Trial court holds that all primary policies must exhaust before excess or umbrella can be reached – but declines to adopt a blanket rule above the primary layer. An Illinois circuit court, applying Illinois law, declined to rule whether “horizontal” exhaustion applies to umbrella and excess policies, and instead held that each secondary policy dictates the proper method. Policyholder, John... Read More

NJ App. Ct. refuses to allocate to policies with asbestos exclusion; no duty to defend in certain pre-86 excess policies. A New Jersey Appellate Court, applying New Jersey law, held that the “availability rule” in Owens-Illinois required no allocation of defense or indemnity costs to Honeywell International, Inc. (“Honeywell”) for the post-1986 period because asbestos-related coverage was not available, even... Read More

Indiana law requires that contaminants be specifically listed. An Indiana Federal District Court found that a pollution exclusion issued by Old Republic Insurance Co. to the Gary/Chicago International Airport Authority was unenforceable because it did not specifically identify the individual pollutants it was intended to exclude as required by Indiana law. In 2014, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management instituted a... Read More

“Because of Bodily Injury” language broad enough to encompass legal theories pled by the State of West Virginia reversing Summary Judgment for Insurer. The Seventh Circuit, applying Illinois law, reversed the District Court and held that Cincinnati Insurance Company (“Cincinnati”) must defend H.D. Smith, L.L.C. (“H.D. Smith”) in a lawsuit brought by the state of West Virginia in which it... Read More

Insurer obligated to defend unauthorized access to television programming because “data” in exclusion ambiguous. A Maryland District Court, applying Maryland law, held that Axis Insurance Company (“Axis”) had a duty to defend Ellicott City Cable, LLC (“ECC”) for an underlying action against ECC and Dr. Bruce Taylor (“Dr. Taylor”) which alleged unauthorized access to television programing as well as various... Read More

WI Supreme Court Adheres To “Four-Corners” Rule, Even If Extrinsic Evidence Would Have Triggered Duty To Defend. The Wisconsin Supreme Court, applying Wisconsin law, refused to consider extrinsic evidence in assessing whether Consolidated Insurance Company (“Consolidated Insurance”) had a duty to defend Water Well Solutions Service Group Inc. (“Water Well”), putting Wisconsin among the minority and dwindling number of jurisdictions... Read More

September 12, 2016 deadline for submitting claims. Orion Insurance Co. and The London and Overseas Insurance Co. Ltd. are insolvent London companies.  Their Scheme of Arrangement is known as OIC Run-off Limited.  OIC wrote substantial general liability coverage to many U.S. companies that now have long-tail liabilities such as asbestos and environmental.  All Claims must be received prior to the... Read More

Soot From Wildfire Impacting Shakespeare Theatre Constitutes Physical Damage To Property. An Oregon federal district court, applying Oregon law, addressed the issue of whether “direct physical loss of or damage to covered property” includes poor air quality under claimant’s business income loss coverage. The policyholder, Oregon Shakespeare Association (“OSA”), argued that the term included harm to the interior of a... Read More

Iowa High Court Holds Damage Caused By Subcontractor’s Faulty Workmanship May Constitute Accidental Occurrence. The Iowa Supreme Court, applying Iowa law, held that property damage resulting from defective workmanship by a policyholder’s subcontractor may constitute an “occurrence” triggering coverage for water damage. The policyholder, Westlake Investments LLC (“Westlake”), purchased a 300 unit apartment complex in West Des Moines, Iowa.  Shortly thereafter,... Read More

Bars Coverage Even If Policyholder Would Have Been Liable Absent Contractual Indemnity. A federal district court in Arizona granted a motion for summary judgment filed by Federal Insurance Co. (“Chubb”) in a coverage case filed by P.F. Chang Bistro, Inc.  In 2014, P.F. Chang discovered that approximately 60,000 customer credit card numbers had been stolen from 33 of its restaurants... Read More