News & Analysis as of

Property Insurance Property Damage Policy Exclusions

Cozen O'Connor

Court Interprets “Completion” of a Project Under Builder’s Risk Insurance

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In Luke, Inc. v. Berkley National Insurance Company, 2025 WL 2210783 (W.D. Tenn. 2025), the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee determined that the “completion” of a construction project for...more

Cozen O'Connor

Court Differentiates Faulty and Defective Workmanship from Vandalism or Malicious Mischief

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In Carr v. Spinnaker Insurance Company, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld the district court’s finding that property damage resulting from objectionable and imperfect work performed by an...more

Haynes Boone

Torrential Rains and Insurance Claims: When Exclusions and Limitations On ‘Flood’ Coverage May Not Apply

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With five months to go, 2025 is already the year of the flash flood in the United States. To date, the National Weather Service has issued more than 3,600 flash flood warnings across the United States in 20251...more

Bracewell LLP

Q&A: Essential Questions to Ask When Preparing Your Commercial Property’s Hurricane Insurance Policy

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Commercial property hurricane insurance presents complex challenges that require careful consideration and strategic planning. Business owners must understand critical coverage elements, policy limitations and claim...more

Rivkin Radler LLP

June 2025 Insurance Update

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We’ve selected five recent insurance decisions for this month’s update. Foreign insurers will be pleased with the Second Circuit’s revamped view of the New York Convention. In finding that the international treaty is...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

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

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

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

Miles Mediation & Arbitration

Trying To Reason with Hurricane Season: Mediating First Party Property Insurance Claims

Lured by the dream of living in a sun-drenched paradise, with a lower cost of living, and in the case of Florida, no state income tax, hundreds of thousands of Americans have migrated to Florida and the Gulf South over the...more

Zelle  LLP

Is Your War Exclusion Fit for Purpose?

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As global threats evolve, so does the question of what constitutes a ‘war’ risk under a standard property insurance policy, and how this might impact coverage. Historically, a war was a physical conflict between two or...more

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

An Insurer is not Vicariously Liable for Actions by an Agent That Are Outside the Scope of the Agency Relationship and Were...

In December 2020, Plaintiff Erin Hughes applied for homeowners coverage for her Malibu home with her Farmers’ insurance agent. Hughes obtained a fire policy through the California FAIR Plan and a homeowners policy through...more

Cozen O'Connor

Claims Notes - November 2024

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After several hurricanes, a church submitted a first-party property claim. The church also had pending coverage litigation from prior tornado damage. On October 12, 2020, the independent adjuster (IA) inspected and...more

Marshall Dennehey

Fourth District Court of Appeal Reversed and Remanded a Final Judgment in Favor of the Insureds Where Prompt Notice Was Not...

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Security First Insurance Company v. Linda Visca and Silvio Visca, No. 4D2023-0961, June 5, 2024 - On February 20, 2020, the defendant was notified of the plaintiffs’ September 10, 2017, Hurricane Irma claim. The policy stated...more

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP

How Your Business Can Weather Big Sur’s Latest Landslide

After heavy rains on March 30, 2024, a section of the southbound lane of famous Highway 1, which sits atop dramatic cliffs near Big Sur, collapsed and crumbled into the Pacific Ocean. The incident occurred near Rocky Creek...more

Woodruff Sawyer

Concurrent Cause Issues in Insurance: How to Unravel the Language

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Property insurance policies are complex legal contracts. That’s because the insurance industry has its own language and processes that can be subject to multiple interpretations. ...more

Cozen O'Connor

Seventh Circuit Continues String of Insurer Victories in COVID-19 Business Interruption Litigation

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At least five Circuit Courts of Appeal have now come out in favor of insurers in COVID-19 business interruption lawsuits. The latest is the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Sandy Point Dental, P.C. v. Cincinnati Ins. Co.,...more

Rivkin Radler LLP

Insurance Update - December 2021

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Our December Insurance Update features four cases. The Minnesota Supreme Court decides if a resident-relative exclusion violates public policy. A Texas appellate court considers, for a second time, if damage from...more

Zelle  LLP

California Wildfires - Underwriting Considerations

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Wildfires in California are, unfortunately, burning as frequently and as ferociously as ever. Exemplified by the 2017, 2018, and 2020 wildfire seasons, the number of wildfires in the last 5 years stands at a staggering 85,028...more

Butler Weihmuller Katz Craig LLP

Fifth Circuit Seeks Guidance From The Texas Supreme Court On When The Concurrent Cause Doctrine Applies

Hail damage is so typical in Texas that Chapter 542A of the Texas Insurance Code is known as the “Hail Bill.” Texas follows the concurrent cause doctrine. As the Texas Supreme Court held in Lyons v. Millers Casualty...more

Cozen O'Connor

Court in Montana Applies Anti-Concurrent Causation Clause to Earth Movement Exclusion

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A district court in Montana recently applied an anti-concurrent clause in a property insurance policy to preclude coverage based on an earth movement exclusion. In Ward v. Safeco Ins. Co. of Amer., No. 1:19-CV-0133-SPW, 2021...more

Bricker Graydon LLP

The Sixth Circuit keeps the insurers’ COVID-19 coverage streak alive: Insurers 3-0

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In Santo’s Italian Café v. Acuity Ins. Co., __ F.4th __, 2021 WL 4304607 (6th Cir. September 22, 2021), the Sixth Circuit held that the phrase “direct physical loss of or damage to” property requires some tangible alteration...more

Cozen O'Connor

Wind Before Storm May Blow Away Flood Exclusions

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Flood exclusions may not apply when floods are preceded by winds strong enough to independently cause the loss, according to a recent decision issued by the Western District of Louisiana. In Doxey v. Aegis Security Ins. Co.,...more

Zelle  LLP

Commercial Property Insurance Coverage for Texas Winter Freeze Losses

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For an incredible 10-day period in mid-February, Texas was battered by a brutal winter storm bringing snow, ice, and record-low temperatures. Millions of Texans were without power and water for days. These conditions forced...more

Goodwin

COVID-19 Business Interruption Suits: An Overview Of Decisions To Date

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The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the United States economy in a profoundly negative manner. Retail stores, restaurants and other direct-customer-facing businesses have been especially hard hit. Throughout the U.S.,...more

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