Strafford CLE Tomorrow On Self-Insured Retentions And Deductibles

It’s not too late to sign up for tomorrow’s CLE webinar sponsored by Strafford.  I will be presenting along with Chris Ferragamo at Jackson & Campbell and Verne Pedro at Goldberg Segalla.  The program runs from 1:00pm-2:30pm EDT.  For complete details on the program, click the following link: http://www.straffordpub.com/products/tlwivm1nza?trk=ZDFCT Readers of Insurance Law Florida get a 50% …

Late Notice Dooms Policyholder (Or, Do Not Be Like Archie Bunker)

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 …

Trigger Revisited: The Return Of Injury-in-Fact Trigger In Florida

The insurance concept of “trigger” is a bit esoteric, so let’s start with a little background.  Trigger is one of the most important concepts in insurance law.  It is also one of the most misunderstood.  It is often mistaken for allocation, but the two concepts are different.  Trigger determines which years of coverage apply to …

Deni Strikes Again: Total Pollution Exclusion Eliminates Coverage For Chinese Drywall Claims

The Florida Supreme Court’s decision in Deni Associates of Florida, Inc. v. State Farm Fire & Casualty Insurance Co., 711 So.2d 1135 (Fla. 1998) continues to haunt Florida policyholders with Total Pollution Exclusions in their general liability policies.  This time it was Southern District of Florida Judge Robert Scola’s July 16, 2012 decision in First …

Florida Supreme Court Rules First-Party Bad-Faith Insurance Claims Must Be Brought Under Section 624.155

Today marks the official start of hurricane season, and what more appropriate way to kick off the season than with a new decision from the Florida Supreme Court involving damage to a Boca Raton condo building from Hurricane Wilma, the last major hurricane to hit Florida. Yesterday’s decision in QBE Insurance Corp. v. Chalfonte Condominium …

Duty to Defend Owed In Chinese Drywall Case

This April 9, 2012 decision (Great American Fidelity Insurance Co. and Great American E&S Insurance Co. v. JWR Construction Services Inc. and Gulf Reflections Condominium Association, No. 10-61423 (S.D. Fla. April 9, 2012)) by Judge Huck of the Southern District of Florida (Fort Lauderdale) is interesting for several reasons.  The declaratory judgment action was filed …

Myth #4: Deductibles And Self-Insured Retentions Are The Same Thing

Lawyers and business people often use the terms self-insured retention (“SIR”) and deductible interchangeably, but there are important differences. When a policy has a deductible, the insurer is obligated to defend and indemnify on a first-dollar basis. The amount of the deductible is then reimbursed by the policyholder at the end of the claim. In contrast, …

It’s All About Trigger: Eleventh Circuit Re-Examines Insurance Coverage For Defective Work Under J.S.U.B. & Pozzi Window

The Eleventh Circuit recently issued a lengthy opinion in Amerisure Mut. Ins. Co. v. Auchter Co., No. 10-10960 (11th Cir. Mar. 15, 2012) (“Auchter”), in which it dove back into insurance coverage issues involving construction defects. Unlike the Florida Supreme Court decisions in United States Fire Ins. Co. v. J.S.U.B., Inc., 979 So. 2d 871 (Fla. 2007) (“J.S.U.B.”), …