservation Of Rights Letter