As 2024 rapidly approaches, we look back at some of the key decisions, trends, and developments impacting the U.S. insurance industry in 2023 and look ahead at some trends and cases to watch in 2024. Insurers continue to...more
12/22/2023
/ Affirmative Action ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Asbestos ,
Biden Administration ,
Biometric Information Privacy Act ,
Business Interruption ,
California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) ,
Climate Change ,
Construction Defects ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Cybersecurity ,
D&O Insurance ,
Damages ,
Data Breach ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Duty to Defend ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Homeland Security Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) ,
Insurance Industry ,
Lead ,
Litigation Funding ,
Machine Learning ,
Marine Insurance ,
Misrepresentation ,
Opioid ,
PFAS ,
Pollution Control ,
Price Inflation ,
Privacy Laws ,
Reimbursements ,
Reinsurance ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities ,
Severe Weather ,
Students for Fair Admissions v Harvard College ,
Sustainability ,
Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) ,
Underwriting ,
West Virginia v EPA
Per and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) represent major exposures to insurers and their policyholders. Thousands of lawsuits are pending nationwide and several large settlements have already been reached. Insurers are...more
8/30/2023
/ Asbestos ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
CERCLA ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
D&O Insurance ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Insurance Industry ,
Insurer Liability ,
Motion for Summary Judgment ,
PFAS ,
Pollution Exclusion ,
Popular ,
Settlement
The issuance of various governmental orders requiring businesses to temporarily modify or close their operations during the COVID-19 pandemic led to an immediate avalanche of claims and lawsuits involving first-party...more
7/1/2022
/ Business Interruption ,
Commercial Insurance Policies ,
Commercial Property Owners ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Insurance Claims ,
Insurance Industry ,
Multidistrict Litigation ,
Policy Exclusions ,
Popular ,
Putative Class Actions
As we approach the end of the first quarter of 2022, things are still looking good for insurers in the COVID-19 coverage litigation battle.
The issuance of various governmental orders requiring businesses to temporarily...more
COVID-19 Business Interruption Coverage Litigation -
This is the third installment of our series of articles reviewing some of the key trends and developments currently impacting the U.S. insurance industry. The issuance...more
2/15/2022
/ Business Interruption ,
Business Losses ,
Commercial Insurance Policies ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Insurance Claims ,
Insurance Industry ,
Insurance Litigation ,
Policy Exclusions ,
Policy Terms ,
Property Insurance
Social Inflation -
This is the second installment of our series of articles reviewing some of the key trends and developments currently impacting the U.S. insurance industry.
Social inflation continues to be a major...more
Racking up three more victories at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, insurers have now prevailed in the first six decisions of United States Court of Appeal. Each of these decisions have affirmed the dismissal...more
10/5/2021
/ Breach of Contract ,
Business Interruption ,
Business Losses ,
Choice-of-Law ,
Commercial Insurance Policies ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Dismissals ,
Insurance Claims ,
Insurance Industry ,
Loss Coverage ,
Proximate Cause
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit recently affirmed the dismissal of a policyholder’s COVID-19 insurance coverage action in Santo’s Italian Café LLC v. Acuity Insurance Co., No. 21-3068 (6th Cir. Sept. 22,...more
9/27/2021
/ Business Interruption ,
Business Losses ,
Commercial Insurance Policies ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Denial of Insurance Coverage ,
Insurance Claims ,
Insurance Industry ,
Insurance Litigation ,
Loss Coverage ,
Policy Terms ,
Property Damage
The pace of new COVID-19 coverage actions has slowed down in recent months, but new cases continue to be filed. As of August 31, 2021, according to the Penn Law COVID Coverage Litigation Tracker, more than 1,980...more
9/9/2021
/ Business Interruption ,
Commercial Insurance Policies ,
Commercial Property Owners ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Denial of Insurance Coverage ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Insurance Claims ,
Insurance Industry ,
Loss Coverage ,
Policy Exclusions ,
Property Insurance
Join us for Hinshaw's Webinar Series: Insurance Insights – What Insurers Need to Know in 2021. This series will feature insurance thought leaders from Hinshaw and RPC, presenting on the most pressing insurance claims topics...more
4/13/2021
/ Bodily Injury ,
Burden of Proof ,
Business Interruption ,
Business Losses ,
Civil Authority Coverage ,
Commercial General Liability Policies ,
Continuing Legal Education ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
First-Party Coverage ,
Ingress/Egress ,
Insurance Agents ,
Insurance Brokers ,
Insurance Claims ,
Insurance Contracts ,
Insurance Industry ,
Insurance Litigation ,
Personal and Advertising Injury Coverage ,
Policy Exclusions ,
Pollution Exclusion ,
Property Damage ,
Third-Party ,
Webinars
Approximately 1,300 COVID-19 business interruption and civil authority insurance coverage cases are working their way through federal and state courts throughout the country. Decisions continue to be rendered and tracking...more
In the wake of government quarantine/shut down orders being executed in response to the pandemic, a flurry of bills were introduced in several states to retroactively create—by government fiat—business interruption insurance...more
6/1/2020
/ Business Interruption ,
Business Losses ,
Commercial Insurance Policies ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Denial of Insurance Coverage ,
Insurance Claims ,
Insurance Industry ,
Insurance Litigation ,
PA Supreme Court ,
Policy Terms ,
Proposed Legislation
As COVID-19 coverage lawsuits continue to be filed across the country, there have been some significant pro-insurer developments over the past few weeks that are worth noting.
The Louisiana State Senate has shelved the...more
On May 22, 2020, the Illinois legislature overwhelmingly passed a bipartisan bill that creates COVID-19 workers' compensation protection for certain workers considered "essential" under the Governor's stay-at-home order. The...more
On May 21, 2020, Illinois Representative Kelly M. Burke filed an amendment to Senate Bill 2135. Among other things, the proposal would amend the Administrative Code of Illinois to require the Illinois Department of Insurance...more
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced employers across the country to rapidly make numerous and significant decisions about how to manage their business in this unprecedented time. Employers have had to quickly develop and...more
5/14/2020
/ Bodily Injury ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Employment Practices Liability Insurance (EPLI) ,
Failure To Warn ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Meat Processing Plants ,
Negligence ,
Notice Requirements ,
OSHA ,
Personal Protective Equipment ,
Policy Exclusions ,
Sick Employees ,
Social Distancing ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wal-Mart ,
Workplace Decontamination ,
Wrongful Acts ,
Wrongful Death
Over the past several weeks, we've seen legislators introduce bills to retroactively rewrite existing insurance policies to provide coverage for COVID-19 claims, and a flood of insurance coverage complaints filed across the...more
On April 14, 2020, California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara issued a notice to insurers titled "Requirement to Accept, Forward, Acknowledge, and Fairly Investigate All Business Interruption Insurance Claims Caused by...more
4/20/2020
/ Bad Faith ,
Business Interruption ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Insurance ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Insurance Agents ,
Insurance Brokers ,
Insurance Claims ,
Insurance Industry ,
Notice Requirements ,
Policy Exclusions ,
State and Local Government
On April 14, 2020, United States Representative Mike Thompson (CA-05) introduced the Business Interruption Insurance Coverage Act of 2020 (H.R. 6494). Thompson stated the bill is intended "to ensure businesses who purchase...more
A steady stream of COVID-19-related insurance coverage matters continues to be filed in state and federal courts across the United States. As we have previously discussed in an April 4 update and an April 9 update,...more
Since our prior post from last week, additional COVID-19 coverage lawsuits have been filed throughout the United States, and themes and insights concerning theories of coverage continue to emerge.
At least four new...more
As the number of filings of COVID-19 coverage actions continue to increase, we thought it would be useful to review these cases for our insurer readership so they can better understand the issues and themes that are emerging...more
4/8/2020
/ Bad Faith ,
Business Closures ,
Business Losses ,
Contamination ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Covenant of Good Faith and Fair Dealing ,
Denial of Insurance Coverage ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Insurance Claims ,
Insurance Litigation ,
Policy Exclusions ,
Property Damage ,
Restaurant Industry ,
State Law Claims ,
Theater Productions ,
Tribal Corporations
On March 26, 2020, California's Department of Insurance (the "Department") issued an "urgent data survey" to all admitted and non-admitted insurance companies, seeking information about coverage for COVID-19 business...more
Restaurants are among the leading wave of business owners filing COVID-19-related business interruption coverage actions. Illinois is now the venue of one such suit...more
The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic continues to wreak havoc across the globe and in the United States, bringing with it panic, sickness, and mass mortality. The U.S. health care system is under strain and the situation is...more