HNRK Coverage Corner

On June 29, 2018, Justice Grossman of the Putnam County Supreme Court issued a decision in Nationwide Mut. Fire Ins. Co. v. Oster, 2018 NY Slip Op 51018(U), awarding attorneys' fees to an insured in a declaratory judgment action commenced by the insurance company, explaining:

New York has followed the rule that an insured may not recover in an affirmative action to determine its rights, but may do so, where, as here, the insured has been "cast in a defensive posture by the legal steps an insurer takes in an effort to free itself from its policy obligations (see Johnson v. General Mutual Ins ...

On June 18, 2018, Justice Bannon of New York County Supreme Court issued a decision in Union Mut. Fire Ins. Co. v. 72nd Forest Hills Ass'n, 2018 NY Slip Op 31265(U), holding that an insurance carrier properly rescinded a commercial liability policy, under Insurance Law § 3105(a), based on material misrepresentations in the insurance application.  The Court also granted summary judgment for the carrier on the separate ground of “accord and satisfaction,” finding that the insured consented to the rescission by accepting and depositing a check from the insurance company returning ...

On May 25, 2018, Judge Furman of the SDNY issued a decision in American Ins. Co. v. Kartheiser, Case No. 17-CV-5545 (JMF), denying a motion to dismiss a subrogation action for failure to join the insured as a party.

In American Ins. Co., an insurer brought a subrogation action in federal court, seeking to recover amounts it paid to the insured for property damage caused by the defendant.  Joining the insured -- which was was separately suing the defendant in state court for amounts not covered by the insurer -- would have defeated diversity jurisdiction in the insurer's federal subrogation ...

On May 11, 2018, Justice Lebovits of New York County Supreme Court issued a decision in Touro College v. Arch Specialty Ins. Co., Index No. 652642/2016, holding that a property owner was entitled to defense coverage for a personal injury action as an additional insured under a general contractor’s CGL policy.  The Court ruled that the issue of indemnity coverage, however, would have to await the determination of the contractor’s liability in the underlying injury action. This case involves a policy provision that was the subject of a recent Court of Appeals decision covered on this ...

On May 11, 2018, the Second Circuit issued a decision in Hough v. USAA Casualty Ins. Co., Case No. 17-1073, holding that a collision between a driver and a “flagman” at a construction site was not a covered “occurrence” under the driver’s automobile liability and umbrella policies because the injury was “intentionally caused.”  The policies contained the standard definition of a covered “occurrence” as an “accident,” which under the case law connotes “unintended damage.”  Olin Corp. v. Insurance Co. of North America, 221 F.3d 307, 317 (2d Cir. 2000 ...