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Nearly five years after Superstorm Sandy, some consistent themes are beginning to emerge from the increasingly robust body of property coverage case law related to the storm. A recent decision from the Eastern District of New York addresses a topic that this Blog has covered before – the application of flood exclusions in traditional open peril policies.

The Madelaine Chocolate Company was a manufacturer of seasonal foil-wrapped chocolates insured under an “open peril” business policy issued by Great Northern Insurance Company. Purported to be one of the largest private employers in Queens, New York, Madelaine Chocolate conducted its business in three buildings located in Rockaway Beach. During Superstorm Sandy, the facility was inundated with four feet of water from both Long Island Sound to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the south. After the storm, Madelaine Chocolate made a $40 million property damage claim and a $13.5 million business income/extra expense claim. Great Northern paid Madelaine Chocolate $4 million and denied the remainder of the claim based on the policy’s flood exclusion.
Continue Reading Eastern District of New York Upholds Flood Exclusion in Superstorm Sandy Case

Frequent readers of the blog will appreciate that disputes involving the application of anti-concurrent causation language in the context of claims for flood or water damage have appeared with some frequency in recent years. This increased level of cases is due in large part to the damage caused by Hurricane Irene in 2011 and Hurricane Sandy in 2012. One frequently-litigated issue concerns what, if any, coverage is available under a policy with anti-concurrent causation language when a single indivisible loss is caused by a covered peril and an excluded peril. Recent decisions in New Jersey suggest a solid consensus that such a claim is not covered.
Continue Reading New Jersey Appellate Division Applies Anti-Concurrent Causation Clause to Bar Combined Flood/Sewer Backup Claim

On November 6, the Consumer Federation of America sent a letter to elected officials in states affected by Hurricane Sandy in which it suggests that regulators should “block application” of anti-concurrent causation clauses:

A typical anti-concurrent causation (ACC) clause might read, “[w]e will not pay for loss or damage caused directly or indirectly by any…

Insurers are starting to deploy adjusters to handle claims from Hurricane Sandy. An article in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal reports that “Disaster-modeling firm AIR Worldwide estimates the industry’s share of losses at $7 billion to $15 billion. At the high end of that range, Sandy would become the third-most expensive storm for insurers in U.S.…

As reported by Arthur D. Postal on PropertyCasualty360.com’s online news service, Congress’s recent extension of the National Flood Insurance Program includes a potentially significant provision intended to help resolve debates about allocation of damage between wind and water in hurricane losses.

Recently, Congress passed the Consumer Option for an Alternative System to Allocate Losses (“COASTAL…