The Complex Insurance Coverage Reporter

MOLD EXCLUSION

American Guar. & Liab. Ins. Co. v. Victory Highlands Condo. Ass’n, 2024 N.J. Super. Unpub. LEXIS 3128 (N.J. Super. Ct., App. Div., Dec. 26, 2024)

New Jersey appeals court concludes that claims by a condominium resident alleging injury from indoor exposure to mold did not fall within a “consumption” exception to mold exclusions^* in CGL policies where the resident demonstrated only that mold was present on his food and not that he was injured by eating mold on the food. It reasoned that, if the resident needed to prove only that there was mold on his food, and not that he ... Continue Reading

ARBITRATION

S.K.A.V., L.L.C. v. Indep. Specialty Ins. Co., 103 F.4th 1121 (5th Cir. 2024)

Fifth Circuit predicts that, as amended, a Louisiana statute (Revised Statute § 22:868)* prohibiting certain insurance contracts from depriving courts there of “the jurisdiction or venue of action against the insurer” would void an arbitration provision in a surplus lines policy. According to the court, it was “settled” that arbitration agreements were unenforceable under statute until a 2020 amendment (Subsection (D)) authorized surplus lines insurers to include forum and ... Continue Reading

CLAIMS-MADE COVERAGE

Zurich Am. Ins. Co. v. Syngenta Crop Prot. LLC, 2024 Del. LEXIS 68 (Del. Feb. 26, 2024)

Delaware Supreme Court concludes that a letter from a lawyer informing an insured of possible lawsuits without identifying potential plaintiffs or demanding payment is not a “claim for damages” within the meaning of claims-made CGL and umbrella liability policies. Citing case law from Delaware and other jurisdictions, it reasoned that, in the ordinary sense, a “claim for damages” (which the policies did not define) is “a demand or request for monetary relief by ... Continue Reading