A commentary on insurance coverage issues in Hawaii and beyond
The court granted the insured's motion to strike the testimony of the insurer's expert because the opinion lacked sufficient explanation or analysis. Affinity Mut. Ins. v. Thacker Air Conditioning Refrigeration Heating, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 84713 (N.D. Ind. May 20, 2019).
The insured owned a market that needed renovations. The…
Punitive damages that were reduced by the trial court to $1 million fro $4 million were affirmed by the appellate court. Mazik v. Geico Gen. Ins. Co., 2019 Cal. App LEXIS 454 (Cal. Ct. App. May 17, 2019).
Mazik was injured in a serious auto accident. He was diagnosed with…
The federal district court found that exclusions j (5), (6) and l barred coverage for damage caused to the city's water main collector system. Sunwestern Contractors, Inc. v. Cincinnati Indem. Co., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 82642 (D. Ariz. May 15, 2019).
Sunwestern contracted with the city of Tucson for the…
The partial collapse of an exterior brick veneer of an apartment building was found not to be covered under the apartment policy. Keyser v. State Farm Fire & Cas. Co., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 81194 (W.D. Pa. May 14, 2019).
Norene Keyser was insured by State Farm for a six-unit…
The Supreme Court for West Virginia determined the policy's contractual assumption exclusion barred coverage for the general contractor based upon claims of faulty workmanship. J.A. St & Assocs. v. Bitco Gen. Ins. Corp., 2019 W. Va. LEXIS 205 (May 1, 2019).
J.A. Street & Associates, Inc. entered a contract with…
The court held that claims regarding the negligent supervision of an independent contractor who engaged in the sexual abuse of three victimes amounted to one occurrence, requiring a single deductible. Scott Fetzer Co. v. Zurich Am. Ins. Co., 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 13023 (6th Cir. April 30,2019).
In 2013, three…
Only four insurance-related measures were enacted by the Hawaii Legislature in the recently concluded 2019 session. The legislation is as follows:
HB 273 – This bill establishes an exemption for insurers issuing group policies from the required annual privacy notice to individual customers under certain circumstances. The bill was transmitted to…
The federal district court granted in part, denied in part, the insurer's motion to dismiss a claim for computer fraud submitted under the insurer's crime protection policy. Childrens Place, Inc. v. Great Am. Ins. Co., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 70109 (D. N. J. April 25, 2019).
On July 24, 2017…
The Hawaii Federal District Court dismissed a purported third party beneficiary's claim against the insured's agent. United States Fire Ins. Co. v. Hawaiian Canoe Racing Ass'ns, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 65829 (D. Haw. April 17, 2019).
This was the third recent decision regarding a boating accident in which the underlying…
The Ninth Circuit reversed the district court's issuance of summary judgment regarding coverage for damages when the insured's plant had to be shut down due to an accident. Ingenco Holdings, LLC v. Ace American Ins. Co., 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 10946 (9th Cir. April 15, 2019).
Ingenco operated a gas…
