Alexandra Sims v. State Farm Automobile Ins. Co.
Year: 2017
Court: U.S. Court of Appeals, 8th Circuit
Case Number: 17-1333
Issue:
  • Bad Faith
State:
  • Arkansas

Drivers who purchase underinsured motorist coverage expect that they are protecting themselves against disaster from at-fault drivers who don’t carry liability insurance or whose policy limits are too low to cover the damages. When an insurance company refuses to indemnify the policyholder for damages exceeding…
Cranfield v. State Farm Fire & Casualty Company
Year: 2019
Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
Case Number: 19-3004
Issue:
  • Labor Depreciation
State:
  • Ohio

In its brief, UP argues that labor should not be depreciated in determining actual cash value. The conclusion that labor should not be depreciated does not change regardless of the method of calculating actual cash value (replacement cost minus depreciation or broad evidence rule). UP…
Kurach v. Truck Insurance Exchange
Year: 2019
Court: Supreme Court of Pennsylvania - Eastern District
Case Number: 12 EAP 2019
Issue:
  • Actual Cash Value
  • General Contractor Overhead and Profit
State:
  • Pennsylvania

In this brief, UP argues that General Contractor Overhead and Profit (GCOP) should not be excluded when determining the Actual Cash Value (ACV) benefits under property insurance policies affording replacement coverage. The policy language in this particular case stated that the insurer was authorized to…
Smith v. Citadel Insurance Company, et al.
Year: 2019
Court: Supreme Court of Louisiana
Case Number: 2019-CC-0052
Issue:
  • How long an insured has to file suit against an insurer in Louisiana
State:
  • Louisiana

In an important win for policyholders, the Louisiana Supreme Court on October 21, 2019 affirmed that the prescriptive period for bad faith claims in Louisiana is in fact 10 years, not one. Congratulations to Louisiana policyholders and our amicus brief drafters Andrew Veazey, Esq. with…
ADI Worldlink, LLC v. RSUI Indemnity Company
Year: 2019
Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
Case Number: 17-41050
Issue:
  • Interrelatedness Provision
State:
  • Texas

In this amicus brief, UP argues against allowing insurers to improperly use a general interrelatedness provision, while disregarding a manuscript change, to impute late notice from a separate and earlier lawsuit and deny coverage during the current policy period. Interrelated provisions are often found in…
Dino v. Safeco Insurance Company of America et al.
Year: 2019
Court: Supreme Court of the State of Connecticut
Case Number: S.C. 20197
Issue:
  • Manifestation vs. Continuous Trigger--Homeowner's Insurance Contract Interpretation
State:
  • Connecticut

The underlying case involves insurance companies denying the policyholders’ claims for insurance coverage after they discovered severe cracking in their basement walls under policies covering periods between 2000 and 2016. Without reaching the issue of whether the policies provided coverage for the crumbling concrete problem,…
Mitchell v. State Farm and Casualty Company
Year: 2019
Court: UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
Case Number: 3:17-cv-00170-MPM-RP
Issue:
  • Labor Depreciation
State:
  • Mississippi

In this amicus brief, UP argues that labor should not be depreciated by insurance companies in their determination of actual cash value. Many insurers do not engage in the practice of depreciating labor. For the insurance carriers who do depreciate labor, most use coverage forms…
Bridgeman v. Woodmen
Year: 2019
Court: Commonwealth of Kentucky Supreme Court
Case Number: 15-CA-000720
Issue:
  • Policyholders have a right to hold insurers accountable in open court in a jury trial
State:
  • Kentucky

**UPdate 4/25: The Kentucky Supreme Court dismissed the petition as settled. Immediately upon the Supreme Court’s acceptance of United Policyholder’s amicus brief, the insurer (Woodmen) paid the claim. The amicus brief was the impetus/trigger to a successful result for the insured’s beneficiaries. Thank you again…
Perry v. Allstate Indemnity
Year: 2019
Court: UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT
Case Number: 18-4267
Issue:
  • Fair and unfair depreciation applied by insurers to property claims
State:
  • Ohio

One of the ways UP helps property owners impacted by disasters is by weighing in via “friend of the court” briefs in coverage and claim disputes that involve issues that commonly arise where properties have been totally destroyed or substantially damaged. When insurers depreciate losses…
Sapa Extrusions, Inc. v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Co.
Year: 2018
Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
Case Number: 18-2206
Issue:
  • Duty to Defend
  • Insurance contract interpretation
  • policyholder reasonable expectations
State:
  • Pennsylvania

In its brief, UP focuses on three grounds for reversal of the district court opinion: The District Court failed to interpret the insurance policies as a whole and rendered products liability coverage illusory in Pennsylvania. The District Court’s interpretation of “occurence” contravenes the insured’s reasonable…
Villanueva v. Fidelity National Title Co.
Year: 2018
Court: Supreme Court of California
Case Number: S252035
Issue:
  • Title Insurance
State:
  • California

UP’s Amicus Curiae Letter in Support of Petition for Review, or in the alternative Request for Depublication of Villanueva v. Fidelity National Title Co., S252035; published at (2018) 26 Cal.App.5th 1092 . Villanueva for the first time, strips California consumers of all rights to monetary…
Karas v. Liberty Insurance Corporation
Year: 2018
Court: Supreme Court of the State of Connecticut
Case Number: S.C. 20149
Issue:
  • Contract Interpretation
State:
  • Connecticut

“Substantial impairment of structural integrity” is the applicable standard for “collapse” and need not be clarified. This definition includes an impairment which, if not remedied, will lead inevitably to a caving in, a falling down, and/or a structure’s being unsafe to occupy. The terms “Foundation”…
Erie v. Moore, McCutcheon
Year: 2018
Court: Superior Court of Pennsylvania
Case Number: No. WAP 2018
Issue:
  • Duty to Defend
State:
  • Pennsylvania

Insurance companies may not preemptively discern an intent to cause injury when a complaint alleges accidental injury to nullify the insurer’s duty to defend. The point of the duty to defend is ensure that the policyholder has a defense to potentially covered allegations pending a…
Travelers Indem. Co. v. Mckenzie & Sons, Inc. et al.
Year: 2018
Court: Eleventh Circuit
Case Number: No. 18-13172-D
Issue:
  • Duty to Defend
State:
  • Florida

In its brief, UP argues that the District Court erred in determining Travelers did not owe a duty to defend based on Exclusion (j)(5). Examination of the plain language and intent of the exclusion makes clear that the exclusions have a limited application that does…
Fils v. Starr Indemnity & Liability Insurance Company
Year: 2018
Court: Louisiana Court of Appeal, Third Circuit
Case Number: Docket No. 17 00896-CA
Issue:
  • Bad Faith
State:
  • Louisiana

In this case, UP weighed in to preserve Louisiana residents’ rights to be compensated when they’ve been harmed by bad faith conduct by an insurance company. Our Friend of the Court brief points out that the District Court erred in maintaining Star Indemnity & Liability…
Harvey v. Geico
Year: 2017
Court: Florida Supreme Court
Case Number: SC17-85
Issue:
  • Bad Faith
State:
  • Florida

The Florida Supreme Court held there was substantial evidence to support the jury’s finding that Geico acted in bad faith in failing to settle a fatal car crash claim against its policyholder and reinstated the jury’s $9.2 million verdict against Geico. See: https://www.uphelp.org/blog/guest-blog-supreme-court-fl-rules-favor-policyholder-application-floridas-bad-faith-law
House Concurrent Resolution No. 89 Position Paper
Year: 2018
Court:
Case Number: House Concurrent Resolution No. 89
Issue:
  • Bad Faith
State:
  • Louisiana

UP’s position paper submitted to the Louisiana State Law Institute to urge and request the Institute support application of a ten-year prescriptive period to an insured’s bad faith claims against its insurer.
Susan Hicks and Don Williams, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. State Farm Fire & Casualty Company, Defendant-Appellant.
Year: 2018
Court: U.S. Court of Appeal, 6th Circuit
Case Number: Case No. 18-5104
Issue:
  • Labor Depreciation
State:
  • Kentucky

This amicus brief discusses the wrongful depreciation of labor, an insurer strategy to minimize benefit payments after a loss. An insurance contract must receive a reasonable interpretation consistent with the parties’ expression in the language of the contract. Depreciation is the reduction of tangible property…