110 results for 'cat:"Insurance" AND cat:"Damages"'.
J. Settle grants the insurance company summary judgment against bad faith, Insurance Fair Conduct Act and Washington Consumer Act claims in the nonprofit corporation's complaint that the insurance company wrongfully refused to defend the nonprofit in an underlying lawsuit. The insurance company has no duty to defend the nonprofit because the potential of a warrant of abatement and the cost of permits to continue using the property as a shooting range do not qualify as damages under the insurance policies.
Court: USDC Western District of Washington, Judge: Settle, Filed On: February 29, 2024, Case #: 3:11cv5021, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: insurance, damages, Contract
J. Currault grants a request by a New Orleans property owner, ordering her insurer to produce written materials pertaining to her claim for damages by Hurricane Ida. The insurer’s nine-month delay in the production of documents identified in the court’s discovery protocols is improper. Likewise, the insurer’s discovery responses, most of which reflect boilerplate, unsubstantiated objections, are insufficient.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Currault, Filed On: February 16, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv761, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: insurance, damages, Discovery
J. Steele grants, in part, the insurer’s motion for summary judgement on claims related to contract and bad-faith denial of coverage for property damage caused by Hurricane Sally. The condominium association failed to provide requested information within the required time period or to establish any violations of the policy. Therefore, the contract claims are dismissed.
Court: USDC Southern District of Alabama, Judge: Steele, Filed On: February 5, 2024, Case #: 1:22cv495, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: insurance, Property, damages
J. Vitter denies an insurer's request to dismiss a policyholder’s coverage claims on grounds he failed to add two additional named insureds to his suit. The insurer “appears to misunderstand” the rules of civil procedure it alleges its insured is violating. The failure to add a person deemed a required litigant to the suit does not mandate the dismissal of the entire action; rather, the proper remedy in such a scenario is for an order that the “absent-yet-required" person be made a litigant in the case.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Vitter, Filed On: February 1, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv6331, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Civil Procedure, insurance, damages
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J. Africk grants an insurance company’s request to dismiss a policyholder’s state law unfair trade practices claim related to the insurer’s allegedly insufficient coverage of his hurricane damages property. The policyholder’s trade practices suit is explicitly exempted by Louisiana law, while unfair trade practices in the insurance industry are unquestionably under the jurisdiction of the state insurance commissioner. Further, the Fifth Circuit has held state law does not provide a private cause of action against an insurer for unfair trade practices.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Africk, Filed On: January 31, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv6152, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: insurance, damages, Jurisdiction
J. Richman holds that the trial court should have compelled the arbitration of the damages due on an underinsured motorist claim. The insurance contract did not hide the arbitration clause so the insurer did not waive its right to compel arbitration. The trial court should also have left the merits of the insured's bad faith claims out of its arbitrability analysis. Reversed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Richman, Filed On: January 11, 2024, Case #: A167666, Categories: Arbitration, insurance, damages
J. Stegall finds a lower court improperly dismissed a class of insured consumers' contract claims against an insurance company. The insurance company argued that it was not entitled to fully cover an insured school district employee's medical expenses following a car accident, and that he was obligated to partially reimburse the plan. However, the insured, on behalf of himself and other employees, sufficiently showed in court that the insurance company is not entitled to issue a certificate of insurance that contains a subrogation clause for reimbursement of medical and hospital expenditures. Reversed.
Court: Kansas Supreme Court, Judge: Stegall, Filed On: January 5, 2024, Case #: 124,046, Categories: insurance, damages, Class Action
J. Ashe grants summary judgment to an insurer and dismisses bad faith claims by a property owner seeking policy coverage for $298,000 in hurricane damages to a 30-year-old metal roof. The insurer did not act in an arbitrary and capricious when it denied the policyholder’s claim because it had just and reasonable grounds, including its experts’ investigations and opinions, to believe the policy exclusion applies.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Ashe, Filed On: December 19, 2023, Case #: 2:22cv3292, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Evidence, insurance, damages
J. Coulson finds a lower court properly dismissed a university's contract claims against an insurance company. The university argued that the insurance company was obligated to provide coverage after it executed a controlled detonation of a buried bomb that was planted in the ground 79 years ago. However, the insurance company sufficiently showed in court that it was not obligated to provide coverage for damages as a result of "occasioned by war." Affirmed.
Court: Her Majesty's Court of Appeal, Judge: Coulson, Filed On: December 14, 2023, Case #: CA-2023-949, Categories: insurance, damages, Contract
J. Kelly finds a lower court properly granted summary judgment in favor of an insurance company on a car dealership's contract claims. The car dealership argued that the insurance company was obligated to provide coverage after his establishment caught fire, damaging the premises. However, the insurance company sufficiently showed in court that the dealership's complaint was foreclosed under a limited settlement agreement and release of disputed property damage claims. Affirmed.
Court: 8th Circuit, Judge: Kelly, Filed On: December 13, 2023, Case #: 23-1282, Categories: insurance, damages, Contract
J. Huffaker grants summary judgment in favor of the insured and equipment owner in this insurance coverage dispute. The insurer claims a 2016 cotton picker machine is not covered under the scheduled property provision of the policy. The insured is entitled to the coverage benefits under the property provisions by clearly written in the policy and the insurer must pay the remaining claim due of $463,356.
Court: USDC Middle District of Alabama, Judge: Huffaker, Filed On: December 6, 2023, Case #: 2:22cv465, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: insurance, Property, damages
J. King awards the insured $582,200 in non-economic damages in his lawsuit trying to collect on an underinsured motorist policy after he was injured in a vehicle collision and suffered a mild traumatic brain injury. The insured presents sufficient evidence that his injury and attendant cognitive deficits impair, and will continue to impair, his ability to lead a normal life. The insurance company does not sufficiently argue that the insured's ability to enjoy some of his former hobbies negates the seriousness of his injuries.
Court: USDC Western District of Washington, Judge: King, Filed On: December 4, 2023, Case #: 2:20cv1250, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: insurance, damages, Contract
J. Ludwig finds for the insurance company in a coverage dispute between itself, a third-party insurance company and a manufacturer that sustained severe damages to its Nashville warehouse and losses of inventory due to historic flooding in 2021. The insurance company's motion for summary judgment is granted, as the pollution exclusion clause under the excess liability policy it issued to the manufacturer clearly precludes coverage of the costs of cleaning up "pollutant" debris from the flood, leaving it no duty to indemnify. The third-party insurance company and manufacturer's motions for summary judgment are partially granted, in part because the third-party company's policy with the manufacturer covers debris clean-up costs of up to $10 million regardless of distance from the warehouse.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Wisconsin, Judge: Ludwig, Filed On: December 1, 2023, Case #: 2:21cv1018, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: insurance, damages, Contract
J. Rick finds that a writ of garnishment entered against insurers was improperly dismissed in claims seeking the total amount of judgment awarded to an employee whose hand and arm had been mangled at work because damages stemming from the bad faith refusal to settle the dispute are subject to garnishment per Frankenmuth Mutual Insurance. v Keeley. Reversed in part.
Court: Michigan Court of Appeals, Judge: Rick, Filed On: November 21, 2023, Case #: 363030, Categories: insurance, damages
J. Vance grants an unopposed motion by surplus line insurance companies to compel arbitration and stay proceedings initiated by a commercial property owner in Louisiana, alleging failure to mail appropriate payments on hurricane damage claims and breach of insurance contract. The parties' policy contains a valid, enforceable arbitration agreement.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Vance, Filed On: November 14, 2023, Case #: 2:23-cv-03415, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Arbitration, insurance, damages
J. Fallon denies summary judgment to the insurer of a tree removal company’s truck on its request to dismiss a hurricane debris worker’s negligent injury suit, arising from the lowering of a steel stabilization leg that crushed his right foot. As a matter of law, the truck constitutes mobile equipment under the insurer’s policy.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Fallon, Filed On: November 9, 2023, Case #: 2:22cv4570, NOS: Other Personal Injury - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: insurance, damages, Negligence
J. Orme finds that the trial court properly ruled that an insurer had canceled an automotive policy prior to an accident. The insured failed to timely or fully pay the premium before the accident, the insurer mailed a notice of cancellation within 10 days of the cancellation date, and the insurer's acceptance of a timely partial payment did not serve to waive its right to cancel. The trial court was also right that the insurer's duty to defend was not extinguished until the trial court determined the policy had been properly canceled. However, because of the failure to take on the insured's defense, the insurer must pay the original damages award. Reversed in part.
Court: Utah Court Of Appeals, Judge: Orme, Filed On: November 9, 2023, Case #: 20180699-CA, Categories: insurance, damages
J. Donnelly finds a general contractor and its principals jointly and severally liable for costs paid by its surety to cover the losses and expenses after the contractor was terminated from a series of public works projects for New York State Parks due to performance issues. The surety is seeking $553,468 in damages, however, the court requests additional documentation before approving that figure.
Court: USDC Eastern District of New York, Judge: Donnelly, Filed On: November 7, 2023, Case #: 2:20cv1730, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: insurance, damages
J. Bryan affirms the trial court’s ruling that an insurance company has to provide coverage to a couple hit by an uninsured driver on wantonness and negligence claims for speeding through an intersection. The insurer waived its challenge to the subsequent-negligence jury instruction, and the evidence supports the claim of wantonness by the accused driver. Affirmed.
Court: Alabama Supreme Court, Judge: Bryan, Filed On: October 20, 2023, Case #: SC-2022-0901, Categories: insurance, damages, Negligence
J. Pechman grants the consumer's renewed motion for class certification for his complaint that the health insurance provider violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act using an artificial pre-recorded voice to call cellular telephone numbers without prior consent. The provider's argument that the consumer's interests are fundamentally different from class members' interests is speculative, because the provider does not present any evidence that paying damages will cause the other members' premiums to go up or that damages would affect the provider's ability to provide service.
Court: USDC Western District of Washington, Judge: Pechman, Filed On: October 13, 2023, Case #: 2:19cv175, NOS: Other Statutory Actions - Other Suits, Categories: insurance, damages, Class Action
J. Garaufis preserves a Brooklyn couple’s breach of covenant of good faith and fair dealing claim as well as their claims for consequential damages and attorney's fees against State Farm, its homeowners insurance provider, on allegations that the insurer acted in bad faith when negotiating their claim for losses after a plumbing failure caused extensive water damage to their home. The court finds their claim is sufficiently distinct from the breach of contract claim, and the losses they suffered, including the loss of the home’s value and the imposition of finding temporary housing, entitles them to damages.
Court: USDC Eastern District of New York, Judge: Garaufis, Filed On: October 12, 2023, Case #: 1:23cv2725, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: insurance, damages
J. Pitman denies a law firm’s motion for a new trial after it was sued for legal malpractice due to the failure of a legal subcontractor to make timely filings. A previous jury trial determined that its legal insurance company did not fail to comply with its policy. While this outcome may be “unintuitive,” precedent would hold that the insurance company was “prejudiced” by the lack of settlement in the underlying in the case, and this prejudice “constituted a complete excuse of ... performance under the policy.”
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Pitman, Filed On: October 12, 2023, Case #: 1:19cv629, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: insurance, damages, Legal Malpractice
J. Africk grants a request by a storm-displaced family, allowing them to add an expert appraisal umpire to their suit against an insurance company even though the family has not explained their failure to adhere to a court deadline. Because two other experts have been excluded, the testimony of the appraisal umpire is “significant.” Although the amendment to the witness list is close to trial, the insurer does not identify specific harm that would be caused by allowing the appraisal umpire to testify.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Africk, Filed On: October 11, 2023, Case #: 2:23cv218, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: insurance, damages, Experts
J. Hester finds that the lower court properly ruled in favor of the insurer in a dispute over coverage for tree debris removal following a hurricane. The coverage for tree removal is limited to $1,000 in the policy, so the owner's damages do not exceed the "hurricane deductible." Affirmed.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Hester, Filed On: October 11, 2023, Case #: 2023CA0226, Categories: insurance, damages, Contract