Insurance Law

Be Careful who Pays the Insurance on Your Property

Published September 29, 2016 |

The New York Eastern District of New York recently reiterated that where a father paid the homeowner’s insurance on a home owned by his son, that the Homeowner’s insurance company had no obligation to pay the claim, since the son was not an additional insured on the insurance policy and the father did not have… read more

Do Payments Received from Non-Automobile Liability Defendants Reduce the Limits of SUM Coverage?

Published June 28, 2016 |

The required SUM (Supplementary Uninsured/Underinsured) Endorsement provides Condition 6, which dictates the maximum amount recoverable and Condition 11, which is a “Non-Duplication” provision. In relevant part, those sections provide as follows: Maximum SUM Payments: Regardless of the number of insureds, our maximum payment under this SUM endorsement shall be the difference between: (a) the SUM… read more

Superstorm Sandy Alleged Wind Damage Excluded by Flood Exclusion

Published April 13, 2016 |

I secured a personal victory from Judge Robert L. Nahman of Supreme Court Queens County in Gitter v. Allstate Insurance Company, (Index #: 707886-2014), who dismissed the case against an insurer in a Superstorm Sandy case. Plaintiff brought an insurance coverage dispute against his homeowner’s insurance carrier, seeking additional coverage for losses allegedly caused by wind damage. … read more

Failure to Cite to a Specific Exclusion Did Not Invalidate the Disclaimer of Coverage

Published April 13, 2016 |

The Appellate Division 2nd Department, in Provencal, LLC v. Tower Insurance, reaffirmed the principle that an insurance carriers failure to cite to an exclusion in its disclaimer would not invalidate the disclaimer where the loss did not involve “death or bodily injury” as required by Insurance Law 3420 (d) and where there was no showing… read more

Nasdaq Should Have Known Size Would Matter with Facebook’s IPO

Published February 2, 2016 |

Nasdaq insurers continue battle over coverage of Nasdaq’s $31 million dollar settlement of an investor class action over the botched Facebook initial offering. In 2012, with the initial public offering of Facebook, came technical problems which delayed trading on the IPO. Nasdaq settled claims by investors that it knew of the technical vulnerability and that… read more

Public Adjuster Entitled to a Fee Even Where It Did Not Resolve the Claim

Published November 6, 2015 |

In a big win for the PA industry, the first Department in Public Adjustment Bureau, Inc. v. Greater New York Mutual, held that where the retainer agreement  contemplates that if the public adjuster performed “valuable services, to include preparation and submission of claim detail and to advise and assist in the adjustment of the loss,” and provides… read more

Exclusion Bars Coverage for Losses in Madoff’s Ponzi Scheme

Published October 13, 2015 |

The First Department in United States Fire Ins. Co. v Nine Thirty FEF Invs., LLC,  reversed the lower court and found that exclusion x, in a financial institution bond, which excludes coverage for losses “resulting directly or indirectly from any dishonest or fraudulent act or acts committed by any non-Employee who is a securities . …. read more

Criminal Acts Exclusion Bars Coverage for Damage Caused by Pot Growing Tenant

Published October 1, 2015 |

In the case of United Specialty  Insurance Company v. Barry Inn Realty, Inc., the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York held that the policy exclusion for “damage caused directly or indirectly by . . . . [d]ishonest or criminal act[s] by . . . anyone to whom [Defendant] entrust[ed] the property…. read more

Second Circuit finds Three Accidents Triggering Three Policy Limits

Published October 1, 2015 |

Via Summary Order, the Second Circuit in the case of National Liability v. Itzkowits, et. al, found three accidents and not one under a Commercial Automobile insurance policy.  A construction truck, left its dump box in a raised position, which struck an overpass, causing damage to the overpass.  The dump box came loose from the truck falling to… read more

Federal Court in New York rules that Water Damage Exclusion and Anti-Concurrent Causation Clause Barred Coverage for Sandy Claim

Published September 2, 2015 |

The Southern District of New York in Clarke v. Travco Insurance Company  found that where a dock was driven into the plaintiff’s home by a combination of wind and water that the insurance policies water exclusion and Anti-Concurrent Causation exclusions barred coverage.  In so finding the Court held: There is no dispute that water was involved… read more