Fire Loss Denied Over Occupancy Issue

Carrier Can’t Defeat Go-Kart Coverage

By Deborah Elkins
Published: February 27, 2013
Tags: Insurance, Judge Raymond A. Jackson, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Applying Illinois law, a Newport News U.S. District Court refuses an insurance carrier’s request to reform an insurance contract to include an exception for covering go-karts used during a charity racing event in which plaintiff was injured; the court denies the carrier’s request for a declaratory judgment that it is not obligated to defend or [...]

Sports Bar Has No Coverage for Patron Claim

By Deborah Elkins
Published: February 7, 2013
Tags: Insurance, Judge Leonie Brinkema, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Plaintiff owners of a sports bar do not have coverage for a premises liability suit filed by a former patron who alleges he was injured in a fight at the bar during a billiards tournament in 2008; the Alexandria U.S. District Court says the owners’ policy clearly excludes coverage for injuries arising from assault and [...]

No Coverage after Delayed Claim Notice

By Deborah Elkins
Published: January 29, 2013
Tags: Insurance, Judge Robert G. Doumar, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A realty company that managed Virginia Beach vacation rentals lost its coverage under CGL and umbrella insurance policies because the company – mistakenly believing these policies would not apply – waited nearly three years to notify the carrier of an accident in which a child fell from a bunk bed in a rental property, the [...]

No CGL Coverage for Sub’s Poor Work

By Deborah Elkins
Published: January 25, 2013
Tags: Chesterfield County Circuit Court, Insurance, Judge Herbert C. Gill, Virginia Circuit Courts

Homeowners alleging a subcontractor’s defective workmanship caused damage to otherwise nondefective structures do not have coverage for an “occurrence” under a commercial general liability policy, and a Chesterfield Circuit Court grants summary judgment to defendant insurance carrier on the breach of express warranty claim. To determine whether a liability insurer has a duty to defend, [...]

No Insurance Coverage for Cancer Non-Disclosure

By Deborah Elkins
Published: December 18, 2012
Tags: Insurance, Judge Samuel G. Wilson, U.S. District Court - Western District

A widow cannot collect on her husband’s life insurance policy because she failed to disclose his diagnosis of metastasized pancreatic cancer when he applied for insurance, and the Roanoke U.S. District Court grants judgment on the pleadings to defendant insurance company. In September 2007, wife applied for the $50,000 policy and answered “No” to a [...]

Release Did Not Cover All Claims

By Deborah Elkins
Published: November 19, 2012
Tags: Insurance, Judge T.S. Ellis III, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Although plaintiff foundation and defendant insurance carrier settled the foundation’s claim for coverage of certain expenses arising out a lawsuit the foundation lost in a Texas state court that allegedly prompted the foundation’s bankruptcy, an Alexandria U.S. District Court says the parties’ two-part Release left room for the foundation to seek defense costs and indemnification [...]

UIM carrier bound by acceptance of mistaken offer

By Deborah Elkins
Published: November 16, 2012
Tags: Hopewell Circuit Court, Insurance, Judge Nathan C. Lee, Personal Injury

An insurance carrier must pay its UIM policy limits even though an auto-accident plaintiff waited nearly two years to formally accept the settlement and the carrier might have avoided liability altogether. For plaintiff William Calvert, who alleged $75,000 in medical bills and lost wages from a 2009 auto accident, the extra $25,000 in underinsured motorist [...]

Exclusions Bar Homeowner Coverage for Chinese Drywall

By Deborah Elkins
Published: November 7, 2012
Tags: Insurance, Justice S. Bernard Goodwyn, Supreme Court of Virginia

A policyholder who sought homeowners’ insurance coverage for damages allegedly caused by drywall manufactured in China loses his suit in the Supreme Court of Virginia, as the court construes four exclusions, including “defective materials” and “pollutants” exclusions, to preclude coverage. A federal district court granted summary judgment to TravCo Insurance, the carrier, on the basis [...]

UIM Carrier Retains Right to Defend

By Deborah Elkins
Published: November 6, 2012
Tags: Insurance, Justice LeRoy F. Millette Jr., Supreme Court of Virginia

An auto-accident plaintiff who won a $4 million summary judgment against a driver can’t extend that win to her own underinsurance motorist carrier, as the Supreme Court of Virginia says the UIM carrier is not bound by the summary judgment but retains its own right to defend in the event the interests of the UIM [...]