Monthly Archives: January 2014

Florida Property Manager’s Insurable Interest Is Limited To Its Fees

In Banta Properties, Inc. v. Arch Specialty, Ins. Co., —Fed.  Appx.— , 2014 WL 274478 (11th Cir., January 24, 2014), the Eleventh Circuit recently  held that a property manager’s insurable interest in the apartment complexes that it managed was limited to the income that it was entitled to receive under its contracts with the buildings’ owners.  Under Florida statutes, the measure of insurable interest is the loss that the policyholder might sustain from damage to the property, and that was held to preclude the property manager from asserting such an interest and recovering on its own behalf for the property damage that the apartments sustained from Hurricane Wilma. In October of 2005, Hurricane Wilma damaged three apartment complexes in Broward

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Posted in Additional Insureds, Hurricane, Insurable Interest

Wisconsin Adds “Septage” To The List Of Substances Deemed To Be Pollutants

In Preisler v. Kuettel’s Septic Service, LLC, et al., 2014 WL 114325 (Wisc.App., Jan. 14, 2014), the intermediate level of appellate court in Wisconsin recently held that “septage” – a combination of water, urine, feces, and chemicals that is used as a fertilizer – was “unambiguously a pollutant.”  The case involved the scope of comprehensive general liability (“CGL”) coverage, but the CGL policy exclusions at issue were virtually identical to pollution exclusions commonly found in first-party contracts of insurance.  The decision is important to property carriers as a result, and it also rejects a number of arguments that first-party insureds frequently make in an effort to limit or avoid the application of such language. The Preislers owned a dairy farm

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Posted in Efficient Proximate Cause, Exclusions, Pollution, Reasonable Expectations

Saving Green by Going Green

As Kermit the Frog famously said: “It’s not easy being green.”  When it comes to property insurance, Kermit is only partially correct.  Although green buildings and commercial construction projects pose unique risks that are likely not covered by traditional commercial property policies, the insurance industry has become increasingly responsive to this issue by creating and offering products specifically tailored for green risks. Just What is Green Construction, Anyway? Green construction (also known as a “green building” or a “sustainable building”) is an environmentally responsible and resource efficient structure and process.  In other words, it’s not just the building itself that’s “green” – it’s the entire construction and using process. The objective of green construction is to reduce the overall impact

Posted in Business Interuption, Green Insurance, Replacement Cost
About The Property Insurance Law Observer

For more than five decades, Cozen O’Connor has represented all types of property insurers in jurisdictions throughout the United States, and it is dedicated to keeping its clients abreast of developments that impact the insurance industry. The Property Insurance Law Observer will survey court decisions, enacted or proposed legislation, and regulatory activities from all 50 states. We will also include commentary on current issues and developing trends of interest to first-party insurers.

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