The coverage dispute in Home Depot, Inc., et al v. Steadfast Insurance Company, et al. arises out of a 2014 data breach of millions of Home Depot’s customers’ payment information. As a result of the breach, the financial institutions needed to cancel and replace the effected cards. Subsequently, these financial institutions filed a class action
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Contractual Limitations on Umbrella Coverage and the Texas Supreme Court: Umbrella Policy Coverage Extended Beyond Service Contract Requirements
While not often in the limelight, standard business practice relies on service contracts and, in turn, risk transfer through those contracts. Critical issues can arise regarding whether a party seeking additional insured coverage is actually an additional insured, and if so, the amount of policy limits available. As extreme jury awards, or “nuclear verdicts,” become…
Washington Supreme Court Holds Certain Hybrid Occurrence/Claims-Made and Reported Policies May Violate Public Policy
“We cannot enforce insurance provisions that render coverage so narrow it is illusory.”[1] The Washington Supreme Court used this reasoning to hold that a contractor’s commercial general liability policy was unenforceable where it required that an “occurrence” occur and a claim be made and reported to the insurer in the same year.
According…
Forum Selection Pause: Washington’s Prohibition on Forum Selection Clauses in Insurance Contracts
Since Carnival Cruise Lines, Inc. v. Shute, 499 U.S. 585 (1991), forum selection clauses typically enjoy robust enforcement at both the state and federal levels. For that reason, in many (if not most) jurisdictions, contracting parties have the right and ability to structure their contracts how they see fit, including through the inclusion of a…
Waste Water and Ambiguities: Oklahoma Supreme Court Affirms that Carrier Must Defend Oil and Gas Company in Property Damage Suit
In Crown Energy Co. v. Mid-Continent Cas. Co., Case No. 116989, 2022 WL 2128667 (Okla. June 14, 2022), the Oklahoma Supreme Court concluded that seismic activity caused by water waste disposal wells in oil and gas operations constituted an “occurrence” that was covered under a commercial general liability (CGL) policy. The Court also found that…
When Negligence Is Not an Accident: No “Occurrence” for Intentional Land Clearing
A new California Court of Appeal decision, Ghukasian v. Aegis Sec. Ins. Co., 78 Cal.App.5th 270 (2022), see our Alert here, affirms that a mistaken belief about the right to clear land does not transform an insured’s intentional acts into an “occurrence.” This is despite some policyholders’ argument that Liberty Surplus Insurance Co. v.…
Indiana Supreme Court Refuses to Hold Commercial Crime Policy Covers Ransomware Attack
Typically, comprehensive cyber
insurance policies, rather than commercial crime policies, respond to claims of
data breach and other cybercrimes. With the rise in hacking and ransomware
attacks worldwide, businesses that may have chosen not to purchase cyber
insurance may find themselves without coverage in the event of a cyberattack.
A recent decision by the Indiana…
The Insured Should Have Seen It Coming: Nevada Court Enforces Prior Acts Exclusion
Liability policies commonly contain exclusions precluding coverage
when the insured knew or should have known that wrongful acts occurring prior
to a policy’s effective date could later result in a claim. In Alps Property & Casualty Insurance
Company v. Kalicki Collier, LLP, No. 319CV00709MMDCLB, 2021 WL 1032290, at
*1 (D. Nev. Mar. 17, 2021), the…
Pennsylvania District Court Finds No Coverage for Foreseeable Damages to Third-Party Property Caused By Faulty Workmanship
In Berkley Specialty Ins. Co. v. Masterforce Constr. Corp., No.
4:19-CV-01162, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14006 (M.D. Pa. Jan. 26, 2021) (Brann,
J.), the Court recently concluded that, under Pennsylvania law, all reasonably
foreseeable damages to third-party property caused by faulty workmanship do not
constitute an “accident” sufficient to trigger coverage under a commercial
general…
Pennsylvania District Court Finds No Coverage for Foreseeable Damages to Third-Party Property Caused By Faulty Workmanship
In Berkley Specialty Ins. Co. v. Masterforce Constr. Corp., No.
4:19-CV-01162, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14006 (M.D. Pa. Jan. 26, 2021) (Brann,
J.), the Court recently concluded that, under Pennsylvania law, all reasonably
foreseeable damages to third-party property caused by faulty workmanship do not
constitute an “accident” sufficient to trigger coverage under a commercial
general…