A commentary on insurance coverage issues in Hawaii and beyond
In answering a certified question from the Ninth Circuit, the Alaska Supreme Court determined that an insured could reasonably expect coverage for injuries resulting form exposure to carbon monoxide from an improperly installed home applicance.
Josiah Wheeler rented a cabin owned by Deborah Overly and Terry Summers. While living in the…
Answering certified questions from the federal district court, the Hawaii Supreme Court reaffirmed its prior holding that reckless conduct is an "occurrence' or accident. The court further held that green house gas (GHG) emissions were pollutants under liability policies. Aloha Petroleum, Ltd. v. National Union Fire Ins. Co. of Pittsburg, PA., et al.,…
The trial court's dismissal of the insured's loss of business income claim due to COVID-19 based upon a traditional pollution exclusions was reversed and remanded as to most of the insurers. JRK Prop. Holdings v. Colony Ins. Co., 2023 Cal. App. LEXIS 760 (Cal. Ct. App. Oct. 2, 2023).
JRK…
The Ninth Circuit certified a question on the interpretation of the pollution exclusion to the Alaska Supreme Court. Estate of Joshua Wheeler v. Garrison Prop. and Cas. Ins. Co., 2023 U.S. App. LEXIS 23648 (9th Circuit Sept. 6, 2023).
Josiah Wheeler moved into a cabin owned by Deborah Overly and…
The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court's granting the insurer's motion for summary judgment on the duty to defend, but reversed the district court's ruling that there was no duty to indemnify. Liberty Mut. Fire Ins. Co. v. Copart of Connecticut, Inc., 2023 U.S. App. LEXIS 18674 (4th Cir. July 31, 2023). …
The federal district court certified questions to the Hawaii Supreme Court regarding coverage for underlying allegations of greenhouse gas emissions. Aloha Petroleum, Ltd. v. Nat'l Union Fire Ins. Co. of Pittsburgh, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 156211 (D. Haw. Sept. 5, 2023).
Aloha was sued in two lawsuits, one filed by…
Finding that a contamiation exclusion was ambiguous, the Court denied the insurer's Motion to Dismiss the insured's COVID-19 claim. C.J. Segerstrom and Sons v. Lexington Ins. Co., 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 33293 (C.D. Cal. Feb. 27, 2023).
Segerstrom owned and operated a shopping mall. It was forced to close the…
The Mississippi Supreme Court found the pollution exclusion ambiguous under the facts presented. Omega Protein, Inc. v. Evanston Ins. Co., 2022 Miss. LEXIS 90 (Miss. March 31, 2022).
Omega Protein, Inc., entered a contract with Ascu-fab to perform welding and other fabrication work at their facility. Accu-fab was required to…
The magistrate recommended that the policy issued to the club's groundskeeper containing a Pollution Exclusion provided no coverage for a gasoline leak. Glocester County Club v. Scottsdale Ins. Co., 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 149666 (D. R.I. Aug. 5, 2021).
The groundskeeper, Mr. Simonelli, was in charge of maintaining Glocester County…
Applying Virginia law, the federal district court determined that the pollution exclusion did not bar coverage. Allied Prop. & Cas. Ins. Co. v. Zenith Aviation, Inc., 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14727 (E.D. Va. Aug. 29, 2018).
Zenith Aviation, Inc. hired Abby Construction Company to install an elevator at its warehouse.
