Second Circuit Archives - The Insurance & Reinsurance Report

October 31, 2018 Policy Conditions, Considerations, Construction, and Formation

Years Later, Hurricane Sandy Claims Still Present Unique Coverage Questions

The Second Circuit’s recent reversal of summary judgment involving a coverage dispute over a $50M Hurricane Sandy storm surge claim is an important reminder to always closely read the policy. At first blush, the policy in question was a seemingly standard all-risk commercial property policy that featured a flood exclusion and a separate windstorm or hail deductible endorsement. The coverage analysis in this case should have been straightforward – storm surge falls within the scope of the flood exclusion vitiating coverage – which is exactly …

April 16, 2018 Policy Conditions, Considerations, Construction, and Formation

Insurer Obligated to Provide Coverage for DWI Accident Resulting from Fundraising Event

In Philadelphia Indemnity Insurance Company v. Central Terminal Restoration Corp., 2018 WL 992312 (2d Cir. 2018), the Second Circuit found coverage existed for a car accident which resulted from the overserving of alcohol to a patron at an event because it held that the ensuing consequences were unintentional.

On April 1, 2013, Central Terminal Restoration Corp. (CTRC) held a fundraising event in association with Dyngus Day, a traditional post-Easter festival that attracts tens of thousands of Polish Americans to Buffalo, New York. In connection …

November 13, 2017 Cyberinsurance

The Modern Fraudster: How Courts Are Responding to Social Engineering Fraud

In an article for Insurance Journal, Goldberg Segalla partner Jonathan L. Schwartz and associate Colin B. Willmott, members of the Global Insurance Services Practice Group in the firm’s Chicago office, write about social engineering fraud (SEF) and questions over availability of insurance coverage for SEF under commercial crime policies — an issue the Second and Sixth Circuit Courts of Appeals are set to clarify in 2018.

SEF includes now-common types of fraud involving digital communications: phishing/whaling, spoofing, and impersonating or pretexting. “A common …

October 12, 2015 Occurrence

One Detached Dump Truck, Three Occurrences: The “Unfortunate Event” Test in New York

One of the key issues in many insurance disputes is the number of “occurrences,” which are presented by a particular set of facts relating to a claim submitted by the policy holder. In its recent decision of Nat’l Liab. & Fire Ins. Co. v. Itzkowitz, the Second Circuit was called upon to determine whether the events surrounding an incident on the highway involving three separate vehicles were part of one single occurrence under New York law.

The events surrounding this coverage action were caused …

April 24, 2015 Reinsurance

Second Circuit Finds No Coverage Based on Late Notice Issue To a Reinsurer

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed a district court’s ruling that late notice, alone, was sufficient to defeat a cedent’s claim. In Granite State Insurance Co. v. Clearwater Insurance Co., No, 14-1494-cv, 2015 WL 1474605 (2d Cir. Apr. 2, 2015), the court was forced to determine whether Illinois law on late notice to a reinsurer was settled, or if it should instead apply New York’s prejudice requirement.

Granite State Insurance Company, the cedent, settled a large number of asbestos-related personal …