Newsletter RSS

Mealey's Insurance Pleadings

  • October 06, 2025

    15 States Urge High Court To Accept Review Of Jurisdictional Issue In PFAS Suit

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court should grant certiorari to review an insured’s appeal of a Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ ruling that vacated a district court’s decision to remand a declaratory judgment claim and to retain jurisdiction over breach of contract and bad faith claims in a dispute over coverage for underlying per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) exposure suits because the issue is one that divides the circuits, Ohio and 14 other states say in an Oct. 3 amicus curiae brief.

  • October 03, 2025

    Grain Production Firm Seeks Amended Judgment As To Coverage For Defective Bins

    INDIANAPOLIS — A grain production firm moved to alter or amend a partial summary judgment order in favor of a grain equipment company’s insurer in which a federal judge in Indiana held that some of the claimed losses for the repair and replacement of leaky grain storage bins related to a contractual dispute rather than to coverage liability; the grain production firm argues “that unintentional, defective workmanship constitutes an ‘occurrence’ under Indiana law.”

  • October 01, 2025

    Property Owners Affected By Hurricanes Allege Scheme By Attorneys, Law Firms

    NEW ORLEANS — A complaint requesting class action status was brought against attorneys, law firms and a professional liability insurer in a Louisiana federal court, alleging that the attorneys committed legal malpractice and breach of contract by setting “up a scheme in an attempt to quickly settle thousands” of Hurricane Laura, Delta, Zeta and/or Ida cases and “collect an exorbitant fee” that they would all share.

  • October 01, 2025

    Insurer Argues 7th Circuit Should Affirm Judgment, Find Exclusion Applies

    CHICAGO — An insurer asked the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to affirm a lower court’s grant of judgment on the pleadings to the insurer in its suit seeking a declaration that it has no duty to defend or indemnify a roofing contractor in an underlying suit alleging that the contractor’s negligent repair work contributed to the collapse of a building’s façade,  which killed two people, arguing that a Prior Work Exclusion applies to bar coverage for the underlying action.

  • September 30, 2025

    Insured Appeals Federal Court’s Ruling That Flood Damage Claims Are Time-Barred

    LAKE CHARLES, La. — An insured filed a notice appealing a Louisiana federal court’s ruling that her claims for flood damage caused by Hurricane Delta and a separate flood event are time-barred under a Standard Flood Insurance Policy (SFIP) and must be dismissed with prejudice, challenging the court’s grant of the insurer’s motion for summary judgment on her claims for breach of contract and bad faith.

  • September 29, 2025

    Insured Maintains Defense Owed By Insurer Under Pollution Liability Policies

    LAFAYETTE, La. — A pollution liability insurer has a duty to defend its insureds in an underlying suit seeking damages for saltwater contamination because the underlying complaint alleges potentially covered claims under the policies, the insureds say in a reply brief filed in support of a motion for partial summary judgment pending in Louisiana federal court.

  • September 26, 2025

    Builder Appeals Judge’s Finding Of No Policy Coverage Of Arbitration Award

    HOUSTON — A homebuilder filed a notice in federal court in Texas on Sept. 25 that it was appealing to the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals a judge’s order ruling granting summary judgment in favor of the builder’s commercial liability insurer in its suit seeking indemnification for a $213,000 arbitration award for damages caused by construction defects in a home it built; the judge had found that no coverage existed under the policy.

  • September 26, 2025

    Insurer Waives Right To Respond To Petition Seeking High Court Review In PFAS Suit

    CINCINNATI — An insurer waived its right to respond to a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by an insured seeking the U.S. Supreme Court’s review of a Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ ruling that vacated a district court’s decision to retain jurisdiction over breach of contract and bad faith claims but remanded a declaratory judgment claim in a dispute over coverage for underlying per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) exposure suits.

  • September 26, 2025

    Reinsurer, Agency Allege RICO Scheme Inflated Injury Claims And Insurance Costs

    BROOKLYN, N.Y. — A reinsurer and management general agency allege in a New York federal court that numerous doctors and medical providers engaged in a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) scheme in which they had workers stage construction accidents and exaggerate minor injuries to generate fraudulent workers’ compensation and liability claims to drive up settlement values and insurance costs.

  • September 25, 2025

    180-Day Extension Of Claims Objection Bar Date Requested In Vesttoo Liquidation

    WILMINGTON, Del. — A Delaware federal bankruptcy court has been asked to extend the claims objection bar date in the Chapter 11 liquidation of Vesttoo Ltd. and its dozens of affiliates by 180 days to April 6, 2026, with the beleaguered reinsurance provider citing a need for more time to generate proceeds and reconcile claims.

  • September 25, 2025

    Insurance Administrator Sued Over Coverage Reversal Tied To Reinsurance Denial

    BEND, Ore. — A public school district filed suit in Oregon state court, alleging that a nonprofit insurance administrator initially accepted coverage for a multimillion-dollar structural damage claim but later reversed its coverage decision after reinsurers denied liability.

  • September 23, 2025

    Insurers Seek $10M Over Alleged Mismanagement Of Captive Insurance Program

    NEW YORK — Four insurers filed suit in New York federal court against an insurance services firm, its captive affiliate and its general counsel, alleging mismanagement of a captive program that included failure to collect collateral, obstruction of trust withdrawals and interference with contractual rights, seeking more than $10 million in damages for breach of contract, negligence and tortious interference.

  • September 23, 2025

    Insurer Answers Bad Faith Complaint In California Storm Damage Coverage Suit

    LOS ANGELES — Following a California court’s ruling that overruled its demurrer to an insured’s claim for breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing and denied its motion to strike all references to punitive damages, an insurer filed its answer to the insured’s first amended complaint in a coverage dispute over storm damage.

  • September 23, 2025

    Insurer, Reinsurer File Joint Dismissal Motion In Mine Coverage Dispute

    OMAHA, Neb. — National Indemnity Co. (NICO) and a reinsurer it sued for breach of contract and declaratory judgment jointly moved in Nebraska federal court to dismiss the reinsurer with prejudice as part of NICO’s suit to enforce its reinsurers’ obligations for incurred liabilities related to asbestos exposure stemming from a Montana mine.

  • September 22, 2025

    Appellants Argue Reinsurer Was ‘De Facto Insurer’ In $844M Crash Coverage Appeal

    MIAMI — Survivors of a 2016 plane crash and representatives of the deceased filed a brief in a Florida appellate court, arguing that a reinsurer acted as a “de facto insurer” and that state law accordingly permits them to pursue independent bad faith and coverage claims despite a trial court’s dismissal of their amended complaint that sought to enforce approximately $844 million in consent judgments.

  • September 22, 2025

    Reinsurer Claims Insurer Withheld Premiums, Improperly Terminated Agreement

    DALLAS — A reinsurer sued an insurer in a Texas state court, alleging that the insurer withheld more than $31 million in reinsurance premiums under a quota share reinsurance agreement (QSRA) and related deal, retroactively attempted to terminate their contract in violation of notice requirements and engaged in conduct amounting to breach of contract, unjust enrichment and statutory theft.

  • September 22, 2025

    Insured Says Insurer Owes Additional Coverage For Underlying Silica Lawsuits

    NEW YORK — An insured filed counterclaims against its insurer in New York federal court, seeking declarations that the insurer has a continued duty to defend and indemnify the insured in underlying silica bodily injury lawsuits and further seeking declarations that the underlying lawsuits constitute multiple occurrence and that a pro rata method of allocation applies.

  • September 22, 2025

    Pollution Liability Insurer Says No Defense Owed For Contamination Suit

    LAFAYETTE, La. — A pollution liability insurer says it has no duty to defend its insureds in an underlying suit seeking damages for saltwater contamination because the underlying complaint does not stem from activities performed by the insured for a third party at a job site as required by the policies’ covered operations requirement.

  • September 22, 2025

    Following Mediation, Parties In D&O Excess Coverage Dispute Reach ‘Total Impasse’

    MIAMI — A mediator told a Florida federal court on Sept. 19 that an excess directors and officers liability insurer and a law firm participated in mediation and failed to resolve the law firm’s lawsuit seeking payment for its legal representation of the insured in underlying criminal and civil lawsuits.

  • September 19, 2025

    LTD Claimant Urges 1st Circuit To Reverse Ruling That Hinges On ‘Working’

    BOSTON — Arguing in part that a long-term disability (LTD) plan’s use of “working” is ambiguous and therefore must be construed in his favor, an independent financial adviser filed an appellant brief urging the First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to reverse summary judgment against him, to order that his benefits be reinstated and to award him interest and attorney fees and costs.

  • September 19, 2025

    CGL Insurer, City Settle Coverage Dispute Over Wrongful Conviction Settlement

    DURHAM, N.C. — A mediator filed a report notifying a North Carolina federal court that a commercial general liability insurer and the city of Concord, N.C., have fully settled the city’s breach of contract and declaratory judgment lawsuit alleging that the insurer has a duty to defend, indemnify and contribute to a $9.3 million settlement of an underlying wrongful conviction lawsuit.

  • September 17, 2025

    Parties Reach Settlement To Resolve All Remaining Claims In Reinsurance Dispute

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The two remaining parties in a suit involving reinsurance and related agreements notified a California federal court that they have reached a final settlement, resolving all outstanding claims and providing for the distribution of funds held by the court.

  • September 16, 2025

    Insured’s Assignees Say Coverage Owed For Underlying Carbon Monoxide Suit

    CLEVELAND — A commercial auto insurer breached its contract when it claimed that its pollution exclusion barred coverage to an insured for an underlying carbon monoxide poisoning suit, the assignees of the insured contend in a complaint filed in Ohio federal court.

  • September 16, 2025

    Countertop Manufacturer Seeks Coverage For Underlying Silica Bodily Injury Suits

    LOS ANGELES — An insured manufacturer and distributor of countertops and countertop products filed suit in California state court, claiming that its insurers breached their contracts of insurance and acted in bad faith in relying on their policies’ pollution and silica exclusions to deny coverage for underlying silica-exposure bodily injury suits in which the insured is named as a defendant.

  • September 16, 2025

    Reinsurer Claims Lack Of Issue Preclusion In Mine Subsidence Suit Against Railroad

    SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — A reinsurer filed a reply memorandum supporting its motion for summary judgment in litigation concerning mine subsidence claims, contending that a railroad company’s opposition raises no material factual disputes and that its arguments are immaterial to the claim and issue preclusion factors central to the case.