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Mealey's Insurance

  • October 10, 2025

    Delaware Bankruptcy Judge Confirms Avon Entities’ Liquidation Plan

    WILMINGTON, Del. — A Delaware federal bankruptcy judge has issued an order confirming the fourth amended Chapter 11 plan of liquidation for the U.S. divisions of cosmetics giant Avon after the debtors and certain insurers filed plan revisions at the direction of the bankruptcy judge involving the insurers’ rights and the operation of an asbestos personal injury trust.

  • October 09, 2025

    Judge Refuses To Reconsider Arbitration Ruling In Insured’s Contamination Suit

    PORTLAND, Ore. — An Oregon federal judge refused to reconsider an opinion granting a motion to compel arbitration and staying an insured’s suit filed against its excess liability insurers seeking costs for environmental contamination cleanup because the insured failed to meet its burden of showing that the court clearly erred in finding that the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) applies to the excess policies’ arbitration provision.

  • October 09, 2025

    Toxic Exposure, Contamination Suit Dismissed Following Parties’ Settlement

    GREENBELT, Md. — A Maryland federal judge dismissed consolidated suits stemming from an insurance coverage dispute for underlying toxic exposure and environmental contamination lawsuits after the parties settled all claims at issue.

  • October 09, 2025

    U.S. Supreme Court Seeks Response In South Carolina Asbestos Receivership Case

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 8 requested responses to a petition challenging a South Carolina justice’s appointment of a receiver over the insurance assets of a solvent Canadian company as a sanction for its failure to participate in discovery in an asbestos action.

  • October 08, 2025

    High Court Asks Insurer To Respond To Insured’s Petition In PFAS Exposure Suit

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court requested that an insurer file a response brief to an insured’s petition for a writ of certiorari seeking review of the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ finding that a district court erred in remanding a declaratory judgment claim and retaining jurisdiction over breach of contract and bad faith claims in a dispute over coverage for underlying per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) exposure suits.

  • October 07, 2025

    No Coverage For Drain Line Piping That Could Fail In Future, Judge Says

    SAN ANTONIO — A Texas federal judge granted an insurer’s motion for summary judgment on a portion of an insured’s breach of contract claim related to coverage for repair costs incurred following a water leak at an insured restaurant because the policy at issue does not require the insurer to pay for drain line piping that may fail in the future.

  • October 07, 2025

    N.Y. Justice Allows Insured To Serve Subpoena In Secondhand Smoke Coverage Suit

    NEW YORK — An insured is permitted to serve a subpoena on the New York State Department of Financial Services and to compel the department to produce all complaints filed against a homeowners insurer by insureds for wrongful denial of coverage of claims related to secondhand smoke intrusion, a New York County Supreme Court justice said.

  • 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 06, 2025

    Amici Urge U.S. High Court To Bar State Court Control Over Foreign Assets

    WASHINGTON, D.C.  — Insurance and business interests told the U.S. Supreme Court that jurisdiction ends at a state’s borders and urged the court to reject a South Carolina justice’s appointment of a receiver over the assets of a solvent Canadian company as a discovery sanction in an asbestos case.

  • October 01, 2025

    No Coverage Owed For Washington State University’s Coronavirus Losses, Panel Affirms

    SPOKANE, Wash.— A Washington appeals panel on Sept. 30 affirmed a lower court’s grant of an insurer’s motion for judgment on the pleadings in a business interruption coverage dispute arising from the coronavirus pandemic, concluding that it is bound by the Washington Supreme Court's ruling in Hill and Stout PLLC v. Mutual of Enumclaw Insurance Company in holding that a business’ shutdown because of the COVID-19 pandemic does not constitute a “direct physical loss or damage” to insured property pursuant to an all-risk insurance policy.

  • 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

    Federal Jurisdiction Exists In Suit Seeking Pollution Cleanup Costs, Judge Says

    NEW YORK — A New York federal judge determined that jurisdiction exists in New York federal court over an insured’s suit seeking reimbursement for pollution cleanup costs and further determined that a policy’s forum selection clause is enforceable.

  • September 29, 2025

    Texas High Court Denies Review In COVID-19 Contamination Suit

    AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas Supreme Court on Sept. 26 denied an insured’s petition for review of a state appellate court’s ruling that a contamination exclusion bars coverage for the insured’s claim seeking coverage for damages and losses incurred as a result of the coronavirus.

  • 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

    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

    Suit Limitation Provision Bars Insureds’ Water, Mold Damage Suit, Panel Says

    EDINBURG, Texas — A trial court did not err in finding that a policy’s suit limitation provision bars a lawsuit filed by insureds who claim that they are owed coverage for water and mold damage in their home because the insureds clearly filed their suit after the limitations period expired, the Texas 13th Court of Appeals said Sept. 25 in affirming the lower court’s decision.

  • September 25, 2025

    Insurer Owes No Coverage For Remediation Costs, Indiana Federal Judge Says

    TERRE HAUTE, Ind. — No coverage is owed to insureds for remediation costs incurred as a result of the discovery of perchloroethylene (PCE) in an insured building because no suit was filed against the insureds as required to trigger coverage under the policies, an Indiana federal judge said.

  • September 24, 2025

    Texas Panel Partly Rules In Favor Of Insurers In Coronavirus Coverage Suit

    DALLAS — A Texas appellate panel held that a lower court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of certain commercial property insurers in a breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit arising from the coronavirus pandemic, finding that one of the “follow-form” insurance policies included a coverage-extension endorsement that was not present in the lead policy and the insurer that issued that policy failed to demonstrate that the contamination exclusion superseded the endorsement.

  • September 23, 2025

    Oral Arguments Set In Pollution Exclusion Suit Pending In 8th Circuit

    ST. PAUL, Minn. — Oral arguments are scheduled for Oct. 23 in the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in an appeal by insureds who argue that a pollution exclusion does not bar coverage for an underlying bodily injury claim stemming from carbon monoxide exposure because the pollution exclusion applies only to traditional environmental pollution claims.

  • 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

    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

    Insurers Appeal Subrogation Ruling In Bankruptcies Of Imerys Asbestos Talc Parties

    WILMINGTON, Del. — An appeal by a group of insurers of asbestos talc debtors Imerys Talc America Inc. and Cyprus Mines Corp. who say they have subrogation rights to the proceeds of the debtors’ $280 million settlement with other insurers was docketed in the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.

  • 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 18, 2025

    Virginia Federal Judge Says Chemical Exposure Dispute Will Proceed To Arbitration

    RICHMOND, Va. — A Virginia federal judge granted an insured’s motion to compel arbitration in a dispute over coverage for underlying chemical exposure claims after determining that the insurer failed to show that it will be prejudiced if forced to proceed with arbitration, a Virginia federal judge said in granting the insured’s motion to compel arbitration and to stay the insurer’s declaratory judgment suit.

  • 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.