January 2014 - PolicyFind

Written by Justin Gifford, General Counsel, PolicyFind

Out of the blue on January 16, 2014, Representative Martin Carbaugh (R – Ft. Wayne) introduced a bill sponsored by the Indiana Insurance Institute that attempts to do what a decade and a half of insurance company litigation couldn’t accomplish in Indiana courts: give the word ‘pollutant’ an unambiguous definition in Commercial General Liability (CGL) policies. In other words, allow insurers to unilaterally disclaim one of the biggest risks many businesses seek insurance for.

Every other year (including 2014) in Indiana is a short session, meaning that the House and Senate have a short window to get legislation through, which also means that bills like HB 1241 can rocket through the Statehouse without much discussion. In this case, serious discussion is what’s needed, particularly considering the impressive financial impact this bill would have on Indiana’s residents and businesses.

Continue reading “Indiana House Examines Insurance – Lobby Backed Bill to Exclude Pollution Coverage”

Written by David A. O’Neill, JD, Director of Investigations, PolicyFind

An opinion qualifying Maryland’s approach to applying what is known as the horizontal allocation rule in long-tail liability insurance claims cases was issued by U.S. District Court Judge Catherine C. Blake on January 2, 2014. The U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland ruled in Porter Hayden et al. v. National Union Fire Insurance Co. et al. (as yet unreported) that bankrupt insulation producer Porter Hayden Co. may tap certain excess insurance policy limits for indemnity in asbestos injury suits without first exhausting all primary policy limits.

Excess insurers National Union Fire Insurance Co. of Pittsburgh Pa. and American Home Assurance had supported an interpretation of the rule that would require all available primary insurance policies to be exhausted before any excess carrier could be required to pay for the loss. These insurers had each issued three excess insurance policies above their own primary policies in the 1970’s. They argued that Porter Hayden could not reach for limits from its upper tier policies until underlying policy limits from all insurers had been exhausted. Continue reading “Court Finds Exception to Maryland’s Horizontal Allocation Rule In Porter Hayden v. National Union Fire Insurance Co. Decision”