Posted In: Insurance Recovery
Insurance Blog: Wisconsin Supreme Court Apportions Defense Costs Based on Policy Limits Even Though the Duty to Defend was Breached
on March 26, 2019
The Wisconsin Supreme Court apportioned defense costs between two insurers using the pro-rata by the limits approach, even though one of the insurers had breached its duty to defend....
Posted In: Insurance Recovery and Litigation
Insurance Coverage for Construction Defect Claims
on September 22, 2017
Good news for businesses in the construction industry: South Dakota has become the latest jurisdiction to hold that construction defect claims are covered by commercial general liability (CGL) policies. In Owners Insurance Company v. Tibke Construction, Inc., et al., the South Dakota Supreme Court held that an alleged failure to conduct soil testing was an occurrence that triggered coverage under the insured's CGL policies. In Tibke, the policyholder, Tibke Construction ("Tibke"), was hired as a general contractor to build a house. Tibke, in turn, hired Jerry's Excavating, Inc. as a subcontractor to prepare the soil and perform excavation work. Several years after Tibke completed the house, the homeowners sued Tibke because of cracking and structural unsoundness in the home that they allege resulted from a failure to conduct soil compaction testing before construction....
Posted In: Insurance Recovery and Real Estate
Avoid Policy Pitfalls and Maximize Insurance Coverage for Construction Claims
on February 9, 2017
Insurance Companies will often raise multiple exclusions that are contained in a standard Commercial General Liability (CGL) policy to deny coverage for a claim arising from a construction project. The most frequently raised issues in construction disputes are the group of exclusions known as the "business risk" exclusions, and are designed to eliminate coverage for risks that are within the normal consequences of an insured's business activities. Although insurers tend to cite every possible exclusion as a bar to insurance coverage for construction claims, this blog will focus on the ongoing operations exclusion and how courts have interpreted the language....
Courts Consistently Reject Insurer's Attempts to Create a Tort Claim of "Reverse" Bad Faith
on August 19, 2015
The Sixth Circuit, applying Kentucky law, is the latest jurisdiction to reject an insurance company's attempt to bring a lawsuit against a policyholder for "reverse" bad faith. Generally, the tort of bad faith arises from an insurer's action or inaction with respect to servicing the policy of insurance it sold to the insured. Bad faith normally arises from the insurer's claims handling or failure to pay for a covered claim. Recently, insurers have sought to bring a tort claim for bad faith against policyholders for various activities, including misrepresentation of the risk being insured and failure to cooperate in the investigation of a claim. Numerous courts have resoundingly rejected the insurers' attempts and have refused to recognize a claim of "reverse" bad faith....
Insurance Coverage for Food Contamination Costs
on May 27, 2015
Despite government regulation, numerous safety precautions, and a public more knowledgeable about the spread of bacteria, food contamination and its subsequent effects continue to cost businesses, citizens and the United States government over $6.9 billion each year....
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