A commentary on insurance coverage issues in Hawaii and beyond
The Kentucky Supreme Court determined there was no coverage for the contractor's faulty workmanship in digging the existing basement of a building to make it deeper. Martin v. Acuity, 2018 Ky. LEXIS 188 (Ky. April 26, 2018).
Martin Elias/Properties, LLC (MEP) purchased an older home to renovate and resell for profit. MEP…
The court determined there was a duty to defend negligence and private nuisance claims for dumping materials on the plaintiffs' property. Peters Heavy Construction, Inc. v. X-Pert One Tracking Corp., 2018 Wisc. App. LEXIS 358 (Wis. Ct. App. March 29, 2018).
Peters Heavy Construction sued X-Pert One for negligently depositing…
The current issue of the ABA, Insurance Coverage Litigation Committee's publication Coverage includes our article, Seeing Around the Cyber Corner: What's Next for Cyber Liability Policies?" The article can be found here.
Thanks to my co-authors, Karin S. Aldama, Esq. and Rina Carmel, Esq.
Handling the third appeal of the matter, the Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals rejected the insured's claim for bad faith based upon an untimely denial of the claim. Adams v. Haw. Med. Serv. Ass'n, 2018 Haw. App. LEXIS 245 (Haw. Ct. App. June 8, 2018) (Disclaimer – our office is co-counsel for…
The United State Supreme Court ruled that the divorced spouse of an insured under a life insurance policy had no constitutional challenge against a state statute that revoked her status as a beneficiary upon the insured's death. Sveen v. Melin, 584 U.S. ___ (2018), 2018 U.S. LEXIS 3503 (U.S. June 11, 2018).…
The insurer's motion for summary judgment to establish there was no coverage for the collapse of the front wall in the insured's home was denied. Desvarieux v. Allstate Prop. & Cas. Ins. Co., 2018 US. Dist. LEXIS 71230 (E.D. Pa. April 26, 2018).
After the front wall collapsed, a claim…
The insured's Computer Fraud policy failed to provide coverage for a fraudulent email scheme based upon an exclusion barring coverage where an authorized person entered the insured's computer system. Aqua Star Untied States Corp. v. Travelers Cas. & Sur. Co. of Am., 2018 US. App. LEXIS 9660 (9th Cir. April 17, 2018). …
When two competing experts disagreed on the cause of the loss, the trial court erred in granting summary judgment to the insurer. Garcia v. Firs Community Ins. Co., Fla. App. LEXIS 4237 (Fla. Ct. App. March 28, 2018).
Garcia, the homeowner, discovered water damage in his home, allegedly due to…
The Eleventh Circuit, following Florida law, reversed the district court's granting of summary judgment to the insurer for water damage caused by a collapse in the dwelling's plumbing system. Cameron v. Scottsdale Ins. Co., 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 9800 (11th Cir. April 16, 2018).
A pipe in the plumbing system…
