Mountain View
Zalma on Insurance
Denying Letter Seeking an Arson Fire is Fraud
Plaintiffs Richard Converse and Stephanie Converse own the property. Defendant State Farm Fire and Casualty Company (“State Farm”) insured the property at the relevant time. After a fire on December 8, 2019, Plaintiffs sought coverage under the insurance policy. Plaintiffs brought this action when Defendant denied coverage for much of the claim. In Richard Converse, and Stephanie Converse v. State Farm Fire And Casualty Company, No. 5:21-CV-457 (TJM/ATB), United States District Court, N.D. New York (July 12, 2023) the USDC was asked to rule on cross-motions for summary judgment.
Denying Letter Seeking an Arson Fire is Fraud
Plaintiffs Richard Converse and Stephanie Converse own the property. Defendant State Farm Fire and Casualty Company (“State Farm”) insured the property at the relevant time. After a fire on December 8, 2019, Plaintiffs sought coverage under the insurance policy. Plaintiffs brought this action when Defendant denied coverage for much of the claim. In Richard Converse, and Stephanie Converse v. State Farm Fire And Casualty Company, No. 5:21-CV-457 (TJM/ATB), United States District Court, N.D. New York (July 12, 2023) the USDC was asked to rule on cross-motions for summary judgment.
Mistake Not Grounds for Bad Faith
Bad Faith in Arkansas Requires Proof of Dishonest, Malicious, or Oppressive Conduct Including Hatred, Ill Will, a Spirit of Revenge. Owners Insurance Company moved for summary judgment as to a claim of bad faith. Separately, Owners argued the Court should make a finding that there no evidence to support a punitive damages instruction.
Res Judicata – You Only Get to Bite Defendant Once
Plaintiff, Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company (Nationwide), brought a declaratory judgment action against insureds, Beverly Glen Homeowners’ Association (Association) and members of the board of directors asking the court to declare that Nationwide had no duty to defend or indemnify defendants against claims made by the Association residents in a derivative suit. The trial court granted Nationwide’s motion for judgment on the pleadings, finding that res judicata and collateral estoppel barred defendants from seeking a defense in the derivative suit where judgment rendered in a prior case determined that Nationwide had no duty to defend.
Multi-Unit Construction Exclusion Eliminates Coverage
Midvale Indemnity Company (“Midvale”) sued Arevalos Construction Corp. (“Arevalos”), Victor Siguenza Zuniga (“Zuniga”), 625 Halsey LLC (“Halsey”), D&G Construction NY Inc. (“D&G”), and RM Construction and Development Corp. (“RM”) seeking a declaratory judgment relating to a commercial general liability insurance policy Midvale issued to Arevalos and an underlying lawsuit in New York state court, captioned Victor Siguenza Zuniga v. 625 Halsey LLC, Index No. 525911/2018 (the “Underlying Action”).
Residence Requires Presence
Homeowners Policy Requires Insured to Reside at Premises. Shanice Currie had a homeowners insurance policy with State Auto Property & Casualty Insurance Company (State Auto). After two fires severely damaged her duplex in Milwaukee, Currie sought payment from State Auto. State Auto denied the request for coverage, claiming that the duplex was not a “residence,” and therefore was not covered by the policy. Currie sued State Auto. The district court granted summary judgment to State Auto.
Potentially Compromised Embryos not a Direct Physical Loss
Failure to Prove Loss by a Named Peril Destroys Breach of Contract Suit. Modern science allows an embryo to be created outside the body of a woman and later implanted and grown to term. The in vitro fertilization process allows more than one viable embryo to be created and they can be stored for use later in a cryogenic tank.
To Stack or Not to Stack, That is the Question
No Extra Insurance for Fatal School Bus Accident. Plaintiffs, Mark and Karen Kuhn (the Kuhns) sued seeking a declaratory judgment of the available liability insurance covering an accident between a semitruck owned by Jason Farrell and a school bus driven by Mark.
Liars May Never Prosper
In Tisdale v. Farmers Insurance Exchange, No. A23A0616, Court of Appeals of Georgia (June 27, 2023) Farmers moved for summary judgment, arguing that Tisdale did not qualify as an insured under the Uber policy, or, in the alternative, that she was barred from seeking coverage because she intentionally concealed or misrepresented material facts and committed fraud by using a false identity in her Uber driver application and while using the app. The trial court granted summary judgment to Farmers. Tisdale appealed.
The Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution Ensures Racial Equality
STUDENTS FOR FAIR ADMISSIONS, INC., PETITIONER 20–1199 v. PRESIDENT AND FELLOWS OF HARVARD COLLEGE ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THEUNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT STUDENTS FOR FAIR ADMISSIONS, INC., PETITIONER 21–707 v. UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA, ET AL.
No Privity, No Right to Sue
State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (“State Farm Auto”) and Defendant State Farm General Insurance Company (“State Farm General”) moved the court to dismiss all Plaintiff’s claims against the entities. The motion was regarded as unopposed.
Justice Thomas on Rascisim
Race Has Nothing to Do with Insurance or Education. In the final paragraphs of his concurring opinion today Justice Thomas explains the reality of racism as follows:. The great failure of this country was slavery and its progeny. And, the tragic failure of this Court was its misinterpretation of the Reconstruction Amendments, as Justice Harlan predicted in Plessy. We should not repeat this mistake merely because we think, as our predecessors thought, that the present arrangements are superior to the Constitution.
Where there is a Will There are Relatives
Settlement Based on Mutual Mistake Must be Rescinded. In In re Estate of Jordon R. Wiggins, deceased et a., No. S-22-543, 314 Neb. 565, Supreme Court of Nebraska (June 23, 2023) the Supreme Court of Nebraska resolved the dispute in a Solomon-like fashion.
It’s Not Nice to Defraud Your Elderly Mother
Guilty Pleas Support to Crimes Against Family & Friends Deserves Consecutive Sentences. Jon Settlemire (“Settlemire”), appealed the judgment of sentence imposing consecutive sentences only to find an appeals court with no mercy. When the Marion County Grand Jury returned a 45-count indictment charging Settlemire with a variety of felony-level crimes Settlemire entered a plea of not guilty to the indictment. After pre-trial proceedings Settlemire entered a negotiated plea of guilty to five crimes.
Defense Required Because Exclusion is Ambiguous
After Wynndalco Enterprises, LLC was sued in two putative class actions for violating the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (“BIPA”) its business liability insurer, Citizens Insurance Company of America sued seeking a declaration that it has no obligation under the terms of the insurance contract to indemnify Wynndalco for the BIPA violations or to supply Wynndalco with a defense. The district court entered judgment on the pleadings for Wynndalco, finding that the language of the catch-all exclusion is ambiguous on its face and that, construing that ambiguity in favor of the insured, Citizens consequently had a duty to defend Wynndalco.
No Restitution from Defrauded Insurer
Esurance Property & Casualty Insurance Company (Esurance) appealed the trial court's order granting summary disposition in favor of Nationwide Mutual Fire Insurance Company (Nationwide), and denying Esurance's request for summary disposition. In Nationwide Mutual Fire Insurance Company v. Esurance Property & Casualty Insurance Company, and Derek Allen Gregory and Blair Gregory, No. 361298, Court of Appeals of Michigan (June 15, 2023) Esurance alleged its insured defrauded it when it acquired the policy and it was entitled to rescind the policy regardless of the trial court's balancing the equities.
Courts do not Make Different Contracts
Notice-Prejudice Rule Does not Apply to Claims Made and Reported Policy. The Kentucky Supreme Court was asked to determine if the claims-made-and-reported management liability policy (“Policy”) Allied World Specialty Insurance Company (“Allied World”), issued to Kentucky State University (“KSU”) provided coverage because KSU did not comply with the Policy’s notice provisions. The trial court applied the notice prejudice rule and the Court of Appeal reversed and the case was brought to the Kentucky Supreme Court in Kentucky State University v. Darwin National Assurance Company N/K/A Allied World Specialty Insurance Company, No. 2021-SC-0130-DG, Supreme Court of Kentucky (June 15, 2023)
Zalma on Insurance
305+
Posts
607K+
Views
Barry Zalma, Esq., CFE is a retired insurance coverage lawyer who blogs daily with digests of insurance cases and writes books and articles on insurance claims, insurance law, and insurance fraud.
It’s essential to note our commitment to transparency:
Our Terms of Use acknowledge that our services may not always be error-free, and our Community Standards emphasize our discretion in enforcing policies. As a platform hosting over 100,000 pieces of content published daily, we cannot pre-vet content, but we strive to foster a dynamic environment for free expression and robust discourse through safety guardrails of human and AI moderation.