Out With a Bang: Current State of Play on Coverage for COVID-Related Losses
What to do When Your Business Has Been Sued
COVID-19 Business Interruption Insurance Claims: A Practical Perspective
WEBINAR: COVID-19 Insurance Coverage Class Actions
Butler's Thursday Tips #3 | Handling Business Loss Claims
The Colorado Court of Appeals (Division VI), applying Colorado law, partially affirmed a trial court decision dismissing an action seeking insurance coverage for COVID‑19 related losses. Spectrum Retirement Communities, LLC...more
We kick off the year with a quartet of state supreme court decisions and an intermediate appellate court ruling that has insurers breathing a harmonious sigh of relief. Policyholders and insurers often disagree over what the...more
On December 13, 2024, the Supreme Court of North Carolina broke with the nationwide trend, holding that, absent a virus exclusion, commercial property insurance policies cover losses covered by the shutdown orders issued in...more
On December 13, the North Carolina Supreme Court gave policyholders a partial victory in long-running litigation over business interruption coverage for shutdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic. In North State Deli v....more
Last week, the North Carolina Supreme Court issued its long-awaited ruling in North State Deli, LLC v. The Cincinnati Insurance Company, siding with a group of North Carolina restaurants that sought business interruption...more
Wilson et al v. USI Insurance Services, LLC, et al., - In Wilson et al v. USI Insurance Services, LLC et al., No. 20-3124 (3d Cir. Oct. 8, 2024) the Third Circuit recently denied a petition for rehearing on COVID-19 related...more
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court recently rendered its eagerly awaited decision in Ungarean v. CNA et al., declaring that losses resulting from Covid-related governmental closure orders were not covered by business interruption...more
In a long-awaited decision, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled in favor of the insurance companies in two appeals involving the availability of business interruption insurance coverage for losses stemming from the COVID-19...more
In a long-awaited decision, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has held that “direct physical loss” language in commercial property policies is not ambiguous and that COVID-related business-interruption claims do not trigger the...more
A dental practice submitted a business interruption claim to its property insurers due to the COVID-19 shutdown orders. The insurers denied coverage, citing a lack of physical damage to the premises. Breaking with national...more
Seeking to find some relief from business losses experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic, many businesses turned to their property insurers for coverage for their lost income. A clear national trend emerged among courts...more
On September 26, 2024, Pennsylvania joined the majority of jurisdictions nationwide in holding that commercial property insurance policies do not cover losses caused by the government shutdown orders issued in response to the...more
In this month’s update, we discuss Russian-seized planes, Starbucks-caused traffic jams, a squabble over the use of a family name, a restaurant’s pandemic-based loss, a poorly built house, and whether insurance covers any of...more
In a recent New York Court of Appeals opinion, the court found that business losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic were not covered under an “all-risk” commercial property insurance policy. In Consolidated Rest. Operations,...more
Most pandemic-related businesses interruption insurance claims failed because policyholders could not show a direct physical loss. But some California courts issued conflicting decisions. The California Supreme Court has now...more
Our February 2023 post “The Commercial Division Rejects Yet Another Insured’s Claim for Coverage for Covid-Related Revenues Losses” left readers wondering whether the New York Court of Appeals would uphold the First...more
New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) is concerned that AI’s self-learning behavior increases the risks of unlawful or unfair discrimination. DFS will audit insurers’ use of AI. Such insurers need to maintain...more
The English Court has, for the first time, considered the meaning of a “catastrophe”, as well as how Hours Clauses work in the context of non-damage business interruption losses claimed under two Property Catastrophe Excess...more
In a unanimous opinion issued yesterday, the New Jersey Supreme Court joined the majority of other courts to hold that business interruption losses related to the COVID-19 pandemic are not covered under the standard language...more
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, courts around the nation have faced the issue of whether insureds are entitled to coverage for business interruption losses resulting from the pandemic. In nearly all of these cases,...more
All eyes are on the New Jersey Supreme Court as we await oral arguments on the latest business interruption coverage dispute. In the lawsuit, an Atlantic City casino, Ocean Walk, seeks reimbursement for costs incurred during...more
Does the business harm caused by COVID-19 qualify as “direct physical loss” for insurance purposes? In Spirit Airlines, Inc. v. American Home Assurance Company, Index No. 655755/2021, Commercial Division Justice Robert R....more
The end of this past year witnessed further development of total loss, uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) and COVID premium rebate class actions, along with movement in new(er) property and casualty class actions...more
It was a busy end to the year, as courts handed down several key insurance decisions before ringing in 2023. The Ohio Supreme Court considered the contours of “direct physical loss or damage” in two separate decisions –...more
On January 6, 2023, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals handed down a unanimous opinion in Law Offices of Rhonda H. Wilson, et al. v. USI Insurance Service, et al., which was drafted by Judge Michael A. Chagares. The case is...more