Category: Property

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Certifies COVID-19 Question to the California Supreme Court

Photo by Kaique Rocha on Pexels.com

While insurers have been successful in dismissing most COVID-19 property damage claims, especially in federal court, many of the coverage issues that arise in federal court actions are resolved based on state law. When a federal court finds that resolution of a dispute is governed by state law and that there is no controlling state law precedent, the court may certify the state law question to that state’s supreme court for resolution.

Continue reading “Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Certifies COVID-19 Question to the California Supreme Court” →

Arbitration Clause Upheld In Coverage Dispute

Photo by Dylan Bueltel on Pexels.com

Coverage disputes between US policyholders and non-US insurers like Underwriters at Lloyd’s of London continue to raise jurisdictional and related issues in US courts. The issues become further exacerbated when there is an arbitration clause in the insurance contract and the non-US insurer seeks to stay the coverage litigation and compel arbitration under the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (the “New York Convention), to which the US and the UK and most EU countries are signatories.

In a recent case, a Louisiana federal court, hearing the case after removal from the state court, granted the insurers’ motion to stay litigation and compel arbitration.

Continue reading “Arbitration Clause Upheld In Coverage Dispute” →

COVID-19 and Insurance Premiums

Photo by Karolina Grabowska on Pexels.com
Click Here for Podcast

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about myriad issues including whether there is insurance coverage for losses allegedly caused by the virus and its collateral effects. In the United States, insurance companies have been largely successful in avoiding coverage in the majority of disputes over whether commercial property policies provide coverage under business income and extra expense provisions for COVID-19 losses. That is because most commercial property policies require direct physical loss or damage to property for coverage to apply.

To avoid the issue of alleging and proving direct physical loss, one insured took a different tactic. It argued that it was being overcharged its insurance premium because its exposure to loss was much lower due to COVID-19. An interesting and novel approach.

Continue reading “COVID-19 and Insurance Premiums” →

Puerto Rico Federal Court Compels Arbitration Under the New York Convention

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

I recently posted about the Ninth Circuit’s decision compelling arbitration under the New York Convention after holding that the McCarran-Ferguson Act did not reverse preempt the Convention. Two months earlier, the federal district court in Puerto Rico reached the same conclusion.

Continue reading “Puerto Rico Federal Court Compels Arbitration Under the New York Convention” →

What Does the First COVID-19 Appellate Decision Mean?

It was bound to happen sooner or later.  Finally, an appellate court has weighed in on a COVID-19 property damage coverage dispute.  This first appellate decision goes into the insurer win column. So what does it mean for future cases?

Continue reading “What Does the First COVID-19 Appellate Decision Mean?” →

Forum Shopping and COVID-19 Coverage Cases

Photo by cottonbro on Pexels.com

When bringing a lawsuit there is often strategy to the venue chosen. This is especially true in insurance coverage cases where the outcome can vary by jurisdiction. Another consideration is whether the disputed contract, like an insurance contract, has a forum selection clause, which dictates the venue for the dispute. In a recent case, a court addressed both these issues in deciding a motion to dismiss. The case is a COVID-19 business interruption coverage dispute.

Continue reading “Forum Shopping and COVID-19 Coverage Cases” →

Brokers and Insurers Prevail in COVID-19 Coverage Action

Photo by Charlotte May on Pexels.com

There is no question that the COVID-19 restrictions imposed by local and state governments have had an unintentional but devastating effect on businesses both large, medium and especially small. Restaurants, movie theaters, live entertainment, sports. gyms, salons and many other businesses have closed because of the lack of business. While many of these businesses purchased insurance with coverages for business income and extra expense, the lack of direct physical loss of or damage to property has meant that these policies, for the most part, do not cover the loss of business caused by the government shut-down orders.

Continue reading “Brokers and Insurers Prevail in COVID-19 Coverage Action” →

Broad Policy Endorsement Dooms Motion to Dismiss in COVID-19 Case

Photo by Anna Shvets on Pexels.com

COVID-19 business interruption rulings periodically have interesting quirks worth discussing. While the majority of cases are being dismissed at the pleading stage, some are not for various reasons. In a recent Ohio state court case, the motion to dismiss on the pleadings was denied in major part because of an endorsement expanding coverage in a business property policy for a restaurant.

Continue reading “Broad Policy Endorsement Dooms Motion to Dismiss in COVID-19 Case” →

When Rescission of an Insurance Policy Is Not in the Cards

Photo by Victoria Borodinova on Pexels.com

Rescission, as we all know, is one of those last-resort legal remedies that is rarely granted. In the insurance world, it is especially difficult for an insurance company to rescind an insurance policy after it is issued to the policyholder.

Where, however, the policyholder misrepresents the risk or itself or some other critical element that goes to the underwriting decision, the remedy of rescission may be available to the insurance company to avoid any obligation to the policyholder. For example, if in the insurance application the policyholder or its agent misrepresents that the insured building has a working fire sprinkler system, the insurance company may have a good case to rescind the policy.

What happens if the insurance company finds out about the misrepresentation, but continues to accept the policyholder’s premium payments? That was one of the issues addressed in a recent New York appellate case.

Continue reading “When Rescission of an Insurance Policy Is Not in the Cards” →

While the COVID-19 Dismissals Pile Up, the Allegations May Matter

Photo by cottonbro on Pexels.com

It’s been since September that I have blogged about business income and extra expense and civil authority order insurance coverage for COVID-19 closures and the multiple court cases addressing motions to dismiss. That’s because the cases have been coming down by the dozen, mostly, but not always, on the side of the insurance carrier.

In one of the recent cases, another motion to dismiss the complaint granted with prejudice in favor of the insurer, the court’s analysis was extremely thorough and persuasive. But what struck me most was the court’s commentary on the differences chosen by policyholder counsel in articulating the allegations in the complaint. Those differences are obvious and, although I have not done a statistical analysis, it appears those differences often account for the reasons why some courts have not dismissed these COVID-19 cases. What do you think?

Continue reading “While the COVID-19 Dismissals Pile Up, the Allegations May Matter” →