Insurance

December 10, 2019

In a white paper and technical explanations, Republican Senators Charles E. Grassley (Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance) and Lamar Alexander (Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions) have proposed reforms to the multiemployer pension plan system. If implemented, the proposed reforms (not yet introduced as a bill) would represent dramatic and far-reaching changes to the multiemployer pension plan system. The white paper describes the current system as “in…

The D&O Diary

Court Rules Against NYAG in ExxonMobil Climate Change Disclosure Trial

By Kevin LaCroix

December 10, 2019

In a lengthy and detailed post-trial opinion, New York (New York County) Supreme Court Justice Barry Ostrager has ruled that the New York Attorney General failed to establish that ExxonMobil Corporation made material misrepresentations in its public disclosures concerning how the company accounted for climate change risk. As discussed below, there are a number of interesting features to Justice Ostrager’s ruling. A copy of Justice Ostrager’s December 10, 2019 opinion can be found here.…

Insurance and Reinsurance Disputes Blog

Who Decides Consolidation Issue? A New Arbitration Panel or the Old One?

By Larry P. Schiffer

December 10, 2019

It is pretty well settled under modern arbitration law, including reinsurance arbitrations, that procedural issues like consolidation are questions for the arbitrators and not the courts. But what happens if there are multiple arbitration panels? Which panel decides the consolidation application? And what if one arbitration has been completed and a motion to consolidate is made to join the second arbitration to the first one? Which panel decides the consolidation question? The Third Circuit took…

Property Insurance Coverage Law Blog

Texas Appraisal Allows Determination of Causation and Upholds Zero Award

By Chip Merlin

December 10, 2019

knuckles of dominoes falling one after another, pointing a finger

Texas has a lot of insurance claims decided by appraisal. Maybe the appraiser for one insured should have gone to Steve Patrick’s appraisal class because the umpire and insurer’s appraiser came to a zero award, which was upheld on appeal.…

Benefits Law Advisor

Does Your Company Have to File Forms 1094/1095 in New Jersey?

By Joseph J. Lazzarotti

December 10, 2019

Last week, the IRS issued it updated Form 1094-C and 1095-C instructions for 2019. Employers that employ New Jersey residents, however, may have more reading to do. New Jersey responded to the federal repeal of the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) individual mandate, by enacting a mandate of its own. The New Jersey Health Insurance Market Preservation Act (Act), which became effective on January 1, 2019, imposes a penalty on New Jersey taxpayers who do not…

Zalma on Insurance

Become an Insurance Professional With the Insurance Claims Library

By Barry Zalma

December 10, 2019

Mold, Construction Defects and Bad Faith Over the last 51 years Barry Zalma has dedicated his life to insurance, insurance claims and the need to defeat insurance fraud. He has created the following library of books and other materials to make it for insurers and their claims staff to become insurance claims professionals. “Construction Defects and Insurance” Barry Zalma has updated and re-edited his seminal work Construction Defects Coverage Guide into is the latest addition to…

Zalma on Insurance

Six Years is not a Report “As Soon as Practical”

By Barry Zalma

December 10, 2019

Egregious Delay Reporting of Loss Defeats Claim for Defense or Indemnity Every third party liability insurance policy requires the insured to report a claim or suit promptly or as soon as reasonably practical. Those insureds who delay, fail, or refuse to report a loss to their insurer takes a serious chance that their late claim will be refused. In Rockhill Insurance Company v. Carri Scharf Materials Company, an Illinois corporation, Case No. 18-cv-1380-JES-JEH, United States…

The D&O Diary

Payment Instruction Fraud and Cyber Insurance Coverage

By Kevin LaCroix

December 9, 2019

As I have noted in prior posts, a recurring challenge many organizations face these days is the threat of “payment instruction fraud,” also sometimes called “social engineering fraud” or “payment impersonation fraud.” In these schemes scammers use official-seeming email communications to induce company employees to transfer company funds to the imposters’ account. Among the many issues arising when these kinds of scams occur is the question of insurance coverage for the loss. Some victims…

Policyholder Pulse

A Recent “Event” in Wisconsin: Appellate Court Rules That a Commonly Used London Market “Occurrence” Definition Is Ambiguous

By Matthew G. Jeweler

December 9, 2019

In recent years, Wisconsin generally has been a pro-policyholder jurisdiction when it comes to long-tail environmental coverage cases. That trend continues with a decision by a Wisconsin appellate court in a case involving coverage for environmental cleanup costs at a former manufactured gas plant site. In Superior Water, Light & Power Co. v. Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s, London Subscribing to Policy Nos. K22700, CX2900, and CX2901, the court reversed a lower court and held…

Property Insurance Coverage Law Blog

Fighting Insurance Coverage Protection Gaps Is Sound Public Policy

By Chip Merlin

December 9, 2019

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRhU3LAxiY0&feature=youtu.be As a follow up to the Insurance Protection Gaps webinar mentioned in yesterday‘s post, Water Loss From Toilet Overflow Is Covered Despite State Farm Denial, Professor James Hilliard of Temple University’s Department of Risk, Insurance, and Healthcare Management provided a basic outline and his presentation is somewhat similar to Professor Jay Feinman’s much more detailed work on the matter.…