Be Smarter Than Harvard: Comply With Your Insurance Policy's Reporting Requirements

The Bottom Line

• A recent federal court decision may cost Harvard University millions of dollars and serves as a reminder to policyholders to adhere to the notification requirements of both  their primary and excess insurance policies.
• While the decision is based on one policy type and one kind of notice and reporting requirement, the lesson applies to all insurance policies and all notice requirements.
• Companies should evaluate the notice requirements in their insurance policies to ensure they understand the reporting requirements or risk losing coverage.

Failure to comply with an insurance policy's notice and reporting deadlines and requirements could result in loss of coverage and cost millions of dollars. A recent decision by the U.S. District Court for Massachusetts emphasized this cautionary tale. The decision concluded that a “claims-made-and-reported” insurance policy's terms must be strictly enforced or the coverage that the policy was supposed to