Where an insurance policy provided coverage for automobile accidents involving a “covered auto,” and it listed the vehicles falling within this definition, an accident involving a company employee using her personal vehicle for business purposes fell outside the scope of ...

Tagged with: Insurance Judge Henry E. Hudson U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Where insureds waited 157 days after being sued for an alleged sexual assault before they notified their carrier, more than 800 days had elapsed since the events giving rise to the underlying suit and the notice to the carrier and ...

Tagged with: Insurance Judge Thomas T. Cullen U.S. District Court - Western District

Where an insurance company sought a declaratory judgment that a doctor’s alleged alteration of medical records meant it had no duty to defend the doctor and her practice from a medical malpractice suit, the district court’s decision to dismiss the ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Insurance Judge Roger L. Gregory

Where a father shot his son and the son sued, alleging both negligence and intentional conduct by his father, the carrier must defend the father. Background Colin Patteson was visiting his father, Troy Patteson, on July 22, 2018. During the ...

Tagged with: Insurance Judge Henry E. Hudson U.S. District Court - Eastern District

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia ruled in favor of a defendant insurance company after the company and the plaintiff both submitted motions for summary judgment to determine the applicable limit for underinsured motorist coverage. The ...

Tagged with: Insurance Judge Henry E. Hudson U.S. District Court - Eastern District Underinsured motorist coverage

The Supreme Court of Virginia reversed a lower court’s ruling and denied homeowner’s insurance coverage for an all-terrain vehicle, or ATV, after determining the vehicle did not qualify as a “farm type vehicle.” The Pittsylvania County Circuit Court had previously ...

Tagged with: Insurance Justice Stephen R. McCullough Supreme Court of Virginia

Where the plaintiff claimed an insurance policy included $1 million of underinsured coverage that should be available in a wrongful death action, her motion for summary judgment was denied because the policyholder had reduced the limit to $70,000. Background Majdoleen ...

Tagged with: Insurance Judge Henry E. Hudson U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Where an insurance carrier sought to intervene in an underlying tort suit in order to stay the matter pending determination of coverage issues in a parallel lawsuit, but its motion was not filed until more than 17 months after this ...

Tagged with: Insurance Judge Elizabeth K. Dillon U.S. District Court - Western District

Where a passenger grabbed the wheel of a car while in motion and crashed it into a business, the vehicle’s insurer had no duty to defend the resulting suit. The passenger never had a driver’s license and a passenger’s grabbing ...

Tagged with: Insurance Judge Thomas T. Cullen U.S. District Court - Western District

Where a West Virginia business closed two of its art studio locations because of the governor’s Covid-19 executive order, its claim for lost business income and other expenses was denied because there was no material destruction or harm to its ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Insurance Judge Barbara Milano Keenan