Massachusetts Developments

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On January 10, 2019, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker signed House Bill No. 4806 into law.  The bill amends certain provisions of the state data breach notification law, increasing reporting requirements on a person or agency collecting personal information of Massachusetts residents.
Read More Updates to Massachusetts Data Breach Laws: House Bill No. 4806

On January 10, 2019, Massachusetts Governor Baker signed “An Act relative to consumer protection from security breaches” (House Bill No. 4806), which added new requirements and obligations for companies that experience a data breach.
Read More Massachusetts Amendments Impose Additional Data Security Breach Requirements

All eyes have been focused on the federal mid-term elections and the impact on the U.S. House and Senate. Post-mortems by the pundits have begun. See Locke Lord’s take on the mid-terms. The divided government in Washington, D.C. may well stymie efforts to regulate the insurance industry at the federal…
Read More 2018 Statewide Elections: A Mixed Bag for Insurers?

The Massachusetts Joint Committee on Financial Services recently held a hearing on legislation that would require motor vehicle insurers to check an applicant’s driving history before providing a premium quote. House Bill 3682, titled “an act relative to fair and accurate motor vehicle insurance quotes,” is sponsored by the Committee’s…
Read More Massachusetts Legislation on Motor Vehicle Insurance Quotes

Three bills have recently been filed in the Massachusetts legislature that would require motor vehicle insurers to pay a minimum hourly labor rate when reimbursing repair shops in the State. Identical bills by Rep. Cabral (H494) and Sen. Welch (S599) would create this minimum rate by using the average rate…

Read More Auto Labor Rate Legislation in Massachusetts

A Massachusetts federal court recently denied a pre-award petition to remove a party-appointed arbitrator finding that the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) did not authorize the court to order arbitrator removal before a final arbitration award has been issued. The parties disputed whether the qualification requirements of the arbitration clause in…
Read More Massachusetts Federal Court Rejects Pre-Award Challenge Based On Arbitrator Qualifications

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court recently rejected the application of the “Selective Tender Rule” as against Massachusetts law and public policy. On a certified question from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, the Court found that where two workers’ compensation insurance policies issued by different companies provide…
Read More Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Approves Equitable Contribution Among Co-Insurers And Rejects “Selective Tender Rule”

In Boyle v. Zurich American Insurance Company, 472 Mass. 649 (2015), decided on September 14, 2015, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (the “SJC”) indicated, to the dismay of the insurance defense bar, that the right to a defense under a liability insurance policy is not merely contractual, but rather…
Read More Massachusetts Highest Court Issues Important Decision On Insurers’ Duty to Defend and Liability for Multiple Damages

In Preferred Mutual Insurance Company v. Vermont Mutual Insurance Company, 87 Mass App Ct. 510 (June 17, 2015), the Massachusetts Appeals Court discussed several interesting insurance coverage issues when it addressed a dispute between a homeowner’s insurer and a CGL insurer. The facts of the case were as follows.
Read More Massachusetts Appeals Court Holds Primary Insurer’s Excess “Other Insurance” Clause Does Not Avoid Duty To Defend