A commentary on insurance coverage issues in Hawaii and beyond
After visiting Galveston last month, I registered concern about living on the island in this post. I never imagined the eye of a deadly hurricane would hit Galveston in my lifetime, let alone one month after my visit.
The reports and television images show near total destruction on Galveston Island. …
In answering a certified question from the Fifth Circuit, the Texas Supreme Court adopted the injury-in-fact trigger for a comprehensive liability policy in Don’s Building Supply Inc. v. OneBeacon Ins. Co., No. 07-0639 (Tex. Aug. 29, 2008).
The insured sold and distributed insulation which was installed in various homes from…
Although it had previously found a policy’s anti-concurrent causation clause to be ambiguous, a Louisiana federal district court reversed itself in Cameron Parish School Bd. v. RSUI Indemn. Co., 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 64902 (W.D. La. Aug. 25, 2008).
The insured school board had several schools damaged by Hurricane Rita. …
In Laeroc Waikiki Parkside, LLC v. Westchester Fire Ins. Co., 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 65711 (D. Haw. Aug. 22, 2008), the Federal District Court of Hawaii determined the insured’s claim for coverage was time-barred under the policy’s two-year limitation period.
The insured purchased a hotel on August 24, 2001. It…
In St. Paul Mercury Ins. Co. v. The Viking Corp., No. 07-1948 (7th Cir. Aug. 21, 2008), the insurer paid for damages to the insured’s building and then filed suit against a fire sprinkler manufacturer. The insured occupied its building for six months when a fire sprinkler manufactured by Viking was activated…
Sometimes you read an opinion and ask why the case was ever filed. What was the plaintiff thinking? This was my impression in reading Vu v. National Fire Indemnity Exchange, Civil Action No. 07-6529, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 58820 (E. D. La. Aug. 4, 2008).
The insureds’ business, located in…
After enduring a tortured, ultimately failed attempt to negotiate a settlement under a renter’s protection policy, the insured sued. The trial court granted United Services Automobile Association’s motion for summary judgment, but the Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals vacated the decision and remanded for a determination of whether USAA’s interpretation of its policy…
My wife and I are in Houston. Houston is not a vacation destination, but we are here on personal business.
On Saturday, we took a side trip to Galveston. Hurricanes were on my mind. Galveston was the sight of a devastating hurricane in 1900. Further, Tropical Storm Fay is currently lurking…
Following the Fifth Circuit, the Ninth Circuit recently found a flood exclusion to be unambiguous. See Northrop Grumman Corp. v. Factor Mut. Ins. Co., No. 07-56760 (9th Cir. Aug. 14, 2008).
The insured, Northrop, owned a shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi. Northrop's primary policy, issued by Factory Mutual, was an "all…
When an insurer pursues a subrogation claim, can the defendant rely on the insureds’ factually deficient discovery responses in a motion for summary judgment? The court in Great American Ins. Co. v. Gordon Trucking, Inc., F053336 (Cal. Ct. App. July 29, 2008) held the defendant could not rely on the insureds’ factually…
