Intelligence

A U.S. District Court examined whether a commercial general liability insurer must defend and indemnify a trucking contractor after a municipality sought to recover costs for remediating unlawfully deposited demolition debris. The court analyzed whether the property damage constituted an "occurrence" under the policy's definition of an accident, considering the insured's intentional placement of the debris and applicable policy exclusions.

Your company paid premiums year after year, maintained payment controls, and worked to protect its systems and financial information. No CEO expects perfect security or expects every loss to be covered by insurance. But a company that buys coverage for computer fraud, funds-transfer fraud, and social engineering reasonably expects the policy to matter when criminals compromise company communications and divert a seven-figure payment.

Recent court decisions across multiple jurisdictions have created a complex landscape for determining when D&O insurance bump-up clauses apply to shareholder litigation settlements.

A U.S. District Court ruled that a commercial general liability insurer had no duty to defend its insureds against an abuse of process claim when the policy explicitly enumerated covered offenses including malicious prosecution but did not list abuse of process. The court determined that reasonable insureds would not expect coverage for unlisted offenses simply because they share legal similarities with enumerated ones.

Directors and officers insurance policies contain various exclusions that allow carriers to deny coverage when alternative coverage exists. Understanding these common and specialized exclusions is critical for insured entities and individuals to properly assess their risk exposure and coverage gaps.

The Natural Catastrophe Risk and Resilience Task Force of the US National Association of Insurance Commissioners convened to address the escalating challenges of catastrophe risks facing insurance markets. Key discussions centered on developing standardized mitigation programs, expanding flood insurance awareness, and scaling resilience initiatives like FORTIFIED home designations. The meeting also examined the evolving property/casualty reinsurance market and explored new hemispheric partnerships to streng