A commentary on insurance coverage issues in Hawaii and beyond
The insured homeowners were unsuccessful in arguing around the policy's exclusions when seeking coverage for damage caused by Chinese drywall. Ross v. C. Adams. Constr. & Design, L.L.C., 2011 La. App. LEXIS 769 (La. Ct. App. June 14, 2011).
Before the insureds purchased and moved into their home, it was renovated. After moving…
At issue was whether damage caused by a crane landing on a building during a tropical storm was covered as an ensuing loss. See Certain Interested Underwriters at Lloyd's London v. Chabad Lubavitch of Greater Ft. Lauderdale, Inc., 2011 Fla. App. LEXIS 8403 (Fla. Ct. App. June 8, 2011).
The insured had two policies…
The insurers' resistance to discovery requests was before the court in Cummins, Inc. v. Ace Am. Ins. Co., et al., 2011 U.S.Dist. LEXIS 46984 (D. Ind. May 2, 2011).
The factual background involved coverage Cummins sought for severe flood damage at its main corporate campus. The insurers had paid over $91 million…
The importance of careful preparation and documentation was the take away lesson in a Texas bad faith case, C.K. Lee v. Catlin Specialty Ins. Co., 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19145 (S.D. Tex. Feb. 28, 2011).
C.K. Lee owned a commercial shopping center in Houston. Catlin issued a commercial property policy to Lee. …
Failing to understand the relationship between himself, his mortgage company, and his insurer, the plaintiff was left without coverage for damage caused by Hurricane Katrina. Dace v. Novastar Mortgage Inc., 2011 La. App. Unpub. LEXIS 233 (La. Ct. App. April 13, 2011).
Novastar held the mortgage on the plaintiff's property in New Orleans. There were…
Lost business opportunities after Hurricane Katrina hit was the issue before the court in Safeguard Storage, Properties, L.L.C. v. Donahue Favret Contractors, Inc., 2011 La. App. LEXIS 391 (La. Ct. App. March 31, 2011).
Safeguard planned to develop a minimum of twelve to fifteen new self-storage locations each year for several years. Market…
Among the range of issues addressed by the court was an ensuing loss provision in Five Star Hotels, LLC v. Ins. Co. of Greater New York, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 31313 (S.D. N.Y. March 24, 2011).
In December 2005, Five Star installed an upgraded automatic sprinkler system in each room of its…
The court denied cross motions for summary judgment, deciding there were genuine issues of material fact regarding the applicability of both the exclusion for vandalism and the ensuing loss provision. See New London County Ins. Co. v. Zachem, 2011 Conn. Super. LEXIS 381 (Conn. Super. Ct. Feb. 18, 2011).
Vandals broke into the…
Our firm has had many questions on insurance related issues since Friday's Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan. The following outline is quick primer on insurance coverage related to natural catastrophes.
INSURING PROPERTY FOR CATASTROPHES
● Cost of Natural Disasters:
∙ Hurricane Katrina in 2005 cost insurers and reinsurers $62.2 billion.
∙ Hurricane Ike in 2008 cost the insurance
…
The ABA’s Section of Litigation, Insurance Coverage Litigation Committee’s annual conference was held in Tucson on March 3-5, 2011. My colleagues, Rina Carmel, Esq., of Carlson, Calladine & Peterson LLP, and Lisa M. Shusto, P.E., of Exponent Failure Analysis Associates, and I led two lively and engaging discussions on ensuing loss provisions in property…
