Coverage & Claims

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On October 24, 2012, the Appeals Court of Massachusetts affirmed that an excess insurer’s liability extends only to the amount of loss that exceeds the amount of coverage available from underlying insurance, and not, under usual circumstances, to the total amount of loss. …
Read More Massachusetts Appeals Court Rejects Insured’s Bid For Recovery of Hurricane Katrina Losses Exceeding Stated Property Value Under Excess Policy

In Ace European Ltd & 5 ors v (1) Howden Group (2) Howden North America Inc (formerly Howden Buffalo Inc) [2012] EWHC 2427 (Comm), Mr Justice Field upheld his prior order granting permission to the claimant insurers (the Claimants), to serve proceedings seeking declaratory relief, out of the jurisdiction. …
Read More UK: ACE and Others to Serve Proceedings on Howden Out of Jurisdiction

In Parker and Parker v National Farmers Union Mutual Insurance Society Ltd [2012] EWHC 2156 (Comm), the High Court held that the Defendant insurers, National Farmers Union (NFU), could not avoid the claim of the First Claimant, Mrs. Parker, for the non-disclosure of the Second Claimant, Mr. Parker. The claim related to damage caused to a property and its contents by fire. …
Read More UK: Breach of a Condition Precedent Sufficient for Defendant Insurer to Avoid a Claim and Successfully Counterclaim

Richard McCarthy and Eric Hermanson, attorneys in Edwards Wildman’s Insurance and Reinsurance Department, discussed the ramifications of the Stringfellow ruling in Law360. In the article, “Insurers See Ways Around Calif.’s Landmark Stacking Ruling,” Hermanson commented that the Stringfellow ruling was based on a fairly close reading by the California Supreme Court of the language in the 1966 [standard policy] form and that the Stringfellow holding will not apply automatically to alternate policy language, such as was in effect after 1986. …
Read More Edwards Wildman’s Richard McCarthy and Eric Hermanson Discuss Impact of Stringfellow Ruling in Law360

In Jonathan Smyth v St Andrew’s Insurance plc [2012] EWHC 2511 (QB) Mr John Randall QC (sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge) held that defendant insurers (St Andrew’s) had failed to establish that the claimant’s (Smyth) partner had deliberately started a fire which had caused extensive damage to Smyth’s property, and thus St Andrews could not avail itself of a clause in the relevant insurance policy which excluded damage caused by Smyth’s “family”. …
Read More UK: English High Court Rules on Application of Exclusion for Deliberate Damage in a House Insurance Policy

In a subrogated claim, a restaurant owner’s insurer pursued negligent contractors whose faulty repairs following a flood caused further material damage and loss of profits. The High Court held that the contractors were liable only for reasonable costs of reinstatement, and in a quantum assessment, the reinstatement costs actually incurred should be considered no more than a starting point. …
Read More UK: High Court Considers Basis of Assessment of Reasonable Costs of Reinstatement

Edwards Wildman Speakers:  Joshua P. Broudy, Alexander G. Henlin

When fire or another casualty damages a commercial building, businesses may suffer financial hardship beyond lost income and costs to repair the property. In most situations, a prudent business owner is likely to incur expenses that fall outside the scope of those normally seen in the business’s day-to-day operations. …
Read More AN INVITATION to an Edwards Wildman WEBINAR: US Treatment of Extra Expense Claims

October 18, 2012

Edwards Wildman Speakers:  Richard J. McCarthy, Eric B. Hermanson

It has now been two months since the California Supreme Court handed down its long-awaited ruling in California v. Continental Ins. Co. (the Stringfellow case): rejecting pro rata allocation, and affirming “all sums with stacking” as the preferred method of allocation in long-tail environmental claims under general liability policies. …
Read More COMPLIMENTARY EDWARDS WILDMAN WEBINAR: Life After Stringfellow: All Sums With Stacking Under California Law

The  Marcellus Shale Coalition will be hosting SHALE GAS INSIGHT™ 2012 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia from Wednesday, September 19, through Friday, September 21.  Edwards Wildman attorneys Marc Voses, Tony Hopp, Len Kurfirst and Greg Hoffnagle will provide live updates throughout the conference at www.InsureReinsure.com and @EdwardsWildman on Twitter. …
Read More Edwards Wildman to Attend Premier Industry Fracking Conference in Philadelphia

In Faraday Reinsurance Co Ltd v Howden North America Inc & Anor [2012] EWCA Civ 980, the Court of Appeal ruled that the judge at first instance, Judge Beatson, was entitled to conclude that English proceedings would serve a useful purpose when he refused to set aside a service out of the jurisdiction of negative declaratory proceedings by Faraday against Howden. …
Read More UK: Court of Appeal Affirms Decision to Refuse to Set Aside Service Out of Jurisdiction