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Insurance Litigation Summary Judgment Property Insurance

Zelle  LLP

Court Grants Insurer’s Motion for Summary Judgment on Nearly All of Insureds’ Causes of Action

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Schnatzmeyer v. State Farm Ins. Co., No. 3:23-CV-02820-K, 2025 WL 1697505, at *1 (N.D. Tex. June 17, 2025). In a case involving two overlapping freeze claims—and a substantial array of legal issues affecting insurers in...more

Zelle  LLP

Massachusetts Collapse Decision Highlights Importance of Careful Underwriting

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During the underwriting process, carriers should review affirmative coverages not only to ensure consistency with applicable exclusions but also to make sure that the coverages themselves are internally consistent. Failure to...more

Cozen O'Connor

Insurer’s Use of Conflicting Reports Not Bad Faith, Says Court

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In El Dueno, LLC v. Mid-Century Insurance Company (2025 WL 1540329) (10th Cir. 2025)), the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed summary judgement on behalf of the insurer on the basis that the insurer did not act in bad...more

Carlton Fields

Connecticut Federal Court Construes Ambiguous Policy Exclusion in Favor of Coverage, but Rejects Bad Faith Claim

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In A Priori Family Office LLC v. Valley Forge Insurance Co., the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut found the undefined term “surface water” in an all-risk insurance policy’s water exclusion ambiguous, so...more

Zelle  LLP

When Coverage Disagreements Are Justified: The Bona Fide Dispute Doctrine in Action

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In Texas, bad faith claims arising under the Texas Insurance Code or the common law are routinely asserted by plaintiffs in first-party insurance disputes. While these causes of action are frequently pled, mere disagreement...more

Zelle  LLP

Court Analyzes “Forces of Nature” in Applying Section 542A of the Texas Insurance Code

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Recently, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division, rejected an insured’s attempt to reframe its claim from a “forces of nature” claim and enforced Section 542A.006 of the Texas...more

Cozen O'Connor

Noncompliance With Policy’s “Duties After Loss” Provision Leads to Denial of Fire Loss Claim

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In Caribe D. Billie v. Plymouth Rock Assurance Corp. et al, the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut granted Plymouth Rock Assurance Corp.’s (“Insurer”) motion for summary judgment, holding that the Insurer was...more

Husch Blackwell LLP

Wisconsin Court of Appeals Upholds Ordinance or Law Exclusion in Insurance Coverage Dispute

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In a recent decision, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals affirmed the application of an “Ordinance or Law Exclusion” in a business owner’s insurance policy issued by Germantown Mutual Insurance Company.[1] The case, involving...more

Zelle  LLP

Calif. Smoke Claim Ruling Gives Insurers Support On Denials

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In their recent Law360 guest article titled "Reconciling 2 Smoke Coverage Cases From California," the authors described a California appellate court's Feb. 7 opinion in Gharibian v. Wawanesa General Insurance Co. as an...more

Zelle  LLP

Any is Not All and The Future is Not Now: The Contours of the Cosmetic Damage Exclusion Taking Shape

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In Iyengar v. Liberty Insurance Corporation, No. SA-21-CV-1091-FB, 2024 WL 5505300 (W.D. Tex. Dec. 13, 2024), District Judge Biery denied Plaintiffs’ Motion for Clarification regarding Magistrate Judge Bemporad’s...more

Rivkin Radler LLP

April 2025 Insurance Update

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As temperatures in the Northeast have made it feel more like winter than spring, it’s only fitting that we begin our April Insurance Update with a case from Alaska. There, the Alaska Supreme Court decides for the first time...more

Marshall Dennehey

Adequate Notice Requires More Than the Delivery of a Policy

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Key Points: Supreme Court of Idaho on December 31, 2024, reversed and remanded district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of builder who asserted negligence claims against its insurance company and sought damages...more

Marshall Dennehey

Third District Court of Appeal Rules Affidavit Lacks Evidence Linking Damage to Tropical Storm Eta

Marshall Dennehey on

Thomas A. Bouchard, Jr. v. Citizens Prop. Ins. Corp., Fla. 3d DCA, No. 3D12-2202, February 19, 2025 - Thomas Bouchard, the appellant, appealed a final summary judgment order entered in favor of Citizens Property Insurance...more

Cozen O'Connor

Lack of Insurable Interest Precludes Recovery for Property Damage

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In Ram Krishana Inc. d/b/a Motel 6 Sulphur v. Mt. Hawley Insurance Co. (2025 WL 371016) (S.D.N.Y. 2025)), the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York determined that the plaintiff lacked an...more

Cozen O'Connor

Jackson v. Spinnaker: Court Rules a Thorough Investigation is Just Good Business, Not Bad Faith

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In Jackson v. Spinnaker Insurance Company, the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania considered a homeowners insurance coverage dispute, ultimately finding that questions of residency and...more

Cozen O'Connor

Fifth Circuit Reaffirms Appraisal and Bad Faith Jurisprudence as Policyholders Continue to Probe for Opportunities

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The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit upheld a summary judgment granted to the insurer over a policyholder’s argument that payment of an appraisal award and interest may extinguish an insurer’s liability...more

Rivkin Radler LLP

December 2024 New York Insurance Coverage Law Update

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The insured punched and kicked the Claimant, causing injuries. The Claimant sued the insured alleging that the insured assaulted him, and negligently and recklessly caused his injuries. Nationwide Mutual Fire Insurance...more

Zelle  LLP

Texas Insurers' Paths to Post-Appraisal Summary Judgment

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Until recently, property insurers who paid a binding appraisal award in Texas were almost certain to end a matter by doing so, with respect to both breach-of-contract claims and all extracontractual claims. But changes...more

Cozen O'Connor

Fifth Circuit Weighs in on Aftermath of Texas Supreme Court’s Decisions Affecting Insurers’ Pre-Appraisal Award Payments and...

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Just a few short years ago, there was a bright line rule under Texas law concerning appraisal awards. If an insurer timely paid an appraisal award, that payment extinguished all of the insurer’s contractual and...more

Bressler, Amery & Ross, P.C.

Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal Affirms Summary Judgment Against Water Mitigation Company and Enforces Flat-Rate Policy...

On April 7, 2021, Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal issued a per curiam opinion that affirmed summary judgment in favor of People’s Trust Insurance Company and against the water mitigation company, All Insurance...more

Cozen O'Connor

Pennsylvania District Court Holds Materiality Does Not Require Fraud

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A District Court in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania recently held that an insured’s submission of  invoices altered to inflate replacement costs for water-damaged inventory constituted material misrepresentations. ...more

Carlton Fields

Fifth Circuit Holds That Ensuing Loss Provision of Builders’ Risk Policy Requires Two Separate Events to Qualify for the...

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In Balfour Beatty Construction, LLC v. Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Company, No. 19-20216 (August 3, 2020), the Fifth Circuit determined that Liberty Mutual’s policy does not cover a construction company’s claim for window...more

Haight Brown & Bonesteel LLP

Genuine Dispute Summary Judgment Reversed for Abuse of Discretion and Trial of Fact Questions About Expert Opinions

In Fadeeff v. State Farm General Ins. Co. (No. A155691, filed 5/22/20 ord. pub. 6/8/20), a California appeals court held that triable issues of fact and the trial court’s failure to address a request for a continuance...more

King & Spalding

Federal Court in Maryland Holds Property Insurer Must Provide Coverage for Ransomware Attack

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Cyber insurance policies are typically a company’s first line of defense following a cybersecurity event, but a recent decision from a federal court in Maryland illustrates why businesses should always look for cyber coverage...more

Pillsbury - Policyholder Pulse blog

Cyber Coverage by any Other Name Can Smell as Sweet. Maryland Court Rules Traditional Property Policy Covers Loss of Data and...

Cyberattacks are an increasingly frequent and costly risk faced by almost every business today. While the availability and scope of cyber-specific insurance has developed exponentially over the past few years, it is important...more

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