2008

Burlington Insurance Company wins again.  The Ninth Circuit of Appeals issued an unpublished decision a few months ago entitled Burlington Insurance v. Steve’s Ag Services, which appears to perpetuate some of the logic flaws in the original Burlington decision.  Although the court refused to explain the underlying facts (instead simply stating "the parties are…

  The Pacific Business News reports here that hurricane insurance should be more easily available thanks to a partnership formed between Argo Group US and First Insurance Co. of Hawaii.  First Insurance will transfer approximately 13,000 hurricane endorsements to Argo, who will then issue new hurricane policies.  The good news is that this partnership will…

An article recently came out in the "Construct" journal, put out the Construction Litigation Committee of the ABA, entitled "State Courts Trend: Coverage for Faulty Workmanship."  This article is similar to an earlier blog post analyzing the Ninth Circuit decision entitled Burlington Ins. Co. v. Oceanic Design & Constr., Inc. (9th Cir. 2004) and…

Stripping the job of an insurance company to its basic components reveals a gritty truth: insurance companies make money by collecting more than they pay out.  A successful operation depends on exercising good judgment on what risks to insure (or charging high enough premiums).  Unfortunately, an insurer can also vigorously oppose attempts to obtain coverage…

     Unlike California, Hawai`i law does not statutorily impose strict disclosure requirements when an insurance enrollment application mandates that disputes be resolved solely by arbitration.  California courts, on the other hand, narrowly construe an insurer’s attempt to limit disputes to arbitration, as evidenced by the recent decision in Rodriguez v. Blue Cross of California…

      In a prior post, we noted that much of Honolulu has yet to be mapped by the Federal Emergency Management Agency for flood insurance purposes.  This leaves neighborhoods unrated for flood insurance, resulting in high premiums even for areas not prone to floods. 

     An informative story appearing over the weekend in…

     Senior Federal Judge L.T. Senter, Jr. of the Southern District of Mississippi has come full circle in his analysis of the anti-concurrent cause provision in home-owner’s policies.  Judge Senter has been in the trenches, handling many of the initial Katrina insurance related cases at the trial court level.  In some of Judge Senter’s…