You’d be surprised at how often we find mistakes at the beginning of projects that, if not caught, would put most of a client’s insurance coverage at risk. Clients frequently ask us to review their controlled insurance programs (often referred to as “CIPs” or “Wrap-Ups”) before implementing them. Brokers do…
On January 16, 2014, Pillsbury’s Insurance Recovery & Advisory team published their alert titled Insurance and the Polar Vortex: Recovering Losses from the Big Chill of 2014 discussing anticipated insurance coverage issues stemming from the extraordinary weather disaster during the first two weeks of 2014. Among other things, the big…
What if you get sued for property damage that occurred progressively over the course of two years, and you had separate GL policies for each year? Do you get the benefit of coverage for both years, or just the first year? Well, if you’re in New Jersey, you get coverage…
A recent decision by the First Circuit Court of Appeals illustrates the importance of clearly articulating the efficient proximate cause of any insurance loss and the narrow interpretation applied by courts to exclusionary clauses. In Fidelity Co-op. Bank v. Nova Cas. Co., Nos. 12-1572, 12-2150, 2013 WL 4016361 (1st Cir.…
The Florida Supreme Court gave insureds a Fourth of July present one day early — July 3 — by ruling that property policies providing replacement cost coverage include the cost of a contractor’s overhead and profit, even if the insured does not actually pay a contractor overhead and profit to…
Last month New York’s Supreme Court, Appellate Division 1st Department affirmed the Supreme Court, New York County’s decision granting partial summary judgment in favor of an insured freezer manufacturer, I.J White Corp., which sought defense and indemnity under a CGL policy for claims against it brought by Hill Country Bakery…
A few weeks ago I posted about an Eighth Circuit case that once again illustrated how, despite the drafter’s precision carrying the day most of the time, sometimes a litigator’s creativity can trump it. Well, it’s happened again. And again the issue is whether a dispute between and insured and…
I occasionally give a presentation called “That’s not what I meant!” which is subtitled “Usually the drafter’s precision carries the day, but sometimes the litigator’s creativity trumps it.” Our legal system generates seemingly endless material for this presentation and last week the Eighth Circuit gave us more in Union Electric…
The Second Circuit’s recent decision in Scottsdale Insurance Company v. R.I. Pools, Inc., Case No. 11-3529, 2013 WL 1150217 (2d Cir. March 21, 2013) should be welcome news for Connecticut contractors insured under CGL policies with Broad Form Property Damage Coverage, seeking coverage for losses to their work caused by…
An insured’s duty to cooperate with its insurer in the investigation and potential payment of claims is essential to the insurance relationship and is often a condition precedent to coverage. As the Supreme Court for the State of Washington recently affirmed, however, an insurer’s ability to deny coverage based on…