Posted In: Insurance Recovery
Insurance Blog: New York Court Holds That Nine Months is Too Late
on December 5, 2018
In a recent decision, a New York appellate court held that a business owner's notice to its CGL carrier regarding a settlement with an individual injured at its manufacturing plant was 9 months too late. Thus, despite potentially having coverage for the incident, the insured recovered nothing and ended up paying over $1.5 million....
Posted In: Insurance Recovery
Insurance Blog: California Court Holds That an "Accidental" Injury Can be an Occurrence Under an Employer's CGL Policy
By Kerri L. Keller on August 16, 2018
In a recent policyholder-friendly decision, the California Supreme Court held that an employer's negligent hiring, retention, and supervision can be deemed an occurrence under a policy where "occurrence" is defined as "an accident." Thus, the court allowed coverage for an insured employer who was sued after one of its employees was accused of sexual abuse....
Know Your Notice Provisions: How Some Courts Do Not Forgive Late Notice
on March 23, 2017
Recently, in Minasian v. IDS Property Casualty Insurance Company, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed an adverse ruling against two policyholders over their claim to recover loss resulting from the theft of personal property. Although there was no question that the policyholders suffered a covered loss under various policies, the insurers were able to successfully deny coverage based on the policyholders' failure to provide them with notice in accordance with the policies' terms. This case provides yet another example of why policyholders must be familiar with a policy's notice provisions in order to avoid claim denial....
Insurance Coverage for Employee Theft: How Unknown Facts can Preclude Coverage
on December 22, 2016
Recently, in Construction Contractors Employers Group, LLC v. Federal Insurance Company, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed an adverse ruling against a policyholder over its claim to recover one million dollars that was misappropriated by an employee. Although the plaintiff, Construction Contractors, had an employee theft insurance policy, the defendant insurer, Federal, was able to successfully argue that the one million dollar misappropriation was part of a "single occurrence" which encompassed an earlier loss that the plaintiff had discovered prior to purchasing the insurance policy....
Serious as a Heart Attack: The Sixth Circuit Rules that a Hospital's Late Notice to its Excess Insurer Precluded Coverage under a Claims-Made Policy
on April 13, 2016
Policyholders must comply with policy notice provisions or risk facing arguments from insurers that they have forfeited coverage. Even though many states have case law that prohibits an insurer from denying a claim on the grounds of late notice unless it can demonstrate that the late notice has resulted in prejudice to the insurer, this is not always the case, as one Kentucky hospital recently found out....
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