Case Law Watch

Northwestern National Insurance Company v Carlson
(Minn. App. March 7, 2006)

Ruling: An insured’s cause of action against a liability insurer for breach of its contractual duty to indemnify does not accrue, and, therefore, the statute of limitations does not begin to run until the insured is legally obligated to pay damages as a result of a judgment or settlement.

Auto-Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage

State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company v Reis
(Fla. App., 1st Dist., March 14, 2006)

Ruling: Court finds UIM policy limits language ambiguous. An auto accident victim’s obligated to defend and indemnify insured in underlying action. The court found that the record did not demonstrate that the allegations made in the underlying federal complaint potentially gave rise to a claim covered by the insurance policy at issue.

Miscellaneous

American Family Mutual Insurance Company v Ginther
(Ind. App. March 13, 2006)

Ruling: Insurer ordered to pay post-judgment interest on underlying judgment. Insurer appealed the trial court’s order that it was liable for post-judgment interest to underlying plaintiffs on a $100,000.00 judgment obtained against its insured. Because the insurance policy at issue required the insurer to pay compensatory damages for which its insured is legally liable and because post-judgment interest is part and parcel of a money judgment, the court affirmed the trial court’s order that the insurer was liable for post-judgment interest.

Title Insurance

Henderson v. Lawyers Title Insurance Company
(Ohio March 15, 2006)

Ruling: Title Insurance, “customary and usual” clauses. A title insurance policy that is issued in response to an unqualified request for coverage, but is not delivered to the insured until after the closing, is binding on the homeowner, but only to the extent it contains the “usual and customary terms” of similar policies. In this particular case, of the given policy form utilized by an insurer, only approximately half contained an arbitration clause. The court held that such inclusion did not establish that arbitrations clauses were “usual and customary.” As the arbitration clause was not usual and customary, it was not binding.

Directors & Officers

Oak Park Calabasas Condominium Association v. State Farm Fire and Casualty Co.
(Cal. App., 2 Dist., Feb. 21, 2006)

Ruling: No coverage under D&O policy provisions. In an action arising out of the Northridge earthquake, the insured had entered into various agreements with a construction company to repair its damaged structure. The insured refused to pay the construction company and was sued. The insured tendered its defense to the insurer under its D&O coverage. The insurer denied coverage and the court upheld the insurer’s motion for summary judgment

Information compiled by Kevin T. Merriman of Goldberg, Segalla L.L.P. Web site, www.goldbergsegaooalcom.

Topics Lawsuits Carriers