A coverage dispute arising as a result of property damage from Hurricane Frances, which occurred in 2004, will continue following a Florida appellate court decision in an action brought against Citizens Property Insurance Corp.…

Hunton Insurance Recovery Blog

California Commission Recommends Switching To Fault-Based Wildfire Liability Standard for Public Utilities

By Lawrence J. Bracken II, Sergio F. Oehninger, Paul T. Moura & Alexander D. Russo on June 6, 2019

A state-appointed panel advised last week that California should change the standard for determining whether utilities are liable for wildfires. Under the current system, California’s Public Utilities Code § 2106 provides a private right of action by any person or entity that has suffered loss, damages, or injury caused by prohibited or unlawful acts of a public utility. Relying on this statute, property owners have asserted wildfire-related claims directly against allegedly culpable electric utility companies.…

Hunton Insurance Recovery Blog

Will Insurers Declare “War”? The War Exclusion, the Ransomware Attack on Baltimore, and the NSA Cyber-Tool?

By Lorelie S. Masters, Michael S. Levine & Yaniel Abreu on May 29, 2019

The City of Baltimore is the latest victim of increasingly common ransomware attacks. On May 7, 2019, unidentified hackers infiltrated Baltimore’s computer system using a cyber-tool named EternalBlue, developed originally by the United States National Security Agency to identify vulnerabilities in computer systems. However, the NSA lost control of EternalBlue, and since 2017, cybercriminals have used it to infiltrate computer systems and demand payment in exchange for relinquishing control. For instance, in Baltimore, the hackers…

Hunton Insurance Recovery Blog

Antitrust: Yes, There’s Coverage For That

By Lorelie S. Masters & Michael S. Levine on May 21, 2019

The May 13, 2019 decision by the US Supreme Court in Apple, Inc. v. Pepper has brought antitrust concerns, and the insurance issues they raise, front and center. While Apple, Inc., of course, is a publicly traded company, private companies can also fall victim to these issues and need to look to coverage for protection. For a discussion of these issues, we repost the article by Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP partner Lorie Masters, insurance broker…

Hunton Insurance Recovery Blog

IP Lawsuit Triggers Insurers’ Duty to Defend

By Michael S. Levine & Geoffrey B. Fehling on May 16, 2019

A federal court in Pennsylvania has held that Liberty Mutual must defend its insured, Hershey Creamery Company, in an intellectual property infringement lawsuit because the suit raises claims that potentially implicate coverage under the policies’ personal and advertising injury coverages. The court further found that the alleged wrongful conduct was not subject to the policies’ IP infringement exclusion.…

Hunton Insurance Recovery Blog

Court Rejects Insurers’ Argument that Insureds Breached D&O Insurance Policies by Failing to Cooperate and Settling Lawsuits for $222 Million Without Consent

By Sergio F. Oehninger & Yaniel Abreu on May 13, 2019

The Delaware Superior Court ruled that insurers could not rely on Written Consent and Cooperation clauses in directors and officers liability insurance policies to avoid coverage for settlements by Dole Food Company, Inc. (“Dole”) in shareholder disputes involving fraud in a go-private transaction.…

Hunton Insurance Recovery Blog

Ambiguous “Occurrence” Language Results In Payment Of Single Deductible Despite Multiple Assaults

By Michael S. Levine & Patrick M. McDermott on May 6, 2019

The Scott Fetzer Co. v. Zurich American Insurance Co. matter involved a dispute over coverage for sexual assault claims against Fetzer. Three women filed suit against Fetzer, claiming that John Fields, an independent dealer of vacuums manufactured by Fetzer, verbally and sexually assaulted them. Fetzer’s alleged liability was premised on, among other things, its negligence in supervising its independent contractor’s hiring process. Fetzer settled with each of the three women.…

Hunton Insurance Recovery Blog

Hoping Pharrell Is “Happy” That He Obtained Event Cancellation Insurance For Something In the Water Festival

By Sergio F. Oehninger & Latosha M. Ellis on May 1, 2019

The cancellation of the first day of music mogul Pharrell Williams’s inaugural Something In the Water Music Festival (SITW) in Virginia Beach, Virginia due to stormy weather is a recent reminder of the importance of securing event cancellation and business interruption insurance to mitigate the significant economic risks posed by outdoor events.[1]…

Hunton Insurance Recovery Blog

Hunton Insurance Lawyers Secure Win For Socially Engineered Computer Fraud Loss

By Michael S. Levine on April 29, 2019

The Hunton Andrews Kurth insurance recovery team secured a victory for firm client, The Children’s Place (“TCP”), obtaining a ruling from a New Jersey federal court in The Children’s Place, Inc. v. Great Am. Ins. Co., 2019 WL 1857118 (D.N.J. Apr. 25, 2019), in which the court allowed TCP to seek insurance coverage for a “social engineering scheme” that defrauded the company of $967,714.29.…

Hunton Insurance Recovery Blog

Another Liability Insurer Is Sued For Failure To Pay Defense Costs After Acknowledging Its Duty To Defend

By Lawrence J. Bracken II, Sergio F. Oehninger & Alexander D. Russo on April 29, 2019

Upper Deck Co. has sued its general liability insurer, Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Co., in California federal court last week, alleging that Liberty Mutual failed to satisfy its defense obligations in an antitrust lawsuit brought against Upper Deck by rival trading card maker Leaf Trading Cards LLC. According to the complaint, Liberty Mutual agreed that the allegations in Leaf’s suit triggered coverage under Upper Deck’s policy and acknowledged its duty to defend and Upper…

Hunton Insurance Recovery Blog

Updates, Analysis and Breaking News for Commercial Policyholders

Blog Authors

Florida’s Citizens Property Insurance May Be Immune From Bad Faith, But Is Not Immune From Consequential Damages

California Commission Recommends Switching To Fault-Based Wildfire Liability Standard for Public Utilities

Will Insurers Declare “War”? The War Exclusion, the Ransomware Attack on Baltimore, and the NSA Cyber-Tool?

Antitrust: Yes, There’s Coverage For That

IP Lawsuit Triggers Insurers’ Duty to Defend

Court Rejects Insurers’ Argument that Insureds Breached D&O Insurance Policies by Failing to Cooperate and Settling Lawsuits for $222 Million Without Consent

Ambiguous “Occurrence” Language Results In Payment Of Single Deductible Despite Multiple Assaults

Hoping Pharrell Is “Happy” That He Obtained Event Cancellation Insurance For Something In the Water Festival

Hunton Insurance Lawyers Secure Win For Socially Engineered Computer Fraud Loss

Another Liability Insurer Is Sued For Failure To Pay Defense Costs After Acknowledging Its Duty To Defend

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