A commentary on insurance coverage issues in Hawaii and beyond
Following California law, the federal district court adopted horizontal allocation to settle a dispute among carriers for an insured sued for selling asbestos products. New England Fire Ins. Corp. v. Ferguson Enterprises, Inc., Civil No. 3:12cv948 (D. Conn. April 8, 2014) [ruling here]
The insured was a California-based corporation that sold…
The Eighth Circuit determined the Archdiocese of St. Louis had no indemnity coverage after settling a suit in which it had no liability. Chicago Ins. Co. v. Archdiocese of St. Louis, 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 1769 8th Cir. Jan. 29, 2014).
The Archdiocese was sued when the son of the underlying plaintiff…
In a long running suit regarding thousands of asbestos bodily injury claims brought against Kaiser Cement and Gypsum Corporation, the California appellate court held that the excess carrier's indemnity obligation did not attach until all collectible primary policies were exhausted. Kaiser Cement and Gypsum Corp. v. Ins. Co. of the State of Pennsylvania…
Receipt of notice of a claim to the excess carrier after the jury awarded damages was insufficient to enforce coverage. See Berkley Reg'l Ins. Co. v. Philadelphia Indem. Ins. Co., 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 15998 (5th Cir. Aug. 2, 2012).
The underlying case involved a slip-and-fall by a dentist on the premises…
Although the excess carrier was given inadequate notice of the underlying arbitration, the trial court determined it shared responsibility with the primary carrier for the arbitration award. Finding disputed issues of fact, the Washington Court of Appeals reversed in Am. States Ins. Co. v. Century Surety Co., 2011 Wash. App. LEXIS 2488 (Wash.
A self-insured retention provision that excused the insurer from providing excess coverage if the insured was bankrupt and unable to meet the SIR violated public policy in Rhode Island. Rosciti v. The Ins. Co. of the State of Pennsylvania, 2011 U.S. App. LEXIS 20400 (1st Cir. Oct. 7, 2011).
The Roscitis purchased…
Two interesting issues were presented in Jeffrey M. Brown, Assoc., Inc. v. Zurich Am. Ins. Co., 2010 N.J. Super. LEXIS 108 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. June 23, 2010). First, what was the scope of coverage provided by an additional insured endorsement which provided the coverage was "excess over any other insurance?" Second…
Defense obligations under a policy containing umbrella and excess coverage were before the court in Legacy Vulcan Corp. v. The Superior Court, 184 Cal. App. 4th 285 (Cal. Ct. App. 2010).
Vulcan manufactured and sold perchloroethylene. The City of Modesto sued Vulcan, alleging that use of perchloroethylene by the dry cleaning industry…
Lloyd’s, along with other excess insurers, recently filed suit against BP, seeking a declaration that there is no obligation to cover BP as an additional insured in policies issued to Transocean Ltd. Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s London v. BP P.L.C., No. 4:10-cv-01823 (S.D. Tex. filed May 21, 2010) (See Complaint).
Transocean owns the…
The insured, Versai, managed apartments that were so extensively damaged by Hurricane Katrina that they were uninhabitable. See Versai Mg. Corp. v. Clarendon Am Ins. Co., No. 08-30874, 2010 U.S. App. LEXIS 3479 (5th Cir. Feb. 19, 2010). Versai notified its insurers and submitted claims with the assistance of its private adjusters and…
