On January 18th, 2022, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed the New Jersey Insurance Fair Conduct Act (“ICFA”) into law. The IFCA allows policyholders who are injured in motor vehicle accidents and entitled to UM or UIM coverage to sue an insurer who has: (1) unreasonably delayed or denied a claim for payment of benefits …
A Policyholder that files for bankruptcy may sometimes seek to resolve an existing insurance coverage dispute through the bankruptcy court as an adversary proceeding. After all, a pending insurance claim may be considered an asset in the bankruptcy proceeding. Bankruptcy court jurisdiction over insurance coverage actions is a complicated legal analysis that can vary by …
Insurance Coverage Litigation in Bankruptcy Court Read More »
As 2021 draws to a close, we at HKR wanted to take this opportunity to review some of the important property insurance decisions from the past year. Below, in no particular order, is our list of the top 10 cases from this year, with a particular emphasis on our home state of Pennsylvania: Oral Surgeons, …
PROPERTY IN 60 SECONDS: HKR’s Top 10 Property Insurance Decisions of 2021 Read More »
The ability of an insurance carrier to depreciate labor costs when determining Actual Cash Value (“ACV”) varies from state to state, with a number of states yet to weigh in. On September 23, 2021, the Supreme Court of Illinois provided definitive guidance in Sproull v. State Farm Fire & Cas. Co., affirming the appellate court, and …
PROPERTY IN 60 SECONDS: ILLINOIS SUPREME COURT ADDRESSES DEPRECIATION OF LABOR Read More »
In the wake of Hurricane Ida, please consider this reminder about the application of the Surface Water Exclusion in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Pennsylvania Pennsylvania courts recognize the enforceability of the Surface Water Exclusion and have long understood “surface water” as an unambiguous term meaning “waters on the surface of the ground, usually created by …
PROPERTY IN 60 SECONDS: SURFACE WATER EXCLUSIONS Read More »
State ACC Clauses Enforced? Authority AL Yes State Farm Fire & Cas. Co. v. Slade, 747 So.2d 293 (Ala. 1999) AK Yes State Farm Fire and Cas. Co. v. Bongen, 925 P.2d 1042 (Alaska 1996) AZ Yes (except fire policies) Millar v. State Farm Fire and Cas. Co., 804 P.2d 822 (Ariz. Ct. App. 1990); …
SURVEY OF STATE LAW ON ENFORCEABILITY OF ANTI-CONCURRENT CAUSATION CLAUSES Read More »
Alabama – Maybe – Where an insurance policy defined actual cash value as replacement cost less an allowance for physical deterioration and depreciation, including obsolescence, depreciation of labor was permitted. See Ware v. Metropolitan Prop. & Cas. Ins. Co., 220 F.Supp.3d 1288 (M.D.Ala. 2016). However, in Arnold v. State Farm Fire & Cas. Co., 2017 …
SURVEY OF STATE LAW ON DEPRECIATION OF LABOR IN DETERMINATION OF ACTUAL CASH VALUE Read More »
Officially, hurricane season began on June 1, 2021. Unofficially, hurricane season kicked off ten (10) days earlier with Tropical Storm Ana, which formed off the southeast coast of Bermuda. 2021 is the seventh consecutive year to have a tropical storm form prior to the official start of the season. Since the official start of the …
THE 2021 HURRICANE SEASON IS ALREADY OFF TO A BLUSTERING START Read More »
In order to recover under Pennsylvania’s bad faith statute, a party must prove, by clear and convincing evidence, that (1) the insurer did not have a reasonable basis for its coverage determination, and (2) the insurer knew of or recklessly disregarded the lack of a reasonable basis. Rancosky v. Wash. Nat’l Ins. Co., 170 A.3d …
REASONABLY RELYING ON EXPERTS IS A MERITORIOUS DEFENSE IN BAD FAITH LITIGATION Read More »
