Here’s an interesting question recently confronted by the Ninth Circuit: Is it bad faith for an insurance company to refuse to initiate settlement discussions in a third-party context when liability has become reasonably clear? The carrier (Deerbrook, an Allstate company) took the position that bad faith could not exist unless the carrier failed to
June 2012
Coverage for “stigma” damages
By Gene Killian on
Posted in Contract construction, Property insurance
Let’s say you own a factory building. Construction activity on an adjacent lot causes damage to the structure. You have the standard first-party property insurance policy providing coverage for “direct physical loss or damage,” and the policy gives the carrier the option of paying either the “cost of repair” or “loss of value.” If the carrier…
What is an “occurrence”?
By Gene Killian on
When I started in this business at Anderson Kill back in the 1980s (when the firm was still Anderson Russell Kill & Olick, P.C.), junior lawyers (including me) would do anything, and I mean anything, to keep from sliding into the abyss known as the Insurance Coverage Group. Who wanted to while away his or…