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Louisiana Federal Court Upholds Applicability of Anti-Concurrent Causation Exclusion for Hurricane Damage

Posted on September 07, 2021 by Paul Ferland, Vincent Passarelli

In a timely reaffirmation of the Fifth Circuit’s 2007 ruling in Leonard v. Nationwide Mut. Ins. Co., a Louisiana federal court recently upheld the application of an insurance policy’s Anti-Concurrent Causation Clause (“ACC”) in precluding coverage for property damage caused by a combination of storm winds and flooding. In Chad Little, et al. v. Aegis Security Insurance Co., Case No. 2:21-CV-00997 (W.D.La. July 9, 2021), the Western District of Louisiana granted defendant-insurer’s motion for summary judgment holding that the defendant-insurer proved that both a covered peril (storm winds) and an excluded peril (flooding) contributed to the losses claimed by the plaintiffs-insureds, and that as a result of the application of the policy’s ACC, all coverage was precluded. About The Authors

Tagged with: anti-concurrent causation, catastrophes, Coverage, efficient proximate cause, exclusions, flood insurance, homeowners coverage, Water, windstorm
Posted in Catastrophes, Water

“Context Matters” – Tenth Circuit Holds Mudslide Not an Explosion Under Property Policy

Posted on September 7, 2016 by William Craven

On August 29, 2016, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit affirmed a Colorado district court ruling that the sudden obliteration of a building in a 2013 mudslide did not constitute an “explosion” under a commercial property policy. Accordingly, coverage for the loss was barred under the policy’s “Water Exclusion Endorsement,” which excluded coverage for, among other perils, “[m]udslide or mudflow.” Although the exclusion contained an exception for resulting losses caused by “fire explosion, or sprinkler leakage,” the Tenth Circuit held that the destruction of the building did not constitute an explosion as used in the exception to the exclusion. In construing the meaning of “explosion” as used in the water exclusion, the court emphasized that “context matters,”…

Summary Judgment May Be Appropriate When Insured Fails to Take Reasonable Measures to Prevent Property Damage

Posted on August 4, 2016 by Michael Henry

Many first party property insurance policies exclude claims for water damage that occurs when the insured premises is left vacant or unoccupied, unless the insured has used reasonable care to prevent such losses. In litigation challenging the denial of such claims, whether or not the insured’s actions in preventing property damage were reasonable is generally treated as a question of fact to be decided by a jury. However, when the facts are not disputed, and there are no credibility issues presented, a court may grant summary judgment on behalf of the insurer upholding the denial. Such a result recently occurred in a Pennsylvania case involving substantial losses as a result of water damage from burst pipes. Micalis Pazianas, M.D., et…