The federal district court granted the insured's motion to compel an appraisal that would include a determination of causation of the loss. Eagle Highland Owners Association v. State Farm Fire and Casualty Co., 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 220937 (S.D. Ohio Dec. 12, 2023).
Plaintiff argued its property suffered wind and
Answering a certified question, the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals adopted the continuous-trigger theory when interpreting occurrence based policies. Westfield Ins. Co. v. Sistersville Tank Works, Inc., 2023 W. Va. LEXIS 455 (W. Va. Nov. 8, 2023).
Sistersville Tank Work, Inc. ("STW") manufactured, installed, and repaired various types of tanks
The federal district court found that West Virgina required policyholders suffering a loss of personal property to list all such property before recovering under the policy. Idleman v. State Farm Fire & Cas. Co., 2023 U.S. LEXIS 123815 (N.D. W. Va. July 18, 2023).
The plaintiffs purchased a second home
The federal district court granted the surplus lines insurer's motion to compel arbitration despite a Louisiana statute barring policies from depriving courts of jurisdiction in cases against insurers. Queens Beauty Supply, LLC v. Indep.Specialty Ins. Co., 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 195372 (E.D. La. Oct. 31, 2023).
Hurricane Ida damaged property
The New York Supreme Court granted the insured's motion to dismiss the insurer's complaint seeking relief on its duty to indemnity and awarded fees to the insured. Utica Mut. Ins. Co. v. Crystal Curtain Wall Sys. Corp., 2023 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 22368 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. Nov. 27, 2023).
The case
The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court's ruling against the insured and imposed sanctions on the insured's lawyer for pursuing a coverage argument the court had previously rejected. Uyanik v. Wawanesa General Insurance Co., 2023 U.S. App. LEXIS 31642 (9th Cir. Nov. 30, 2023).
The Ninth Circuit affirmed dismissal of
Addressing a procedurally obscure case, the Hawai`i Supreme Court set aside a three million dollar verdict entered against the insured driver who was sued for wrongful death. Franco v. Reinhardt, 2023 Haw. LEXIS 208 (Haw. Nov. 30, 2023).
Reinhardt was involved in an accident, crashing his girlfriend's pickup. A passenger
The court granted the insurer's motion to dismiss the homeowner's claim against the insurer because the policy insured the mortgagee, not the homeowner. Barbin v. Integon Nat'l Ins. Co., 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 207192 (E.D. La. Nov. 20, 2023).
The home was damaged by Hurricane Ida. The homeowner claims that
The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court's determination that the insured's roof collapse was not covered. Exclusive Real Estate Inv., L.L.C. v. S.G.L. No. 1, Ltd., 2023 U.S. App. LEXIS 29368 (5th Cir. Nov. 3, 2023).
A building owned by Exclusive Real Estate partially collapsed during a rain-storm. The insurer
Insurance Law Hawaii completes its sixteenth year this month. We began posting in December 2007, 1761 posts ago. The year 2023 has added 105 new posts.
The goal is to keep readers in tune with new developments in insurance-related cases from Hawaii and across the country. This year included a big