Posted In: Insurance Recovery and Litigation
Insurance Blog: Reimburse Your Insurer? Look to the Recent Decision by the Nevada Supreme Court
on May 6, 2021
The Nevada Supreme Court recently found, under certain circumstances, an insurance company can obtain reimbursement of defense costs from its policyholder if it was later determined no coverage was afforded – even when the insurance policy does not allow for such recoupment....
Posted In: Insurance Recovery and Litigation
Sixth Circuit Holds that Number of "Occurrences" is Based on Number of "Causes"
By Christopher J. Carney on October 17, 2017
Recently, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, interpreting Kentucky law, held that the number of "occurrences" under a commercial liability insurance policy is determined by looking at the cause of the injury, not its effects. Evanston Ins. Co. v. Hous. Auth. of Somerset, 867 F.3d 653 (6th Cir. 2017). In the underlying dispute, a tree on the housing authority's property fell on two cousins, killing one and severely injuring the other. The cousin that died was pregnant and doctors delivered her baby, but he died shortly thereafter. In 2013, a state court jury found the housing authority liable and awarded the plaintiffs $3.7 million....
Posted In: Insurance Recovery and Litigation
Insurance Coverage for Construction Defect Claims
on September 22, 2017
Good news for businesses in the construction industry: South Dakota has become the latest jurisdiction to hold that construction defect claims are covered by commercial general liability (CGL) policies. In Owners Insurance Company v. Tibke Construction, Inc., et al., the South Dakota Supreme Court held that an alleged failure to conduct soil testing was an occurrence that triggered coverage under the insured's CGL policies. In Tibke, the policyholder, Tibke Construction ("Tibke"), was hired as a general contractor to build a house. Tibke, in turn, hired Jerry's Excavating, Inc. as a subcontractor to prepare the soil and perform excavation work. Several years after Tibke completed the house, the homeowners sued Tibke because of cracking and structural unsoundness in the home that they allege resulted from a failure to conduct soil compaction testing before construction....
Posted In: Insurance Recovery and Litigation
Cybercrime Coverage: Similar Facts, Different Results in Two Recent Decisions
on September 13, 2017
Decisions by two federal district courts, issued less than two weeks apart, underscore the continued unpredictability faced by policyholders victimized by social engineering fraud. These decisions also demonstrate the effect minor differences in underlying state law may have on the availability of coverage for social engineering losses....
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