A commentary on insurance coverage issues in Hawaii and beyond
The contractor was covered as an additional insured under the subcontractor's policy even though the parties had never actually signed an agreement to add the contractor to the policy. Evanston Ins. Co. v. Westchester Surplus Lines Ins. Co., 2011 U.S. App. LEXIS 20081 (9th Cir. Oct. 3, 2011).
The policies held by Bellevue Master…
Disputed evidence on whether the property damage was caused by wind or flood related to Hurricane Katrina was at issue in C.R. Pittman Constr. Co., Inc. v. Nat'l Fire Ins. Co. of Hartford, 2011 U.S. App. LEXIS 20002 (5th Cir. Sept. 30, 2011).
Pittman Construction had equipment for pumping units stored both inside and…
Whether the insured's claims based upon the adjustor's inadequate inspection after Hurricane Ike stated a claim was at issue in Stewart v. Nationwide Prop. & Cas. Ins. Co., 2011 U.S. DIst. LEXIS 111465 (S.D. Tex. Sept. 29, 2011).
Based on the complaint's allegations, the insured's home suffered extensive damage from Hurricane Ike…
After carefully dissecting the earth movement exclusion, the court denied the insurer's motion for summary judgment. High Street Lofts Condominium Assoc., Inc. v. Am. Family Mut. Ins. Co., 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 109043 (D. Colo. Sept. 26, 2011).
The City of Boulder performed road repair work near High Street's property, some of…
The interpretation of the additional insured endorsement was key to determining coverage in Lancaster v. Ferrell Paving, Inc., 2011 Tenn. App. LEXIS 507 (Tenn. Ct. App. Sept. 20, 2011).
Ferrell Paving, Inc. used a warehouse to store its construction materials. Ferrell employed Imperial Guard Service, Inc. to provide security services for the…
The Commissioner of the Hawaii Insurance Division, Gordon Ito, met with the HSBA Insurance Coverage Litigation section last week. The Commissioner gave an overview of the Insurance Division and its inner workings.
Here's a summary of the Commissioner's presentation.
The Insurance Division consists of various branches. The Division has 81 positions authorized, 70…
In our 500th post, we review a case in which time on the risk was found to be the proper allocation method for ongoing property damage. Bradford Oil Co., Inc. v. Stonington Ins. Co., 2011 Vt. LEXIS 102 (Vt. Sept. 11, 2011).
Bradford Oil Company owned a Mobil station. Contamination was discovered at the…
In Wilson v. AIG, 89 Haw. 45, 968 P.2d 647 (1998), the Hawaii Supreme Court held that an insured was not the real party in interest when challenging its auto insurer's refusal to pay benefits to the insured's medical provider. Relying on legislation post-dating its prior decision, the Court overruled Wilson in an unanimous decision authored by Justice…
The pollution exclusion barred coverage for alleged property damage and bodily injury in Evanston Ins. Co. v. Harbor Walk Dev., LLC, No. 2:10cv312 (E.D. Va. Sept. 9, 2011) [Evanston Decision here].
Homeowners sued the insured, Harbor Walk, in three lawsuits, alleging the Chinese drywall installed in their homes emitted sulfides…
Congratulations to another Damon Key blogger, David McCauley, for rolling out his new immigration blog. Today's post addresses the U.S. State Department's Diversity Visa Lottery. Many more informative, timely posts to come from this blog, we are sure.
