Policyholders obtain rare wins in COVID-19 coverage cases against insurers
11/29/22
In what is believed to be the first jury trial in the nation on the issue of whether a commercial property insurance policy covers business interruption losses due to COVID-19, Baylor College of Medicine won a …
Storms and hurricanes: what can insurers do to improve outcomes for all on storm-related claims?
10/14/22
By: Jessica Cauley, Jessica Samford, Jonathan Schwartz, and Julia Bover
What Else is in Store for Hurricane Season 2022?
As many Floridians begin to return to their homes—or to find that their homes no longer stand—reminders come …
When it comes to Exclusions in Insurance Policies, Grammar will Make it Tense
10/12/22
By: Jessica Cauley and Marc Shrake
In September 2022, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed a seemingly unassuming district court decision finding coverage for a claim following a violent act at a hospital in Miami-Dade …
Outbreak!: Why insurance claims professionals should pay attention to Monkeypox
9/22/22
By: Glenn Klinger
Monkeypox was declared a national public health emergency by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on August 4, 2022, only the fifth time this has happened since 2009. As of September 20, 2022, the Centers …
9/16/22
By: Barry Miller
Acuity v. Masters Pharmaceutical, 2022-Ohio-3092 (September 7, 2022), considered a “growing and diverging” body of case law applying commercial general liability (“CGL”) policies in opioid cases. Prior courts differed on whether CGL claimants must link …
Post-judgment demand for prejudgment interest survives dismissal
9/7/22
By: Lee Whatling
The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals held recently that a claim for prejudgment interest made for the first time after liability had been determined was timely under Georgia law. In the underlying case, a Georgia district court …
Two Carolina Courts Reject COVID-19 Business Interruption Claims
8/29/22
By: Shawn Bingham
South Carolina’s Supreme Court became the latest high court to side with an insurer in a Covid-19 business interruption case, adopting the majority approach to interpreting “physical loss or damage” in the typical commercial property policy. On …
California Court of Appeal rules in favor of policyholder in COVID business interruption case
8/25/22
By: Shawn Bingham and Amanda Figueroa
Recently, the California Court of Appeals, Second District, became only the second appellate court in the country—state or federal—to rule favor of a policyholder on a Covid-19 business interruption claim by holding that the …
7/19/22
By: Ryan Giggi
Liability insurance policies do not cover G.L. c. 93A attorney’s fees in Massachusetts after a recent decision from the state’s highest court.
Vermont Mutual Insurance Company v. Paul Poirier et al, (July 6, 2022) rests on conceptual …
Minnesota Just Made it Harder for Insureds to Claim ‘Bad Faith’
7/12/22
By: Matthew Jones
In the matter entitled Fishbowl Solutions v. Hanover Ins. Co., the United States District Court for Minnesota affirmed a Magistrate Judge’s Order denying an insured’s motion to amend the complaint to allege “bad faith.” The insured …
Coverage Doesn’t Stick in Teflon dispute
6/27/22
By: Erin Lamb
At its Petersburg, New York plant, Tonoga, Inc. made products and materials coated with polytetrafluoroethylene, better known by its trade name, Teflon. Before 2013, when making Teflon, Tonoga used perfluorooctanoic acid, perfluorooctane sulfonate, or a combination of …
Eleventh Circuit Finds for Insurer in COVID-19 Case of First Impression in Georgia
6/6/22
FMG partners Phil Savrin and Shawn Bingham successfully represented Allied Insurance Company of America (a Nationwide entity) in resisting a claim by a restaurant (Henry’s Louisiana Grill) seeking coverage for business income lost after it suspended its operations after the …