SDV Insights

The New Year started off with a bang for Florida construction insurance policyholders. In late December, the Florida Supreme Court acknowledged a contractor's right to a CGL defense during Florida's right-to-repair process.

From elephant mistreatment, misleading marketing and its effect on the nation's opioid problem, to wiring money overseas to fraudsters, it's been an eventful year in insurance law. Read on to hear about SDV's Top Ten Insurance Cases for 2017 as well as some key cases to watch in 2018.

On November 20th, the New York Court of Appeals expansively interpreted the language of New York Insurance Law Section 3420 by holding that the statute, which applies to policies "issued or delivered" in New York, extends to policies insuring risks in New York, not just policies that originated from or were actually handed over to the insured in the state.

You arrive home after Airbnb-ing your home to find that the back deck is gone--during a particularly rowdy party hosted by your Airbnb guests, a smoldering cigarette negligently left on the railing started a fire, which on that hot, dry, summer night, quickly engulfed the deck. But the fire didn't stop at the deck; the entire back wall of the house, covered in weathered shingle siding, was singed and blackened to a crisp.

The New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division, published an important decision addressing several fundamental issues regarding how a commercial general liability (CGL) policy applies to long-term property damage.

On October 4, the Second Circuit held that a sub-subcontractor’s insurer had no duty to defend or indemnify an owner and general contractor after a constructio ...

Recently, a New Jersey Magistrate ruled that an insurer did not have to provide coverage for a chocolatier's property damage and business interruption losses due to Hurricane Sandy.

On Tuesday, October 24, the New Jersey Supreme Court heard arguments in a 17-year-old battle between Honeywell International Inc. (Honeywell) and two excess insurers, St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Co. (St. Paul) and parent Travelers Casualty and Surety Co. (Travelers) over whether Honeywell will have to help cover the costs of asbestos-related injury suits that were filed against it after insurers began to universally exclude coverage for asbestos-related liabilities in 1987.

SDV Partner Gregory Podolak recently published "Overbroad Wrap Exclusion Can Hamper Additional Insured Risk Transfer," another Expert Commentary article for IRMI.

A California Court of Appeal recently released a policyholder-friendly decision clarifying the meaning of the often-arising Faulty Workmanship exclusions — j.(5) ...