duty to defend News

Time Lag Does Not End Insurer’s Duty to Defend, Court Rules

A federal court in New York has reiterated that a time lag between the date a trip-and-fall accident occurred and when the conduct alleged to have caused it took place does not itself relieve an insurer of its duty to …

No Coverage for Alabama Builder Who Delayed Notice of Construction Defect Claims

An Alabama federal court ruled this week that a builder’s commercial general liability insurer has no duty to defend or indemnify against two construction defect lawsuits it faces, because it didn’t notify the insurer in a timely fashion. The U.S. …

Sex Abuse Victim Can’t Challenge Ruling that Insurer Had No Duty to Defend

A victim of childhood sexual abuse cannot challenge a trial court’s decision that an insurer had no duty to defend her abuser from a lawsuit, a panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled. The appellate panel on Tuesday …

Texas Supreme Court Validates Exception to 8-Corners Rule

For more than 50 years, insurers have known that their duty to defend a Texas policyholder from a lawsuit must be decided based only on the language of the insurance contract and the allegations made by the plaintiff. The so-called …

5th Circuit: Insurer Has Duty to Defend Lawsuit Over Leaky Roof Despite Policy Exclusion

Siplast Inc., a Dallas-area manufacturer of roof membranes, purchased a liability policy that excluded coverage for any damages to its own work or products. That doesn’t mean the insurer has no duty defend its policyholder against a lawsuit that alleges …

Delaware Supreme: Insurers Have No Duty to Defend Rite Aid Against Opioid Lawsuits

Chubb Ltd. has no duty to defend Rite Aid Corp. against lawsuits filed by two Ohio counties that allege the drug store chain’s failure to identify suspicious orders contributed to an oversupply of opioids that forced the plaintiffs to pay …

Nevada Supreme: Insurer Entitled to Reimbursement for Defense Costs if No Coverage Owed

An insurer that paid to defend a policyholder against a lawsuit, but determined later that no coverage was owed, is entitled to reimbursement for its costs, a divided Nevada Supreme Court said. In a 4-3 decision on Thursday, the high …

Insurer Must Defend Landlord in Security Deposit Lawsuit Despite Policy Exclusion

A policy that sought to limit exposure from any disputes about security deposits did not protect the insurer from having to defend a landlord against a class-action lawsuit claiming state laws were not followed, a federal appellate court ruled. In …

Weinstein Insurers Balk at Paying Legal Bills

Harvey Weinstein is locked in a messy battle with insurance companies over his steadily mounting legal bills. The insurance giant Chubb and other carriers that wrote liability policies for Weinstein and his film company are arguing in court that they …

No Homeowner Liability Coverage for an Insured’s ‘Negligent’ Assault, Even if Insured Was Intoxicated

Nicholas Fiocchi sued Ronald Zatyco for assaulting him after a verbal argument between them at a bar earlier the same evening. Fiocchi’s complaint in Pennsylvania state court attempted by artful pleading to capture Zatyco’s parents’ homeowners coverage, alleging that the …