The Second Department, Appellate Division, for the Supreme Court of New York, recently held in a matter of first impression, that an insurance company with a duty to defend may not recover defense costs after a determination that no duty to indemnify or further defend exists—even though the insurer expressly reserved its right to recoup such defense costs—unless the policy explicitly provides for such recovery. See American W. Home Ins. Co. v. Gjonaj Realty & Mgt. Co., 2018-03435, 2020 WL 7767944 (2d Dept., Dec. 30, 2020).
Continue Reading New York Court Rules Duty to Defend Policies Must Explicitly Provide for Recoupment of Defense Costs
Trigger of Coverage
Insurance Fraud Case: Second Circuit Addresses Adverse Inference Instruction, Restitution For Prior Payments
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Posted in Anti-Concurrent Causation, Appraisal, Bad Faith, Causation Approaches, Collapse Exclusion, Direct Physical Loss, Earth Movement Exclusion, Ensuing Loss, Faulty Workmanship Exclusion, Flood Exclusion, Fortuity, Late Notice, Mold Exclusion, Pollution Exclusion, Trigger of Coverage, Uncategorized
In insurance fraud cases involving actual or alleged destruction of evidence by the insured, an issue often arises regarding whether an adverse inference instruction is appropriate, and, if so, what form it should take. The Second Circuit recently approved a “light” form of adverse inference instruction that allowed the jury to make an adverse inference…
Seventh Circuit Affirms Continuous Trigger Applicable In First Party Policy and Insurer’s Bad Faith Denial of Coverage Under Wisconsin Law
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Posted in Bad Faith, Trigger of Coverage
When a loss arguably spans more than one policy period (the time period while a particular policy is in effect), the rule of law known as trigger of coverage, along with any policy provision addressing the issue, determines when a loss is considered to have occurred, and thus which policy or policies cover a particular…