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A federal court in New Jersey recently dismissed state law claims brought by third party plaintiffs, including the insured’s broker, against a Write Your Own insurance carrier. The claims at issue in Residences at Bay Point Condo. Ass’n v. Chernoff Diamond & Co., LLC, Civil Action No. 16-5190, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 56451 (D.N.J. Apr. 13, 2017) arose out of damage sustained to a condominium complex during Storm Sandy. The insured, and later its broker, claimed that Standard Fire had failed to advise that the National Flood Insurance Policy had been written on the wrong form. After the loss, Standard Fire reformed the policy and applied a co-insurance penalty.

Moving to dismiss the third party state law claims against it, Standard Fire argued that such claims were preempted by federal law. The court agreed, turning first to the Standard Flood Insurance Policy (“SFIP”) provision regarding jurisdiction, which states that “all disputes arising from the handling of any claim under the policy” are governed by FEMA regulations, the National Flood Insurance Act, and Federal common law. Noting that federal courts have previously distinguished between claims sounding in policy procurement, which are not preempted, and claims sounding in handling, which are preempted, the court found the broker’s claims to be grounded in policy handling. Central to this determination was the status of the insured’s coverage at the time of the interaction with the Standard Fire. The condo complex’s claims, and consequently the third-party broker’s claims, arose while the condo complex was insured by Standard Fire, leading the court to conclude that the claims related to handling.
Continue Reading District of New Jersey Dismisses Third Party Claims Sounding in Policy Handling on Preemption Grounds

Suit limitation provisions in insurance policies shorten the statutory period of time that a plaintiff may bring a suit against an insurer for certain causes of action. A New York court recently held that an appraisal award issued a few months after the suit limitation expired was unenforceable where the insured failed to file suit before the suit limitation expired. MZM Real Estate Corp. v. Tower Ins. Co. of New York, 2017 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1292 (Apr. 7, 2017). MZM incurred damages as a result of Storm Sandy on October 29, 2012. The Tower insurance policy contained a typical suit limitation provision stating that no one may bring action against the insurer unless suit is filed within two years “after the date on which the direct physical loss or damage occurred.” In November 2012, Tower Insurance paid $4,000, the undisputed amount of the claim. On October 28, 2013, over a year after the date of the loss, MZM demanded appraisal. On February 2, 2015, an unsigned appraisal award was issued in the amount of $170,129. Tower refused to pay the appraisal award on various grounds, including that the award included amounts that were not covered by the insurance policy.
Continue Reading Appraisal Award Unenforceable Where Suit Limitation Period Expired Prior To Filing Suit: New York County Dismisses Storm Sandy Coverage Suit

As we have written about before on this blog, the water damage caused by Hurricane Sandy in October 2012 gave rise to important questions concerning the applicability of so-called “anti-concurrent causation” clauses. Such was the case in the recently-decided matter of Carevel, LLC v. Aspen American Ins. Co., 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 157919 (D.N.J. Nov. 15, 2016).

In Carevel, the insured’s building in Jersey City, New Jersey suffered interior water damage during Hurricane Sandy. The relevant insurance policy excluded damage caused by flood. The flood exclusion included an anti-concurrent causation preamble with the familiar language excluding flood damage “regardless of any other cause or event that contributes concurrently or in any sequence to the loss.” Importantly for the legal issues raised in this case, the policy did cover, via endorsement, damage caused by water that backed up through sewers or drains. Following an investigation into the loss, Aspen obtained a report indicating that the interior water damage was caused by street-level flooding that had infiltrated the building during the storm. Aspen denied the claim based on the flood exclusion. The insured filed suit, claiming that the damage was caused by water that had entered the building through the basement’s sewers or drains.
Continue Reading Hurricane Sandy, Flood, and Sewer Backup: New Jersey Federal Court Confirms Anti-Concurrent Causation Bars Insured’s Claim