As we approach the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Irma making landfall on Cudjoe Key on September 10, 2017, it is important to review the law that impacts when an insurance claim (or supplemental claim) must be made for damage caused by Hurricane Irma, and what is the statute of limitations for a lawsuit to be …
There are few things I hate more than seeing a policyholder forfeit coverage. Most of my claims involve close calls, or unsettled or novel areas of the law. Sometimes the claim is the type that is clearly covered, but the insurer refuses to provide coverage because it asserts the policyholder forfeited the coverage due to …
It has been a slow summer down in the swamp for Florida insurance law decisions. It has been too hot to crank out opinions. But now that fall is here and the mercury has dropped below 80, the decisions are starting to flow again. A recent decision out of the Southern District of Florida, Direct …
One of my New Year’s resolutions for 2015 is to post more regularly to this blog. It was a very busy 2014, especially the second half of the year, and I have not been able to provide updates as frequently as I would like. So before we ring in the new year, let’s review some …
I have been meaning for some time to write about Judge Kenneth Marra’s decision in Embroidme.com, Inc. v. Travelers Prop. Cas. Co. of Am., 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7715 (S.D. Fla. Jan. 23, 2014). Let me start by saying that Judge Marra is a great judge. But this decision is terribly flawed. It is now …
I have discussed before late notice issues under general liability policies. The basic rule is that a policyholder needs to give its insurer notice “as soon as practicable” after a claim is made, which typically means within a few months. Under an occurrence-based policy such as a Comprehensive General Liability policy, if the claim is reported …
Back when New York was the last of the no-prejudice notice jurisdictions, we policyholder lawyers had a saying that giving notice in New York was like voting in Chicago: do it early and often. Fortunately for policyholders in New York, the legislature amended Section 3420 in 2009 to add a requirement that insurers prove they …