A commentary on insurance coverage issues in Hawaii and beyond
In National Union Fire Ins. Co. of Pittsburgh, Pa. v. Porter Hayden Co, No. AMD-03-23408, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 61992 (D. Md. July 7, 2009), National Union contended that its insured, Porter Hayden, a debtor in bankruptcy, was not entitled to a defense or indemnity for asbestos-related claims.
Porter Hayden sold and…
Consistent with the recent decision issued in In Re Katrina Canal Breaches Consolidated Litigation [prior post here], the District Court for the Western District of Louisiana upheld a post-loss assignment of a property policy. See Disaster Relief Serv. of North Carolina, LLC v. Employers Mutual Cas. Ins. Co., No. 07-1925, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS…
It's now late April. Posting on a decision rendered in March, early March at that, breaches a blogger's protocol. And In Re: Katrina Canal Breaches Consolidated Litigation; Pertains to: Road Home, Louisiana State, No. 05-4182, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 30406 (E.D. La. March 5, 2009), received press when issued. The case allowed individual claims…
Our last post [here] summarized a case in which the Ninth Circuit found the anti-concurrent provision to be ambiguous. See Alexander Mfg., Inc. v. Illinois Union Ins. Co., No. 07-35812 (9th Cir. March 25, 2009) [here]. Today we review a case in which the anti-assignment provision was strictly construed…
Historically, the Ninth Circuit has not favored anti-assignment clauses. See, e.g., Northern Ins. Co. of New York v. Allied Mut. Ins. Co., 955 F.2d 1353 (9th Cir. 1992)(benefits of policy transfer by operation of law to successor corporation despite anti-assignment provision). Applying Oregon law, the Ninth Circuit recently continued its pattern, determining…
We have previously discussed here, here, here, and here the validity of assigning liability policies to corporate successors without securing the insurer's consent as required by the policy. Coverage issues arise when the successor seeks benefits under the policy assigned to it by the predecessor. Although the validity of the assignment was not at issue…
The outline on transfer of liability policies to a successor created by Rina Carmel and me for our round table presentation last week at the ABA Section of Litigation, Insurance Coverage Litigation Committee in Tucson, is here. Materials from the plenary and breakout sessions are available at the ABA Section of Litigation website
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…
Robert gave his initial impressions of this new Hawaii Supreme Court case last week. Del Monte Fresh Produce (Hawaii), Inc. v. Fireman's Fund Ins. Co., 117 Haw. 357, 183 P.3d 734 (2007). I add some thoughts and a summary below. By way of disclaimer, my name appears in the decision as one …
The Hawaii Supreme Court just held yesterday that insurance policies with an “assignments require consent” clause cannot be assigned without the insurance company’s consent. In Del Monte Fresh Produce (Hawaii), Inc. v. Fireman’s Fund Ins. Co. the Hawaii Supreme Court expressly held an assignment will not occur as a matter of law, but rather only…
