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…
Miller v. Hartford Life Insurance Co.
Year: 2010
Court: Supreme Court of Hawaii
Case Number: SCCQ-11-0000329
Issue:
  • Bad Faith
  • Emotional Distress
State:
  • Hawaii

A showing of bad faith is not contingent on the presence of any economic loss. Rather, UP argued, a claim of bad faith should rest on improper claim-handling alone.
Kenneth John Nardelli and Tammy M. Nardelli, v. Metropolitan Group Property and Casualty Insurance Company
Year: 2011
Court: Arizona Supreme Court
Case Number: CV-12-0180-PR
Issue:
  • Punitive Damages
State:
  • Arizona

Should a jury verdict and Court of Appeals finding of clear and convincing evidence to support a punitive damages award result in a reduction of the award simply because it was in excess of a single digit ratio to compensatory damages?
U.S. Fidelity And Guarantee Co. V. U.S. Sports Specialty Ass’n
Year: 2011
Court: Utah Supreme Court
Case Number: WL 192793
Issue:
  • Duty to Settle
State:
  • Utah

In this case an insurer went after its insured to recoup monies it had paid (over policy limits) as part of a settlement. UP argued that because the insurer had initiated the settlement and because there was no right of restitution expressly stated in the…
Skinner v. Northrop Grumman
Year: 2011
Court: U.S. Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit
Case Number: 10-55161
Issue:
  • ERISA
State:
  • United States

Employees had received informational documents from their employer that alluded to certain levels of benefits (“annuity equivalent offset”). UP’s brief argued that any discrepancy between the information documents and the internal plan documents should be resolved in favor of the beneficiary’s reasonable expectations, citing the…
Association of California Insurance Companies et al v. Jones
Year: 2011
Court: Court of Appeal of the State of California, Second Appellate District, Division One
Case Number: B239943
Issue:
  • Agent Duty
  • Home Replacement Cost Estimating
  • Regulatory Authority
  • Underinsurance
State:
  • California

UP filed a brief with the California Court of Appeal in Association of California Insurance Companies v. Jones addressing the legality of regulations put forth by the California Department of Insurance to compel sellers of home insurance to properly estimate home replacement values when initiating…
Chubb Custom Ins. Co., et al. v. Space Systems/Loral, Inc.
Year: 2010
Court: U.S. Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit
Case Number: 11-16272
Issue:
  • CERCLA
State:
  • California

UP’s brief argued that insurers should not be allowed to recoup funds under subrogation in CERCLA cases, arguing that allowing otherwise would create the risk of a windfall gain to insurers and that the intent of CERCLA was to maximize the amount of funds available…
Charles Mitchell Hart and Lisa Marie Hart v. TICOR Title Insurance Company
Year: 2011
Court: Hawaii Supreme Court
Case Number: SCWC-29467
Issue:
  • Duty to Defend
  • Title Insurance
State:
  • Hawaii

The policyholders’ land was insured under a title insurance policy they’d bought from TICOR. When the State of Hawaii filed a suit against them related to the land, they turned to TICOR for a defense, but it denied their claim. In an amicus brief drafted…
Mountain States Mutual Casualty Co. v. Roinestad
Year: 2010
Court: Colorado Supreme Court
Case Number: 2010SC853
Issue:
  • Pollution Exclusion and Coverages
State:
  • Colorado

An insurer denied coverage under the pollution exclusion following the physical injuries sustained by exposure to naturally occurring sewer gas subsequent to a plumbing mishap. The insurance company alleged that the Absolute Pollution Exclusion (APE) applied; UP addressed the history and scope of the APE…
Auto Flat Car Crushers, Inc. v. Hanover Ins. Co.
Year: 2014
Court: Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts
Case Number: 11477
Issue:
  • Duty to Defend
State:
  • Massachusetts

When an insured files suit against an insurer for unfair or deceptive practices (under Massachusetts’ Unfair Claims Settlement Practices Act) and the insurer answers and tenders unilateral payments, the insured may still maintain a cause of action for multiple damages. UP argued in its brief…
Owner’s Insurance Company v. Jim Carr Homebuilder et al.
Year: 2014
Court: Alabama Supreme Court
Case Number: 1120764
Issue:
  • Faulty Workmanship as an "Occurrence"
  • Petition for Re-hearing
State:
  • Alabama

In a recent decision, the Alabama Supreme Court left the ranks of the outlier courts, holding that faulty workmanship can be a covered “occurrence” under Commercial General Liability insurance policies. The insurer has filed a petition for re-hearing, which UP opposes. Read a recent decision…
Tidyman’s Management Services v. Davis et al.
Year: 2013
Court: Montana Supreme Court
Case Number: DA 12-0228
Issue:
  • Duty to Defend
State:
  • Montana

Under Montana law, if a carrier refuses to defend under a reservation of rights, it does so at its own peril and is liable for all damages resulting from an unjustified breach of the duty to defend. UP argued in it’s brief that when a…