A commentary on insurance coverage issues in Hawaii and beyond
LexisNexis Insurance Law Center has asked insurance bloggers to post the following notice about nominations for "Insurance Law Persons of the Year."
The LexisNexis Insurance Law Center is now receiving nominations for the Center’s “Insurance Law Persons of the Year” award. The award seeks to identify and recognize people who have been a major …
Under Dairy Road Partners v. Island Ins. Co., 92 Hawai`i 398, 414, 992 P.2d 93, 117 (2000), the Hawai`i Supreme Court determined an insured, but not the insurer, can rely on extrinsic evidence to clarify the underlying allegations and demonstrate the possibility of a claim being covered. The Texas Supreme Court recently departed from this reasoning and held neither the…
Cases decided after the California Supreme Court's decision in Henkel Corp. v. Hartford Accident and Indemn. Co., 62 P.3d 69 (Cal. 2001) seem to universally continue the trend that an assignment of comprehensive liability policies to a successor is invalid where there is a no assignment clause and the insurer's consent was not secured. I have found…
If a Hawai`i resident's second home in Florida suffered hurricane damage and coverage was denied by a Florida based insurer, could the insured sue the insurer in Hawai`i? In re: Garnett v. Citizens Prop. Ins. Corp., No. 1070663, 2009 Ala. LEXIS 30 (Ala. Jan. 30, 2009) suggests the answer is "no."
Ms. Garnett was an Alabama…
If an insurer violates a state's emergency order prohibiting cancellation of a policy for 90 days after repairing a dwelling from hurricane damage, does the insured have a private cause of action to enforce the order? In Sailboat Pointe Condo. Ass'n v. Aspen Specialty Ins. Co., No. 08-621129, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6781 (S.
The issue in United National Ins. Co. v. Spectrum Worldwide, Inc., No. 07-55833 (9th Cir. Feb. 2, 2009) [here] was whether the policy's "first publication" exclusion applied to an infringement claim.
In December 1997, Sunset hired Spectrum, the insured, to advertise and distribute the "Hollywood 48-Hour Miracle Diet" drink. Two Spectrum executives later…
The ABA, Section of Litigation, Insurance Coverage Litigation Committee, will be conducting its annual insurance seminar in Tucson, Arizona on March 4-7, 2009. This very informative, cutting edge seminar covers a number of insurance related topics. The brochure and agenda are attached here. I will be participating on a panel entitled, "Transfer of Coverage Under the…
If the manufacturer sells its asbestos-containing product without a warning, does this constitute one occurrence? Or is each individual's exposure to asbestos, which results in injury, a single occurrence? These were among the issues before the Wisconsin Supreme Court when faced with certified questions from the Seventh Circuit. See Plastics Engineering Co. v. Liberty Mutual Ins. Co., No. 2008AP333-CQ (Wis. Jan. 29…
In a recent post, we discussed Dickerson v. Lexington Ins. Co., 2008 U.S. App. LEXIS 26504 (5th Cir. Dec. 22, 2008) where the Fifth Circuit determined damages for mental anguish were properly granted based on the insurer's bad faith delay in paying a claim after Hurricane Katrina. Dickerson controlled a subsequent decision by…
