Owners Insurance Co. v. European Auto Works, Inc.,
(8th Cir. Sept 17, 2012)
In this case, the plaintiff insurer brought a declaratory judgment action seeking an order stating that it owed no coverage to the defendant policyholder in the underlying case. In the underlying case, the defendant auto repair company faced a state court action brought by Percic Enterprises, Inc, which alleged violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) for sending unsolicited fax advertisements. The policyholder faxed out 5,000 unsolicited “junk” faxes to …
Category: Policy Conditions, Considerations, Construction, and Formation
No Coverage for Not-For-Profit Accused of Selling Body Parts
Evanston Insurance filed a declaratory judgment complaint seeking a declaration that it did not owe coverage to its insured, Legacy of Life, in an underlying suit which accused Legacy of Life of selling body parts despite being a nonprofit company which engages in organ donation. The plaintiff in the underlying complaint claimed that Legacy of Life sold her mother’s remains to another company at a profit. The woman claimed that Legacy of Life approached her while her mother was in the hospital and asked to …
Continue ReadingCoverage Denied to Diocese for Sex Abuse Claim Based on Failure to Warn Parish of Priest’s History of Molestation
Cincinnati Ins. Co. v. Oblates of St. Francis de Sales, Inc.
(Ohio Ct. App. Sept. 17, 2010)
An appellate court in Ohio recently held that an insurer was not obligated to indemnify the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City in an underlying action against a priest for sexual molestation. The court held that the Church’s assigning the priest to a parish without warning that resulted in the parish allowing the priese unsupervised access to minors was substantially certain to result in additional incidents of sexual molestation …
Continue ReadingFlorida Court Of Appeals Denied Summary Judgment In Favor of Insurer And Remanded Breach Of Contract Claim Where Issues Of Fact Existed Whether Post-Suit Payment of Proceeds Constituted “Confession of Judgment” On Part Of The Insurer
Clifton v. United Casualty Ins. Co.
(Florida Court of Appeal, Second District, February 12, 2010)
The policyholder appealed final judgment entered in favor of the insurer in a breach of contract action arising out of damage suffered during Hurricane Charley. The primary issue involved whether an insurer’s post-suit payment of additional policy proceeds constitutes a “confession of judgment” and whether the filing of the suit acted as a “necessary catalyst” to resolve the dispute.
Specifically, in August 2004, the policyholder’s residence was damaged …
Continue ReadingDistrict Court Held That Insurer Had No Duty To Defend And Indemnify Under A Coblentz Agreement
Sinni v. Scottsdale Ins. Co.
(United States District Court, Middle District of Florida, December 18, 2009)
This action arises out of a slip-and-fall suit that culminated in a “Coblentz agreement” between the parties binding the insurer to the terms of the agreement (i.e., where an insurer has wrongfully refused to defend its insured and there is coverage under the policy, the insurer may be bound by the terms of a negotiated final consent judgment entered against its insured. Coblentz v. Am. Sur. Co. …
Continue ReadingCourt of Appeals Affirms Decision For Insurer Holding Doctor’s Wife Was A Medical Assistant Under The Statute And Therefore Was Providing Professional Services Precluding Coverage Under The Professional Services Exclusion
The Estate of Steven Tinervin v. Nationwide Mutual Ins. Co.
(Florida Court of Appeals, Fourth District, November 25, 2009)
Plaintiff appealed an adverse declaratory judgment in favor of the insurer, wherein the trial court found that the professional services exclusion of a business owner’s policy excluded coverage for services performed by the doctor’s wife in filing, and making the doctor aware of lab reports, knowledge of which, would have changed his treatment strategies.
Specifically, the plaintiff brought a wrongful death action against the doctor, …
Continue ReadingGeorgia Court of Appeals Affirms Summary Judgment on Coverage And Assesses Additional Penalties Against Insurer For Frivolous Appeal
Transportation Ins. Co. v. Piedmont Const. Grp., LLC.
(Georgia Court of Appeals, Fourth Division, November 13, 2009)
In a strongly worded opinion, the Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court decision and assessed frivolous appeal penalties where insurer denied not only coverage but a defense under liability policy issued to a general contractor based upon a “novel and radical interpretation of a single Georgia case.” The court further noted that “this egregious conduct warrants not only affirmance but the imposition of penalties for …
Continue ReadingEleventh Circuit Affirms That Crime Insurance Policy Was A Claims-Made Policy Precluding Policyholder From Aggregating Theft Claims Occurring Over Multiple Years and Multiple Policies.
PBSJ Corp. v. Federal Ins. Co.
(United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit, October 1, 2009)
Policyholder, PBSJ Corp., appealed the district court’s grant of summary judgment to insurer regarding the coverage owed under its policy for employee theft over multiple years. Policyholder purchased an insurance policy from insurer covering criminal acts, including employee theft for each year between 1992 and 2005 in the amount of $2 million. The policyholder sustained $42 million in losses due to employee theft during his period …
Continue ReadingDownload of Personal Information Violates Right of Privacy within Meaning of “Personal and Advertising Injury”
Netscape Communications Corporation v. Federal Insurance Company
(9th Cir. (Ca.) August 27, 2009)
Claims were made against AOL alleging that it had intercepted and disemminated private online communications. The Ninth Circuit concluded the allegations constituted "violatation of a person's right of privacy" within the meaning of "personal and advertising injury."
The policy did contain an exclusion for "providing internet access to 3rd parties." The Court held that the exclusion had to be construed narrowly, and applied only to the supplying literal connection between the …
Continue ReadingPrescription Drug Exception to Controlled Substance Exclusion in Policy Found Inapplicable
Massachusetts Prop. Ins. Underwriting Ass’n v. Gallagher (Mass. Ct. App. Aug. 24, 2009)
An insurer filed suit against a mother whose son committed suicide by ingesting lethal amounts of propoxyphene. In an underlying action, the mother alleged that the policyholder was negligent in leaving the substance, which the policyholder obtained pursuant to a doctor’s prescription, in a place accessible to her son despite knowledge of his fragile emotional state. The issue was whether the claim was excluded by a policy provision barring coverage for bodily …
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