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Mealey's Insurance

  • June 11, 2025

    Ferrosilicon Producer Seeks Reconsideration On Discovery Limits In Cleanup Row

    PADUCAH, Ky. — A ferrosilicon producer seeks reconsideration of a Kentucky federal magistrate judge’s ruling limiting the scope of the producer’s issued deposition topics, claiming that the court erred in failing to acknowledge a reinsurer as a proper party in the litigation and misinterpreted its role in a reinsurance contract in a dispute over pollution-related cleanup costs.

  • June 10, 2025

    Insurers Successfully Move To Dismiss Claims In Remediation Coverage Suit

    BALTIMORE — A Maryland federal judge granted motions to dismiss filed by insurers in a suit filed by insureds seeking coverage for an underlying suit stemming from the insureds’ environmental remediation work after determining that one of the insurers met its burden of showing that no coverage is owed under its policy and the other insurer met its burden of showing that the bad faith and vexatious refusal to pay claims cannot survive under New York law, which governs the policy.

  • June 09, 2025

    Trial Court Erred In Jury Instruction On Pro Rata Allocation, New York Panel Says

    NEW YORK — A trial court erred when it instructed a jury to consider a pro rata method of allocation for apportioning damages and retention amounts when deciding whether an insured’s notice to an excess insurer of a claim for environmental remediation costs was timely, a New York appellate court said in reversing a portion of a trial court’s judgment in a longstanding  environmental contamination coverage dispute.

  • June 09, 2025

    Insurer Granted Leave To File Third-Party Complaint In Contamination Suit

    NEW YORK — A New York federal judge on June 6 granted an insurer’s motion for leave to file a third-party complaint against a number of insurers whose policies may provide coverage for the insureds’ remediation costs incurred as a result of environmental contamination at a Superfund site after determining that the insurer has plausibly stated a claim for contribution against the other insurers.

  • June 09, 2025

    10th Circuit Denies Petition For Rehearing In Environmental Contamination Dispute

    DENVER — The 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals denied an insured’s petition for panel rehearing and rehearing en banc, refusing to revisit a panel’s decision that insurers have no duty to defend or provide coverage to an insured for an underlying environmental contamination suit based on the insurers’ pollution exclusions.

  • June 06, 2025

    Insurer Says Lower Court Properly Found Policies Include Aggregate Limit

    SAN FRANCISCO — A district court did not err in finding that an umbrella liability insurer’s policies include an aggregate limit and cap the insured’s recovery for environmental contamination remediation costs, the insurer tells the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in its appellee brief.

  • June 04, 2025

    6th Circuit Vacates, Remands Jurisdiction Decision In PFAS Coverage Suit

    CINCINNATI — The Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals vacated and remanded a district court’s decision to retain jurisdiction over breach of contract and bad faith claims and to remand a declaratory judgment claim after determining that the lower court should have retained jurisdiction over all the claims in the insured’s suit seeking coverage for underlying perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl compounds (PFAS) exposure suits because all of the claims at issue present the same legal issues.

  • June 03, 2025

    Pollution Liability Insurer Waived Right To Arbitrate, N.J. Panel Says

    TRENTON, N.J. — A pollution liability insurer waived its right to arbitrate claims alleged by an insured in a dispute over coverage for an underlying suit stemming from a pier collapse because the insurer engaged in litigation conduct that was not consistent with an intent to arbitrate, a New Jersey Appellate Division Superior Court panel said in affirming a trial court’s ruling.

  • June 03, 2025

    Court: Lawyer Must Cover Costs Of Responding To Petition With AI Fake Citations

    SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah appeals panel ordered an attorney to reimburse respondents for time spent responding to a petition that included fake artificial intelligence-created citations and donate $1,000 after the attorney told the panel during a hearing on an order to show cause that a law clerk used ChatGPT to draft the petition.

  • June 03, 2025

    Continuous Water Leakage, Mold Exclusions Bar Coverage For Water Damage, Judge Says

    CINCINNATI — An all-risks insurer does not owe coverage for water and mold damages caused by a sprinkler system that was vandalized in the insured building because the policy’s exclusions for continuous leakage of water and mold apply as a bar to coverage, an Ohio federal judge said in granting the insurer’s motion for summary judgment.

  • June 03, 2025

    Insurer Alleges Reinsurer Breached Policy Agreement In Asbestos Settlement Row

    NEW YORK — An insurer seeks nearly $2 million in damages in a New York federal court, alleging in ts complaint that its reinsurer breached their policy agreement by refusing to pay its share of a settlement tied to asbestos bodily injury claims brought by a corporation covered under the insurer’s excess liability policies.

  • June 03, 2025

    No Coverage Owed To Insured For Contamination Cleanup Costs, Insurer Says

    OAKLAND, Calif. — An insured is not entitled to coverage for environmental contamination cleanup costs under a premises environmental policy because the insured voluntarily incurred the cleanup costs rather than being ordered by a government agency to clean up the contamination as required by the policy, an insurer says in a complaint filed in California federal court.

  • June 02, 2025

    Judge Grants Insurer’s Motion To Dismiss Retailer’s Suit Arising From Coronavirus

    CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — A federal judge in Tennessee granted an insurer’s motion to dismiss a women’s fashion retailer’s breach of contract and declaratory judgment lawsuit seeking business interruption coverage for its losses arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, finding that the policy terms unambiguously state that the policy does not cover losses resulting directly or indirectly from viruses pursuant to Tennessee law.

  • May 27, 2025

    Asbestos Debtor Presperse Adds Insurer Information To Proposed Reorganization Plan

    TRENTON, N.J. — Raw materials supplier and Chapter 11 debtor Presperse Corp. has added substantial information about the coverage available from its historical asbestos insurers in redline versions of its proposed plan of reorganization and disclosure statement filed May 23 in New Jersey federal bankruptcy court.

  • May 23, 2025

    Insureds Say Carrier Acted In Bad Faith By Denying $19M Beryllium Release Claim

    BOSTON — An insurer’s denial of an insured’s claim for more than $19 million in business interruption losses sustained as the result of a release of beryllium in the wake of three named storms constitutes a breach of contract and bad faith, the insureds say in a complaint filed in Massachusetts federal court.

  • May 23, 2025

    South Carolina Top Court Affirms Discovery Sanction, Receiver For Atlas Turner

    COLUMBIA, S.C. — A wealth of evidence supports a trial court’s decision striking defendant Atlas Turner Inc.’s answer as a sanction for discovery abuses in an asbestos case, and the company’s “moral fraud” warranted appointing a receiver over its insurance assets, the South Carolina Supreme Court said in narrowing but otherwise affirming the rulings.

  • May 23, 2025

    Louisiana Federal Judge Stays Claims Against Insurer In Asbestos Bodily Injury Suit

    NEW ORLEANS — Claims alleged against an insurer in an asbestos bodily injury suit filed in Louisiana federal court will be stayed until a Massachusetts federal court resolves the issue of whether the insurer is responsible for policies issued to the executive officers of a shipyard where a decedent was exposed to asbestos because a stay of the claims will not prejudice the plaintiffs’ ability to seek coverage from the shipyard’s proper insurer, a Louisiana federal judge said in granting the insurer’s motion to stay.

  • May 22, 2025

    Contamination Exclusion Bars Coverage For COVID-19 Losses, Texas Panel Says

    AUSTIN, Texas — A contamination exclusion bars coverage for an insured’s claim seeking coverage for damages and losses incurred as a result of the coronavirus because the exclusion is not ambiguous and clearly includes viruses in its definition of contamination, the Third District Texas Court of Appeals said May 22 in affirming a trial court’s judgment in favor of the insurers.

  • May 22, 2025

    Kentucky Federal Judge Denies Reconsideration Request In Cleanup Costs Dispute

    PADUCAH, Ky. — A federal judge in Kentucky overruled the objections presented in and denied a ferrosilicon producer’s motion for reconsideration of a January ruling that denied the producer’s motion to compel production of documents in a dispute over pollution-related cleanup costs, ruling that the reconsideration motion impermissibly raised new arguments and failed to identify claimed ambiguities in a reinsurance contract between it and an insurer and reinsurer.

  • May 21, 2025

    Panel: Property Owners Seeking Remediation Costs Failed To Exhaust All Remedies

    HARRISBURG, Pa. — The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court dismissed a petition filed by two property owners seeking review of the Pennsylvania Underground Storage Tank Indemnification Board’s decision that the property owners are entitled to reimbursement of only 42.3% of remediation costs incurred in removing underground storage tanks because the property owners failed to exhaust all administrative remedies before seeking judicial review.

  • May 20, 2025

    Panel Finds No Error In Lower Court’s Coverage Determinations In Asbestos Suit

    COLUMBIA, S.C. — A trial court did not err in making coverage determinations based on two policies produced by a receiver who was appointed to manage asbestos bodily injury claims filed against an insured, because the insurer failed to submit any evidence to support its argument that some of the policies’ terms changed over the years and were not identical to the two policies produced by the receiver, the South Carolina Court of Appeals said.

  • May 20, 2025

    Insured Files Amended Complaint In Silica Dust Exposure Coverage Suit

    LOS ANGELES — An insured filed an amended complaint in California federal court to provide an updated list of the underlying bodily injury suits filed against it stemming from silica dust exposure from the insured’s products and reiterating its claims for breach of contract, bad faith and declaratory judgment against its insurer.

  • May 20, 2025

    Underlying Plaintiff Says Coverage Owed For Disposal Of Construction Debris

    ROCK ISLAND, Ill. — An insurer has a duty to defend its insureds in an underlying suit stemming from the insureds’ alleged improper disposal of construction debris because the underlying suit against the insureds alleges an occurrence for which coverage is afforded under the policy, the underlying plaintiff says in its reply in support of its cross-motion for summary judgment.

  • May 19, 2025

    Coverage Owed For Water Damage, Surplus Lines Insured Says In Amended Complaint

    ATLANTA — A surplus lines insurer breached its contract and acted in bad faith in denying an insured’s claim for damages to a number of apartment units damaged as a result of frozen water pipes that burst, an insured says in its amended complaint filed in Georgia federal court.

  • May 16, 2025

    Meso Claimants, Asbestos Debtor Jointly Drop Appeal Due To Expected Settlement

    RICHMOND, Va. — A Virginia federal judge on May 15 approved a joint stipulation to dismiss an appeal by mesothelioma claimants over a bankruptcy court’s approval of an injunction that bars asbestos claims as part of an $18 million settlement between Chapter 11 debtor Hopeman Brothers Inc. and excess insurers.