Merchants Preferred Insurance Company filed a declaratory judgment action in New York seeking a declaration that it had no duty to defend or to indemnify its insureds in an underlying Florida personal injury action arising...more
Aymee Taylor v. State Farm Florida Insurance Company, 5D23-0243 (5th Fla. DCA, Apr. 12, 2024) - The insured suffered water damage caused by a overflowing sink. State Farm covered the loss, and the parties participated in the...more
The newest episode of the Subro Sessions podcast, is hosted by Gus Sara, Partner, and Michael DeBona, Counsel, who are joined by guest J. Pablo Ross, PE, of Ross Engineering. The episode, entitled “Water Losses 101: A...more
The Connecticut Appellate Court recently provided guidance on what does not constitute property damage under a typical contractor’s Commercial General Liability (CGL) insurance policy in Westchester Modular Homes of Fairfield...more
1. If a Leak Destroys an Apartment, is a Co-Op Board Responsible for the Repairs? In the event of a fire, water, or other damage, almost every proprietary lease has boilerplate language on who is responsible for certain...more
Ports and terminals serve as the primary infrastructure for movement of goods and commodities in and out of a country and therefore play a vital role in global trade. As well as facilitating trade, ports and terminals also...more
On June 29, 2022, Florida's Fourth District Court of Appeal issued a favorable decision for insurers, but on its face, the decision may seem to conflict with Fifth District law....more
Issues to Watch - 1. Causation—What is an insured’s burden when the claimed loss involves a mix of covered and non-covered causes? Overstreet v. Allstate Vehicle & Prop. Ins. Co., No. 21-10462, 2022 WL 1579278 (5th Cir....more
Does a tarp installed on top of a hotel's existing roof constitute part of the "roof" under the insured’s policy? Perhaps, according to Judge Wendy Beetlestone of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of...more
The proper trigger of coverage in construction defect disputes has been addressed on several occasions by New Jersey courts. Most notably, in Air Master & Cooling, Inc. v. Selective Insurance Company of America, 452 N.J....more
About the E-book This resource serves as a guideline for understanding subrogation recovery and the insurance claims processes in specific subrogation cases. From case intake and investigation to filing a suit and...more
In Cameron v. Scottsdale Insurance Company, No. 17-11907, 2018 WL 1791889, at *1 (11th Cir. Apr. 16, 2018), the Eleventh Circuit vacated the lower court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the insurer and relied on...more
Florida first-party property insurers have seen a dramatic rise in the number of reported water loss claims over the past five years. ...more
Typical first party property policies include provisions that address failure to maintain heat as excluded losses. The Eastern District of New York recently analyzed a specific endorsement requiring that heat be maintained at...more
The “Water Damage” exclusion incorporated in many property insurance policies is the subject of much litigation, including the scope and applicability of the “surface water” exclusion to various water damage scenarios....more
Contingency fee multipliers increase attorney fee awards substantially. The general custom in American law is that each party is responsible for his or her own attorney’s fees, regardless of the outcome of the action. See...more
In a recent opinion, Judge Schmehl of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania denied a forced placed insurer’s Motion to Dismiss a suit brought by the assignee of a homeowner for water damage to the home. In Williams v....more
Hurricane Nate made landfall on the Mississippi Gulf Coast near the city of Biloxi on Sunday, October 8, 2017, as a Category 1 Hurricane. The eastern quadrant of the storm’s center also passed over significant portions of...more
The Florida Supreme Court recently issued a widely reported decision, Sebo v. American Home Assurance Co., which applied the concurrent cause doctrine in ruling that an all-risk homeowner’s insurance policy provides coverage...more
We have discussed on a number of occasions the issue of causation when there are multiple causes of loss, some covered and some not covered. Most jurisdictions apply what is known as the efficient proximate cause analysis...more
In a recent opinion, U.S. District Judge Sidney Fitzwater delivered the final blow to One Way Investments Inc. in its hail damage lawsuit against property insurer Century Surety Company — granting summary judgment in favor of...more
Lois Chamberlain sat down at her desk, adjusted her reading glasses, and stared at the screen filled with columns of check requests — each supported by a claim summary. Lois was two weeks from her retirement party. She...more
Many first party property insurance policies exclude claims for water damage that occurs when the insured premises is left vacant or unoccupied, unless the insured has used reasonable care to prevent such losses. In...more
Allstate Insurance Company v. Structures Design/Build, LLC, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 34349 (WD VA March 17, 2016) - This construction dispute case arises from a failed pipe connector that caused water damage to a facility...more
Disputes involving “vacancy” exclusions typically involve the appropriate definition of that word. The recently-decided case of Lui v. Essex Ins. Co., 2016 Wash. LEXIS 692 (Wash. June 9, 2016) presents a somewhat different...more