Specialty Lines

Expert Analysis

• Insurers Should Honor Astroworld Coverage Obligations

  

  While insurers may be eager to shift blame on Astroworld showrunner Travis Scott for conditions that resulted in 10 deaths and dozens of injuries, arguments suggesting the tragedy shouldn't be covered appear baseless in light of the facts and the law, says Benjamin Massarsky at Miller Friel.

• Ransomware Case Signifies Shift In Cyber Insurers' Stance

  

  The pleadings in a recently settled California federal court case, Boardriders v. Great American Insurance, show that cyber insurers are taking an adversarial approach to ransomware-related claims in the wake of increasing attacks, so policyholders should anticipate new policy language, claim-payment avoidance and more, say Lynda Bennett and Michael Scales at Lowenstein Sandler.

• Cyber Rulings Aren't Helping COVID Biz Interruption Cases

  

  Where policyholders have recently tried to draw comparison between the loss of property use from a COVID-19 shutdown order and the loss of data use from a ransomware attack, they have found courts unsympathetic to these arguments for business interruption insurance coverage, say Jane Warring and Kristian Smith at Zelle.

• Insurance Commissioner's Agenda: NY On Industry Diversity

  

  My Chi To, executive deputy superintendent of the New York State Department of Financial Services Insurance Division, discusses steps her agency is taking to promote diversity, equity and inclusion within the insurance industry and suggests practices for companies to consider adopting.

• FCA Ruling Guides Insureds On Classifying Restitution Costs

  

  In Astellas v. Starr Indemnity, an Illinois federal court recently held that a False Claims Act settlement qualified as insurable compensatory damages, not uninsurable disgorgement, providing an important guide to policyholders navigating the tax code's deductibility requirements and insurance policy exclusions, say attorneys at Reed Smith.

• Subpoena Defense Cost Ruling Gets Insurance Law Wrong

  

  A Connecticut federal court's recent decision that National Union Fire Insurance Co. of Pittsburgh didn't need to cover defense costs for a power utility's response to a grand jury subpoena included two crucial mistakes that contravene long-standing insurance law principles, say attorneys at Hunton.

• Insurance Commissioner's Agenda: DC On Long-Term Care

  

  Washington, D.C., Insurance Commissioner Karima Woods outlines the development of insurance coverage for older adults' long-term care benefits and how regulators and the industry are attempting to resolve issues with the popular product.

• 5 Buyers' Counsel Tips For R&W Insurance Underwriting Calls

  

  With representations and warranties insurance becoming more popular than ever, buyers' counsel participating in underwriting calls for such insurance should follow certain best practices to secure contracts with minimal exclusions, say Bryan O'Keefe and Gena Usenheimer at Seyfarth.

• When A Denial Of Recovery-Based Insurance Claim Is Invalid

  

  Two recent court decisions show that policyholders should not accept denials of coverage based on the uninsurability of restitution or disgorgement-based losses without a detailed, two-part analysis of the specific state's law and the particular facts of the loss, say Stephen Raptis and Emily Buchanan at Haynes and Boone.

• Insurance Commissioner's Agenda: Del. Tackles Mental Health

  

  Delaware Insurance Commissioner Trinidad Navarro highlights the state's efforts to achieve insurance coverage parity for mental health care by confronting systemic stigma and penalizing disparate and restrictive insurance determinations.

• Key Takeaways From The NAIC Summer National Meeting

  

  Stephanie Duchene and Kara Baysinger at Willkie highlight what insurance practitioners should know about top industry priorities from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ recent national meeting, including climate-related risk, diversity and inclusion, and technological innovation.

• Considerations In Structuring Private Equity D&O Coverage

  

  With the surge in investment activity driven by the ongoing pandemic recovery, private equity firms should carefully consider the scope of protection afforded by their directors and officers and general partnership liability programs, and how that coverage fits into their overall risk mitigation strategy, say Geoffrey Fehling and Syed Ahmad at Hunton and Rachel Beck at CAC Specialty.

• The Complex State Of Insurance In The Cannabis Business

  

  Jan Larson and Philip Sailer at Jenner & Block outline the complex cannabis regulatory schemes perplexing courts faced with insurance coverage cases and discuss legislative solutions that could at least begin to reduce the challenges for both policyholders and insurers.