HNRK Coverage Corner

On September 10, 2018, Justice Sherwood of the New York County Commercial Division issued a decision in Freedom Specialty Ins. Co. v. Platinum Mgt. (NY), LLC, 2018 NY Slip Op 32233(U), denying a D&O insurers’ motion for summary judgment based on a prior and pending litigation exclusion (the “PPL Exclusion”). Freedom Specialty is a D&O coverage litigation arising from a criminal securities fraud prosecution in the EDNY against officers of Platinum Partners, a New York hedge fund.

Last December, Justice Sherwood issued a preliminary injunction directing three excess D&O ...

On August 22, 2018, the Second Department issued a decision in Tiffany Tower Condominium, LLC v. Insurance Co. of the Greater N.Y., 2018 NY Slip Op 05886, holding that insureds stated a cause of action against a property insurer for breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing based on the failure to pay a claim arising from damage suffered during Hurricane Sandy.

Unlike other states, New York does not recognize a separate cause of action against an insurance company for bad faith claims handling.  Section 2601 of the Insurance Law forbids certain specified “unfair claim ...

On July 23, 2018, Justice Edmead of the New York County Supreme Court issued a decision Tricon Constr., LLC v Main St. Am. Assur., 2018 NY Slip Op 31721(U), holding that additional insured coverage for a general contractor under a sub-contractor’s CGL policy was primary over the GC’s own liability coverage. In Tricon, a general contractor (Tricon) sought coverage for a personal injury action as an additional insured under the CGL policy of its subcontractor (Boyle), issued by Main Street America Insurance Company (MSA). Tricon also had its own CGL policy issued by Grange Mutual ...

On July 10, 2018, Justice Schecter of the New York County Commercial Division issued a decision in J.T. Magen & Co., Inc. v. Atlantic Cas. Ins. Co., 2018 NY Slip Op 31584(U), holding that an unsigned purchase order could satisfy the requirement of a “written contract with the Named Insured” to qualify for coverage under an Additional Insured Endorsement to a CGL Policy. J.T. Magen & Co. involves a frequently-litigated coverage issue in construction-related matters – determining who qualifies as an additional insured under a blanket additional insured endorsement to a ...

On July 2, 2018, Justice Platkin of the Albany County Commercial Division issued a decision in Dan Tait, Inc. v. Farm Family Cas. Ins. Co., 2018 NY Slip Op 28205, holding that a series of thefts by an employee constituted a single “occurrence,” subject to a single $15,000 coverage limit, under the “Employee Dishonesty” section of a business insurance policy.

The employee stole a total of $500,000 from the insured, employing several different methods.  The insured argued that each of the employee’s schemes should be treated as a separate occurrence based on the common law ...