New York
Panasia Estates, Inc. vs. Hudson Insurance Company and UTC Risk Management Services, Inc.
Year: 2008
Court: New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Department 1
Case Number: New York County Clerk’s Index No. 602472/05
Issue:
  • Bad Faith
State:
  • New York

The Decision and Order of the Supreme Court, New York County, should be reversed to the limited extent that it implicitly requires Plaintiff to prove bad faith in order to recover consequential damages.
Payton, Dolores vs. Aetna/US Healthcare
Year: 1989
Court: New York State Supreme Court
Case Number: Index No. 99/100440
Issue:
  • Public service nature of insurance
State:
  • New York

Tutorial for the Court re: Insurance Ethics; duty of good faith and fair dealing; insurance as a product; insurance companies as fiduciaries; public service nature of insurance.
Serio, Gregory vs. Allstate Insurance Company
Year: 2000
Court: U.S. Court of Appeals, 2nd Circuit
Case Number: 00-7769 & 00-7780
Issue:
  • Mandated insurance; false advertising
State:
  • New York

UP takes position that the State cannot require its citizens to buy a product and then be forced to stand by powerless in the face of the undesirable product claims in the advertising campaigns for the mandated product.
Schwartz et al. vs. Liberty Mutual Insurance Company
Year: 2006
Court: U.S. Court of Appeals, 2nd Circuit
Case Number: Docket No. 07-2794-cv (L), 07-2818-cv (CON)
Issue:
  • Insurer must show prejudice when insured settles without insurer's authority
State:
  • New York

The Policyholder should not forfeit coverage under the policy when the policyholder settles a claim without the insurance company’s authority, after the insurance company intentionally placed it interests adverse to those of the policyholder by issuing a reservation of rights and without any showing that…
Security Mutual Life Insurance Company vs. DiPasquale, Christopher
Year: 2000
Court: New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division
Case Number: 601780/98
Issue:
  • Bad Faith
State:
  • New York

Years after selling a policy, Security Mutual entered into a secret agreement with Berkshire Life delegating to Berkshire the right and obligation to handle security mutual claims. It then applied Mass. Law to New York Policyholders without telling them. UP took position that this constituted…
Shapiro, Paul vs. Berkshire Life Insurance Company
Year: 1999
Court: U.S. Court of Appeals, 2nd Circuit
Case Number: 99-7980(L)
Issue:
  • Attorney's Fees
  • Section 349 of General Business Code
State:
  • New York

Section 349 of the General Business Code makes it possible for insurance companies to be compelled to pay the legal costs of policyholders who successfully sue their insurance companies. It is very important that this section of the business code be enforced fully and fairly.…
Stone, Jonathan and Roberta, vs. Continental Insurance Company
Year: 1995
Court: New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Department 2
Case Number: Docket no. 95-11376
Issue:
  • Insurance Nullification
State:
  • New York

Tutorial; insurance nullification; insurance companies as fiduciaries; post-loss underwriting; Insurance as a defective product.
Stonewall Insurance Company vs. Asbestos Claims Management Corporation
Year: 1994
Court: U.S. Court of Appeals, 2nd Circuit
Case Number: 93-7314 (L)
Issue:
  • Allocation
  • Estoppel
State:
  • New York
Town of Harrison and Village of Harrison v. National Union Fire Insurance Co. Pittsburgh, PA
Year: 1995
Court: New York State Court of Appeals
Case Number: 13167/92
Issue:
  • Pollution Exclusion and Coverages
State:
  • New York

Absolute “pollution exclusion”; fiduciary duty; duty of good faith and fair dealing
Travelers Casualty and Surety Co vs. Certain Underwriters at Lloyds of London
Year: 2000
Court: New York State Court of Appeals
Case Number: 2000-2299, 2000-2300
Issue:
  • No "hindsight" underwriting
  • Pollution Exclusion and Coverages
State:
  • New York

Reinsurance companies should not be free from oversight and regulation. Lloyds should not be allowed to engage in “hindsight” underwriting to change “loss” to “occurrence” and to insert a “proximate cause” requirement. UP’s co-amici are Fresh Air Fund, Center for Children and Families and Police…
United Policyholders vs. Serio, Gregory, NY State Insurance Dept
Year: 2001
Court: New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Department 1
Case Number: 110971/01
Issue:
  • Cancel and annul the de facto license of Equitas to do business in NY State
State:
  • New York

Writ of Mandamus. UP requested that the New York State Insurance Department revoke, cancel and annul the de facto license of Equitas to do business in New York State.
United States of America vs. Brennan, John
Year: 1996
Court: U.S. Court of Appeals, 2nd Circuit
Case Number: 97-1440 (L) 97-1441
Issue:
  • Duties of Insured
  • Tutorial for Court
State:
  • New York

Tutorial for Court: Fiduciary duty; “crying wolf”; purpose of insurance is to “insure”; the “sophisticated policyholder”; contra preferendum; public service nature of insurance.
U.S. Underwriters Insurance Companys vs. City Club Hotel, LLC et al. and Spzakowski
Year: 2003
Court: New York State Court of Appeals
Case Number: 02- CV-07379NRB
Issue:
  • Attorney's Fees
  • Declaratory Relief
State:
  • New York

In a case in which an insurance company has brought a declaratory judgment action to determine that it does not have policy obligations but defended in the underlying suit, the insured that prevails in the dec. relief action should be awarded attorney’s fees for defending…
Thomas Woodhams and Charlene Connors, v. Allstate Fire and Casualty Company
Year: 2010
Court: U.S. Court of Appeals, 2nd Circuit
Case Number: 10-4389
Issue:
  • 180 day policy
State:
  • New York

Does Allstate’s 180 day policy language violate New York’s Standard Fire Policy? Is Allstate’s 180 day policy language ambiguous? UP argued that it is not reasonable to uphold language in property policies that deprives insureds of full replacement cost benefits where they cannot complete repairs/replacement…
Women’s Integrated Network, Inc. v. U.S. Specialty Insurance Company
Year: 2011
Court: U.S. District Court, New York Eastern District
Case Number:
Issue:
  • Blanket holding that an Employment Practices Liability policy does not cover contractual damages.
State:
  • New York

UP addressed the Court’s blanket holding that an Employment Practices Liability insurance policy does not cover contractual damages, as this holding has broad implications for policyholders in New York and elsewhere.
United States Fidelity & Guaranty Company and St. Paul Fire & Marine Insurance Company v. American Re-Insurance Company; Excess Casualty Reinsurance Association; Ace Property & Casualty Company; Century Indemnity Company; And One Beacon
Year: 2011
Court: Court of Appeals, State of New York
Case Number: New York County Clerk’s Index No. 604517/2002
Issue:
  • The “follow the fortunes” doctrine
State:
  • New York

UP encouraged the Court to uphold a lower court’s decision below with respect to the “follow the fortunes” doctrine. The purpose of insurance is to insure – even when the insured is another insurance company. Further, policyholders, whether they are aware of it or not,…
K2 Investment Group et al. v. American Guarantee and Liability Insurance Company
Year: 2013
Court: New York Court of Appeals
Case Number: APL-2012-00055/117902/09
Issue:
  • Duty to Defend
State:
  • New York

UP argued that an insurer’s “duty to defend” is its most basic responsibility under the insurance contact and a failure to do is tantamount to a material breach of contract. As such, the imposition of the Lang rule, which requires insurers in the state of…
Nesmith v. Allstate
Year: 2013
Court: New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Fourth Department
Case Number: 2010-10533
Issue:
  • Ambiguity - what is an “occurrence”?
State:
  • New York

UP argued in its brief that Allstate’s denial of a claim was improper because it relied on an ambiguous policy definition of an the ambiguity of “occurrence”. Allstate denied a claim for coverage for injuries stemming from lead poisoning citing an exclusion for multiple claims…