SDV Insights

The Minnesota Federal District Court recently decided against coverage for the release of carbon monoxide from an engine compartment into the open air due to a general liability policy's pollution exclusion.

As our State by State Survey on CGL Pollution Exclusions shows, the definition of the word "pollutant" can be ambiguous in the insurance context. Recently, an Alabama federal judge held that sewage was not a pollutant for purposes of the pollution exclusion in a CGL policy.

SDV Southeast Managing Partner Gregory Podolak has another new article out this week, this one for Insurance Matters, the newsletter of the Florida Bar's Insurance and Surety Committee:

SDV Partner Gregory Podolak recently published another Expert Commentary article for IRMI - Excess-Only "Other Insurance" Clauses in California.

The Florida Supreme Court recently denied review of an appellate decision interpreting a policy's "ensuing loss" exception to require a separate loss, entirely independent from the original excluded loss.

The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Orlando Division, recently held that an insurer had no duty to defend an additional insured due to an owner controlled insurance program ("OCIP") policy exclusion, despite the fact that the additional insured was not enrolled in the wrap program and did not perform any operations at the project.

The New York Appellate Division recently ruled that insurers who are "on the risk" in extended environmental claims do not have to contribute to years when there was no coverage available in the marketplace for the insured to purchase.

In an effort to encourage businesses to mitigate the risk of a data breach, House Republican Ed Perlmutter has introduced a bill offering a tax credit to businesses that purchase qualifying cyber insurance policies

If you are a small company worried about keeping your client data safe, there are now a number of options to help. SDV's Gregory Podolak was recently interviewed by LAW360.com on his thoughts.

With cyber fraud becoming more prevalent in today's business world, policyholders should be aware of some of the points raised by commercial crime insurers to deny coverage.