A commentary on insurance coverage issues in Hawaii and beyond
The court rejected the insurer's motion to dismiss after the the insured's vessel sank during a hurricane. Knight v. Market Am. Ins. Co., 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 71973 April 16, 2025).
Hurricane Ian sank a yacht owned by the Knight Living Trust. The Trust insured the yacht under a policy…
The Ninth Circuit found that a pollution endorsement did not cover the cost of retrieving oil barrels that did not discharge pollutants. Guam Industrial Services, Inc. v. Zurich Am. Ins. Co., 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 9045 (9th Cir. June 1, 2015).
Guam Industrial's dry dock sank into the harbor. Various containers in…
Check out today's postover at hawaiioceanlaw.com where my Damon Key colleague, Mark Murakami, discusses a Katrina-related case in which the insured refused to accept the insurer's choice of defense counsel. The choice was risky because the Second Circuit relieved the insurer of having to pay defense costs.
Note today's post [here] by my Damon Key colleague, Mark Murakami, regarding coverage for a claim related to the Longshore Harbor and Workers Compensation Act. See Bayou Steel Corp. v. Evanston Ins. Co., No. 08-31206 (5th Cir. Nov. 10, 2009). The policy excluded coverage for injuries imposed on the insured by contract…
Whether the federal court has jurisdiction over a coverage dispute of a purported maritime policy was the issue in New Hampshire Ins. Co. v. Home Savings and Loan Co. of Youngstown, Ohio, No. 08-3902, 2009 U.S. App. LEXIS 21133 (6th Cir. Sept. 24, 2009).
National Marine, a yacht dealer and marina operator, purchased…
In today’s post, we return to the federal maritime doctrine of uberrimae fidei, previously reviewed here. Should the doctrine, which requires an insured to exercise the utmost good faith and disclose to the insurer all facts material to an insurance risk, apply when considering coverage under a marine policy? The Third…
A liability policy typically requires the insured to cooperate with the insurer. Under the provision, the insured must, among other things, cooperate with the insurer in investigating or settling of the claim. Breach of the cooperation clause by the insured relieves the insurer of liability under the policy. But the insurer must show…
The Ninth Circuit recently issued a decision regarding a vessel pollution insurance policy that could have implications for Hawaii. In Certain Underwriters at Lloyds, London v. Inlet Fisheries Inc., No. 06-35383 (9th Cir., Feb. 11, 2008), the Court determined Lloyds was justified in voiding a policy because the insured did not …
