I have written several times on what it means to “trigger” an insurance policy for a long-tail claim (see here, here, and here). Long-tail claims stretch over several years of coverage. Examples are environmental claims, latent bodily injury claims, and many types of construction defect claims. Unlike a single-point-trigger claim, like a car accident or …
I have written about the insurance law concept of “trigger” several times before, most recently in the context of the Middle District of Florida’s decision in Axis Surplus Insurance Co. v. Contravest Construction Co., 921 F. Supp.2d 1338 (M.D. Fla. 2012). An Insurance Law Florida reader from Colorado recently asked for an update on 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 …
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.”), …
This is for the insurance defense lawyers out there, and the plaintiffs’ lawyers who love to make their lives miserable. One of my loyal readers in Jacksonville (my friend and former partner at Gunster, construction law guru Ed Whelan) sent me a copy of this January 5, 2012 order in a construction defect case in …