As any company facing EPA administrative action under CERCLA knows, the financial risk and defense costs associated with those proceedings can be the same as the risk and costs of an EPA lawsuit under CERCLA. But insurers have argued that administrative actions are very different from suits under standard CGL policies. Those policies, insurers argue, … Continue Reading
In a series of opinions issued over the past few months, federal judges in California have reiterated that insurers must wait until they are finished defending their policyholders before they sue those policyholders for reimbursement of defense costs. While California remains one of the handful of states in which an insurer can try to claw … Continue Reading
New York state court Judge Shirley Werner Kornreich recently ruled that American International Group, Inc. (“AIG”) didn’t have to pay certain defense costs for various suits brought against QBE Holdings, Inc. and its affiliates (collectively, “QBE”), but that QBE’s other insurer Darwin Select Insurance Co. (“Darwin”) did, despite the apparent similarities in language of the … Continue Reading
Advertising injury liability coverage offered under commercial general liability (“CGL”) policies is aimed at protecting companies against claims, often brought by competitors, alleging harm by purportedly derogatory statements in the policyholder’s advertisements. The statements, however, need not be expressly disparaging. Suits alleging that an ad implies the inferiority of a competitor’s product may trigger coverage. … Continue Reading
In a decisively pro-policyholder decision issued by the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in IMG Worldwide, Inc. v. Westchester Fire Ins. Co., Nos. 13-3832, 13-3837 (6th Cir. July 15, 2014), the court righted a wrong in not only affirming a jury’s finding that an excess carrier had breached its duty to … Continue Reading
Policyholders seeking defense costs for products liability claims received welcome support from a Pennsylvania appellate court which rejected an excessively restrictive view of the scope of coverage offered under commercial general liability (CGL) policies. The court in Indalex, Inc. v. National Union Fire Insurance Co. of Pittsburgh, Pa., reversed, or at least slowed, what appeared … Continue Reading
On March 31, 2014, the First Circuit reaffirmed the breadth of an insurer’s duty to defend. In W Holding Co., Inc. v. AIG Ins. Co.-Puerto Rico, No. 12–2008, 2014 WL 1280246 (1st Cir. Mar. 31, 2014), the appellate court ruled that AIG Insurance Company (“AIG”) must advance defense costs to former directors and officers of … Continue Reading
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