No, all of that insurance industry money flowing into the Florida legislature has not led to a change in Fla. Stat. 627.428, Florida’s one-way attorney fee shifting statute. Loyal readers of Insurance Law Florida know that Fla. Stat. 627.428 allows policyholders to recover their attorneys fees upon the successful completion of coverage litigation. The statute’s …
Once again AIG placed dead last in the Harris Interactive “Reputation Quotient” survey released last week. It is the third year in a row that AIG has been listed as America’s least reputable company. It would have been a five-peat if not for Freddie Mac’s slightly lower rating in 2010. AIG maintained the bottom spot despite undertaking a massive rebranding …
The recent appellate decision from Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeal in GEICO General Insurance Company v. Harvey, No. 4D12-1525 (Fla. 4th DCA Jan. 23, 2013) demonstrates the limitations of Florida’s non-joinder statute, Fla. Stat. 627.4136, when it comes to asserting direct action bad faith claims. Harvey arose out of a horrific automobile accident in which the …
Please join me for a CLE webinar sponsored by Strafford Publications on insurance policy interpretation and construction. I will be presenting along with Verne Pedro at Goldberg Segalla in Princeton, NJ and Jeremy Evans at Foley Hoag in Boston, MA. The program runs from 1:00pm-2:30pm EST. We will discuss various doctrines of insurance policy construction, including contra …
I previously discussed the American Building Materials coverage cases here. ABM II was decided against the policyholder under Massachusetts law. Judge Bucklew of the Middle District of Florida entered summary judgment in the insurer’s favor after finding that Granite State’s Total Pollution Exclusion unambiguously excluded coverage for the Chinese drywall claims. Yesterday, the Eleventh Circuit affirmed …
Insurance coverage litigation is a lot like improv. You often deal with uncertain underlying facts, and you need to adapt quickly on the fly. One of the more difficult coverage claims to litigate is the “mysterious disappearance” claim. It seems there are a lot of claims out there where nobody knows exactly when something went …
In most jurisdictions, an insurer’s duty to defend is determined based on what is commonly referred to as the “eight corners rule”. Under the eight corners rule, the only relevant pieces of information when determining the duty to defend are the coverage promises contained within the four corners of the insurance policy and the allegations …
Disputed hurricane and windstorm insurance claims have been a common occurrence in Florida and the southeast U.S. Unfortunately, businesses and residents in New York and New Jersey face the prospect of similar coverage battles after the waters from Sandy subside. The destruction left by post-tropical storm Sandy may not rival Hurricane Katrina, but likely will …
There has been so much going on lately that I have not had a chance to get back to my installment series, “Top 10 Commercial Insurance Myths & Misconceptions”. To recap, we have covered #1-4: 1. Your Business Is “Fully Covered”. 2. Policy Forms Are “Standard” And Cannot Be Negotiated. 3. Fraud Claims Are Not …
Thanks everyone who listened in on the Strafford CLE program on deductibles and self-insured retentions. It was a great turn out and there were so many questions (I guess folks were actually listening). Several people have asked me for copies of the materials. Here is a set of my slides in PDF format. The complete presentation …