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
Chabad of Key Biscayne, Inc. v. Scottsdale Ins. Co., No. 22-13603 (11th Cir. 2023) - Chabad filed a claim for water damage after a drain or sewer pipe broke. The insurer denied the claim under the general water damage...more
On September 13, 2023, the Third District Court of Appeal released its opinion in People’s Trust Insurance Company v. Banks. The opinion is a substitute opinion for the Court’s original opinion, which was issued on August 13,...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
Water’s capacity to inflict severe and costly damage looms large over all construction projects. Whether it’s caused by Mother Nature or human error, water damage presents a ubiquitous threat. Because construction water...more
Advanced Structural Drying (ASD) is the effective, efficient drying of water-damaged buildings and dwellings, using comprehensive knowledge and tools. The process includes the collection of appropriate data for utilization...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
Since 2016, the United States has had at least one landfalling hurricane each year and a total of 19 landfalling hurricanes. According to the Insurance Information Institute, five of the top 10 costliest hurricanes have...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
Florida is replete with houses that contain cast iron pipes. After several years, those pipes deteriorate to the point that water leaks out, causing a loss. The Fifth District Court of Appeal recently addressed this same fact...more
Flood exclusions may not apply when floods are preceded by winds strong enough to independently cause the loss, according to a recent decision issued by the Western District of Louisiana. In Doxey v. Aegis Security Ins. Co.,...more
A District Court in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania recently held that an insured’s submission of invoices altered to inflate replacement costs for water-damaged inventory constituted material misrepresentations. ...more
Chances are, if you live in Florida, you have seen a billboard or heard an advertisement about water damage or pipe lawsuits. For some time, insureds have filed claims and lawsuits alleging repair costs that frequently...more
New York Court Reaffirms That Contractor’s Defective Work Is Not A Covered “Occurrence” Anthony and Sandra Tamer hired RD Rice Construction (“Rice”) as a general contractor to gut and rebuild their combined residential...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
When the National Weather Service names a storm heading in your direction, you know to expect wind and water. This can create a quandary for property insurers. Is water damage from a named windstorm caused by the flood or the...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
Florida’s Second District Court of Appeal recently issued a decision that serves as a reminder not to take for granted a proposition that most practicing attorneys regularly encounter: a motion for summary judgment must be...more
In S.O. Beach Corp. v. Great American Insurance Company of New York, No. 18-1967 (11th Cir. Oct. 31, 2019), the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the district court’s grant of summary judgment in full to the insurer, finding there...more
A recent ruling in a U.S. District Court in Missouri may suggest a new path for policy exclusions based on “continuous or repeated seepage or leakage of water.” The Court rejected the argument that the continuous or repeated...more
Leo Old undertook a presentation at the Arkansas Environmental Federation Convention titled: Debunking Common Myths Regarding Mold (“Presentation”) - Mr. Old is an Associate Principal with EnSafe in Memphis, Tennessee....more