Bodily Injury Exclusion In E&O Policy Bars Coverage Under New York Law

In a win for Wiley's client, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, applying New York law, has held that a bodily injury exclusion bars coverage under an errors and omissions policy for lawsuits stemming from injuries suffered in a tour bus accident. AXIS Surplus Ins. Co. v. Universal Vision Holdings Corp., No. 1:21-cv-05590 (EK)(CLP), 2024 WL 1282350 (E.D.N.Y. Mar. 26, 2024).

A tour company arranged a bus tour of Canada for a group of Chinese nationals. For transportation, the tour company hired a third-party bus company and a third-party bus driver. The tour bus allegedly crashed into an embankment and caused thirty-two hospitalizations and three fatalities. Several victims of the crash, as well as some family members, filed lawsuits against the tour company and its parent company, alleging that they negligently engaged and oversaw the bus company. The tour company sought coverage for the lawsuits under its errors and omissions