A commentary on insurance coverage issues in Hawaii and beyond
Society Insurance Company unsuccessfully sought to dismiss plaintiff restaurant group's claims for business interruption after shut-down orders followed the onset of COVID-19. In re Soc'y Ins. Co. COVID-19 Business Interruption Protection Insurance Litigation, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 32351 (N.D. Ill. Feb. 22, 2021).
The multi-district litigation addressed Society Insurance's denial…
Summary judgment was awarded to the insureds on their business interruption claim due to governmental closures during the COVID-19 pandemic. Henderson Rd. Rest. Sys. v. Zurich Am. Ins. Co., 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9521 (N.D. Ohio, Jan. 19, 2021).
Plaintiffs owned restaurants in several states. In the spring of 2020…
The court found that the excess carrier had grounds to challenge the primary carrier's allocation of a settlement payment. Scottsdale Ins. Co. v. Certain Underwriters at Lloyds, London, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 39771 (9th Cir Dec. 18, 2020).
in the underlying case, Underwriters settled on behalf of the insured law…
The Mississippi Supreme Court held that the insurer must produce written communications from and make available for deposition the in-house counsel who orchestrated the denial of coverage. Travelers Pro. Cas. Co. of Am. v. 100 Renaissance, LLC, 2020 Miss. LEXIS 409 (Miss. Oct. 29, 2020).
An unidentified driver struck a…
The Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals reversed the trial court's granting of summary judgment to the insurer on the insured's bad faith claim. Carvalho v. AIG Hawaii Insurance Company, Inc., 2020 Haw. App. LEXIS 382 (Haw. Ct. App. Nov. 16, 2020).
Plaintiff Carvalho's son was killed in a two-car accident.
The federal district court granted, in part, the insured's motion for summary judgment seeking coverage for a collapse of a church's ceiling. Derbyshire Baptist Church v. Church Mut. Ins. Co., 2020 U.S. Distl LEXIS 113346 (E.D. Va. June 29, 2020).
A large portion of the sanctuary ceiling of the insured's…
The plaintiff's failure to timely name an expert witness in his bad faith action led to sanctions being awarded against him in favor of the insurer. Black v. Fireman's Fund Ins. Co., 2020 Cal. App. Unpub. LEXIS 2477 (Cal. Ct. App. April 23, 2020).
After Black's claim was denied by…
The insurer's motion to dismiss a bad faith count was granted because the existence of coverage was "fairly debatable" under New Jersey law. Merchants Mut. Ins. Co. v. 215 14th St., LLC, 2020 U.S. District. LEXIS 23664 (D. N. J. Feb. 10, 2020).
Coverage for damage to the insured's commercial building…
The Ninth Circuit agreed with a jury that the insurer breached the farm insurance policy and the duty of good faith and fair dealing in denying a claim for, among other things, theft of cattle. Chatelain v. Country Mut. Ins. Co., 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 34530 (9th Cir. Nov. 20, 2019).
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AIG's Motion to Dismiss the insured's claim based upon a fraudulent transfer of funds was largely denied by the court. SS&C Tech. Holdings v. AIG Spec. Ins. Co., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 194196 (S.D. N. Y. Nov. 6, 2019).
SS&C was a global provider of software and software-enabled services. In…
