CIGNA CORPORATION AND CIGNA PENSION PLAN, Petitioners, v. JANICE C. AMARA, GISELA R. BRODERICK, ANNETTE S. GLANZ, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated, Respondents.
Year: 2009
Court: U.S. Supreme Court
Case Number: 09-804
Issue:
  • ERISA
State:
  • United States

UP weighed in along with three other organizations to advance the position that where there is a conflict between plan documents, the one that favors plan participants should control, or, in the alternative, SPD documents. Participants should not be obliged to establish detrimental reliance, likely…
Michael McReynolds v. American Commerce Insurance Co.
Year: 2009
Court: Arizona Supreme Court
Case Number: CV-10-0288-PR
Issue:
  • Interpleader
  • The Duty of Good Faith
State:
  • Arizona

Whether an insurance company’s filing of an “interpleader” in a multiple claimant case protects the insured’s interests and fulfills the carrier’s duty of good faith. UP’s brief was written pro bono by Stanley Feldman of the Tucson, AZ firm of Haralson, Miller, Pitt, Feldman &…
Citigroup, Inc. vs. National Union Fire Insurance Co. et. al.
Year: 2009
Court: U.S. Court of Appeals, 5th Circuit
Case Number: 10-20445
Issue:
  • Primary/Excess settlements
State:
  • Texas

Whether an excess insurance carrier’s denial of coverage to a policyholder who settles with its primary insurance company for an amount below the primary insurance company’s limits violates the public policy favoring settlements?
Southern Realty Management Inc. et. al. vs. Aspen Specialty Insurance Co. et. al.
Year: 2010
Court: U.S. Court of Appeals, 11th Circuit
Case Number: 10-11513-G
Issue:
  • Post Claims Underwriting
State:
  • Georgia

Issues involve: (1) whether insurance company must be prejudiced in order for there to be material breach of the cooperation clause such that it bars coverage and (2) whether the insurance company’s denial of claim constitutes impermissible post-loss underwriting.
State of Wyoming v. Federated Services Insurance
Year: 1998
Court: U.S. Court of Appeals, 10th Circuit
Case Number: 98-8096
Issue:
  • Standing
State:
  • Wyoming
L.A. Checker Cab Coop, Inc. vs. First Specialty Insurance Co.
Year: 2009
Court: California Court of Appeal, 2nd District
Case Number: B213948
Issue:
  • Intentional Acts
State:
  • California

Whether an employer is deprived of coverage for its vicarious liability for the act of an employee if the employee acted intentionally. The Court of Appeal held that because the employee’s act was intentional, the employer could not satisfy the portion of the “occurrence” definition…
Arshavir Iskanian v. CLS Transportation Los Angeles, LLC
Year: 2013
Court: California Supreme Court
Case Number: S204032
Issue:
  • Arbitration
  • Futility Doctrine
State:
  • California

UP filed a brief in opposition to a ruling that would allow insurance companies to take a “wait and see” approach to arbitration. In Iskanian, the court held that a company that waives its right to compel arbitration by failing to timely file the motion…
Joshua Bell v. Progressive Direct Insurance Company
Year: 2013
Court: South Carolina Supreme Court
Case Number: 2011-UP-242
Issue:
  • Reasonable Expectations of Coverage
State:
  • South Carolina

UP weighed in to argue that the Court should apply the doctrine of the reasonable expectations of the insured when analyzing the parties’ positions. Mr. Bell was living with Ms. Severn and their child. Ms. Severn purchased Underinsured Motorist insurance, and Mr. Bell was subsequently…
Thomas Nickerson v. Stonebridge Life Insurance Company
Year: 2012
Court: Court of Appeal of California, Second District, Division Three
Case Number: BC405280
Issue:
  • Punitive Damages
State:
  • California

United Policyholders brief opposed common laws limiting the amount of punitive damages a policyholder can recover to the amount of their standard damages multiplied by a number less than ten. Instead, UP argued that the trier of fact is in the best position to determine…
West Bend Mutual Ins. Co. v. New Packing Co. Inc.
Year: 2011
Court: Appellate Court of Illinois, First Judicial District
Case Number: No. 11-1507
Issue:
  • Vacancy Exclusion
State:
  • Illinois

Insured bought a building into which it intended to move and transfer its operations. The insured promptly added the building to its existing insurance policy, effective the date of the closing. Within the first 3 weeks of ownership, the building was vandalized on 2 occasions.…
Building Materials Corporation Of America D/B/A Gaf Materials Corporation Vs. Allstate Insurance Company, Et Al.
Year: 2011
Court: New Jersey Supreme Court
Case Number: 70413
Issue:
  • Burden of Proof
  • CGL
State:
  • New Jersey

In this case, UP sought to provide the court with policyholders’ perspectives on why an Appellate Division holding needs to be reversed. The holding relates to how a policyholder can obtain insurance coverage for the settlement of a mass tort class action which alleges both…
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,…
Washington National Insurance Corporation, Petitioner/Appellant Vs. Sydelle Ruderman, Et Al. Respondents/Appellees.
Year: 2012
Court: Florida Supreme Court
Case Number: SC12-323
Issue:
  • Ambiguity
  • Extrinsic Evidence
  • Policy Interpretation
State:
  • Florida

UP briefed this case to defend Florida’s long-standing rule that an ambiguous insurance policy must be interpreted in favor of the policyholder. The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled for a class of home health care policyholders by finding the policy’s benefit provision ambiguous, but…
Sharen Capel PPA Donte Capel v. Plymouth Rock Assurance Corp.
Year: 2012
Court: State of Connecticut Court of Appeals
Case Number: AC 34524
Issue:
  • Assignment of Bad Faith Claims
State:
  • Connecticut

UP authored amicus in this important case of first impression supporting the rights of policyholders and their judgment creditors to recover a judgment in excess of the policy limits in contract actions against the insurance company for breach of the duty to defend, where the…
Robert Jacobsen v. Allstate Insurance Company
Year: 2011
Court: Montana Supreme Court
Case Number: DA 12-0130
Issue:
  • Class Actions
  • Direct Actions
  • Ethical Claims Conduct
State:
  • Montana

UP filed an amicus brief in support of a Montana law that allows third parties injured in automobile accidents to bring direct claims against insurance companies who fail to ethically handle claims asserted by those third parties against their insureds. Allowing third parties to bring…
Craig Streit, et al. v. Farmers Group, Inc.
Year: 2011
Court: California Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District, Division Seven
Case Number: BC434852
Issue:
  • “Short-Rate” Premiums
  • Duty to Disclose
  • Fire Insurance
State:
  • California

UP submitted a brief in support of the Appellants, whose claim is that the insurance company violated its disclosure obligations under California Insurance Code section 381(f) by charging policyholders undisclosed “short-rate” premiums for cancellations of their insurance policy before the end of policy term. Section…
Amado Trinidad v. Florida Peninsula Insurance Company
Year: 2011
Court: Florida Supreme Court
Case Number: SC11-1643
Issue:
  • Contractor’s Overhead and Profit
  • Homeowners Insurance
  • Replacement Cost Value
State:
  • Florida

A homeowner purchased an insurance policy that provided Replacement Cost Value (RCV) coverage on his dwelling. A policyholder reasonably expects that by paying an additional premium for this type of coverage, (which is superior to “actual cash value” (ACV) coverage), he or she will recover…
US Airways, Inc., in its capacity as Fiduciary and Plan Administrator of the US Airways, Inc. Employee Benefits Plan, Petitioners, v. James E. McCutchen, et al.,
Year: 2011
Court: United States Supreme Court
Case Number:
Issue:
  • ERISA
State:
  • United States

UP filed a brief in opposition to an appeal by US Airways, Inc. seeking reimbursement and subrogation from its employee for ERISA medical benefits in excess of what employees recovered from third-party tortfeasors, including amounts recovered from the employee’s personal underinsured motorist coverage. UP argued…