Court Holds Coverage Is Not Limited To Designated Locations The Supreme Court of Hawaii, applying Hawaii law, held that coverage was not limited to premises listed in a schedule of locations in the policy. The court found that the policy unambiguously provided coverage for bodily injury and property damage bearing a causal connection to the use of the designated premises,... Read More

Court Holds Travelers’ Asbestos Exclusion Ambiguous And Not Enforceable A federal court, applying Pennsylvania law, held that an asbestos exclusion was ambiguous and therefore must be construed in favor of insurance coverage. The exclusion at issue eliminated coverage for injuries or loss “arising out of asbestos.” The court found that the exclusion was ambiguous because the insured had presented a... Read More

5th Circ. Finds No Asbestos Coverage Due To Untimely Notice And Rejects Need For Proof Of Prejudice The Fifth Circuit, applying Louisiana law, affirmed a lower court’s ruling that Anco Insulations, Incorporated (“Anco”) had failed to timely tender claims to National Union Fire Company of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (“National Union”) and, therefore, National Union was not obligated to reimburse Anco for... Read More

Unable To Prorate, Insurer On The Hook For 100% Of Defense A Louisiana appellate court, applying Louisiana law, held that Continental Casualty Co. (“Continental”) cannot prorate its duty to defend based on time on the risk and therefore must provide a full defense going forward from the date of the decision to American Sugar Refining Inc. (“American Sugar”). The underlying claims... Read More

Wisconsin And Colorado Supreme Courts Separately Hold Notice-Prejudice Rules Not Applicable to Claims-Made Coverage The Wisconsin Supreme Court, applying Wisconsin law, held that the state’s notice-prejudice statutes do not supersede the reporting requirement for claims-made policies. In making its ruling, the court reasoned that “[r]equiring an insurance company to cover a claim reported after the end of a claims-made-and-reported policy... Read More

The Texas Supreme Court, applying Texas law, held that BP does not have any coverage as an additional insured for subsurface pollution stemming from the April 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill under Transocean Ltd.’s (“Transocean”) insurance policies. In making this finding, the court referred to the drilling contract between BP and Transocean. The court concluded that the only reasonable... Read More

Court Denies Stacking But Finds Insurer Liable For Mine Suit Including Punitive Damages A New Mexico federal court, applying New Mexico law, ruled that Mid-Continent Casualty Co. (“Mid-Continent”) must cover a $1 million award including both compensatory and punitive damages against a mine operator in a suit which alleged the company’s extraction of salt from an underground cavern damaged neighboring... Read More

Illinois Court Finds Retail In-Store Display Constitutes Ad, Triggering Coverage An Illinois appellate court, applying Illinois law, found that an in-store retail display constituted “advertisements” that gave rise to the claims in the underlying suit and, therefore, triggered the insurer’s duty to defend an intellectual property infringement suit under a business liability policy. The underlying lawsuit alleged numerous claims of... Read More

Insurer Cannot Avoid Liability Because Suit Served After Policy Period A Louisiana federal court, applying New York law, held that an insured does not need actual knowledge of a suit filed during the policy period in order for a claim to made under a claims-made policy and that a claims-made policy cannot avoid coverage merely because timely notice of a... Read More