HNRK Coverage Corner

On February 13, 2024, the New York Appellate Division, First Department, issued a decision in Bay Plaza Mall, LLC v. Argonaut Ins. Co., holding that evidence regarding an insurer’s handling of “prior similar claims” was a relevant consideration in construing a CGL policy.

This coverage action arose from “two underlying personal injury actions brought by individuals who were injured while working on a project at premises owned by plaintiffs.” Affirming the motion court’s decision denying the insurers’ motion for summary judgment, the First Department noted that ...

In an article for Chambers’ 2024 Insurance and Reinsurance Global Practice Guide, insurance recovery partners Bradley Nash, Joshua Blosveren, and Dorothea Regal discuss some of the high-stakes insurance coverage disputes that came out of New York last year, and the resulting insurance litigation trends the industry should have an eye on, including:

• The allocation of defense and indemnity coverage for long-tail claims;
• An insured’s right to recover attorneys’ fees incurred in insurance coverage litigation;
• The impact of the named insured’s bankruptcy on the ...

On January 8, 2024, Justice Frank of the New York County Supreme Court issued a decision in Endurance Am. Ins. Co. v. StoneX Commodity Solutions, LLC, Index No. 653234/2022, granting summary judgment as to liability to StoneX Commodity Solutions, a trader of physical commodities, in an insurance coverage dispute, arising from a loss of more than 500,000 bushels of soybeans as a result of a warehouse owner’s fraud.

The court held that StoneX established an actual loss during the relevant policy period, declaring there is insurance coverage to cover the loss of 502,315 bushels of ...

On December 26, 2023, the Second Circuit issued a decision in Ezrasons, Inc. v. The Travelers Indemnity Co., Docket No. 22-766, construing an ambiguous provision in a marine cargo insurance policy in favor of the insured under the doctrine of contra proferentem.

As the Second Circuit explained: “When dealing with insurance policies, it is a ‘fundamental’ principle of New York law that ambiguities should be interpreted against the insurer and in favor of the insured.” This rule of construction (which we have discussed in previous posts) is an application of the contra ...

On November 14, 2023, the Supreme Court of Hawaii issued a decision in St. Paul Fire & Marine Ins. Co. v. Bodell Construction Co., Case No. SCCQ-22-0000658, holding that insurers may not recoup defense costs for non-covered claims absent an express policy provision for reimbursement. 

Answering a certified question from the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii, the Court explained:

The duty to defend is broader than the duty to indemnify.  An insurer only indemnifies covered claims.  But an insurer must defend when there is possible coverage, even “groundless ...