In Ashrit Realty, LLC v. Tower National Ins. Co., 2015 WL 248490, 2015 N.J. Super. Unpub. LEXIS 107 (N.J.Super.Ct., App.Div., Jan. 20, 2015), New Jersey’s Appellate Division held that an anti-concurrent/anti-sequential causation clause precluded coverage for a Hurricane Irene loss. A covered peril (hidden decay) led to an excluded peril (soil erosion), bringing down part of the insured’s structure. As the court explained, such a provision “excludes coverage in situations where a covered event and an excluded event contribute, concurrently or sequentially, to a single loss.” While the New Jersey Supreme Court has yet to weigh in on anti-concurrent/anti-sequential causation clauses, the case adds to growing body of lower court decisions holding or suggesting that such provisions are valid and…
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Anti-Sequential Causation Clause Upheld in Hurricane Irene Case in New Jersey
Posted in Anti-Concurrent Causation, Causation, Collapse, Hurricane, Hurricane Irene, Seepage or Leakage
New Jersey Court Holds $22 Million “Named Storm” Deductible Applicable to a Superstorm Sandy Loss
On October 29th, a New Jersey trial court held that a commercial policyholder’s Superstorm Sandy claims were subject to a $22 million “named storm” deductible equal to 2% of the total insurable values at risk at all of the loss locations for which the insured made claim. In Wakefern Food Corp., et al. v. Lexington Ins. Co., Case No. L-6483-13 (N.J.Super.Ct., Middlesex Cty., Oct. 29, 2014), the court held that damage had begun to occur hours before Sandy was downgraded and no longer constituted a “named storm” as defined and that that fact “created a substantial nexus between the storm and Wakefern’s total losses” justifying application of the deductible. Plaintiff Wakefern was a buying cooperative consisting of the owners of…
Posted in Deductible, Hurricane, Superstorm Sandy
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…
