Earlier this month a unanimous Florida appellate court joined a number of other states that have held that an all-risk policy exclusion for vandalism and malicious mischief operates to bar coverage for an arson loss. The opinion can be found at Botee v. Southern Fid. Ins. Co., 2015 WL 477836, 2015 Fla. App. LEXIS 1566 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App., Feb. 6, 2015).
The insured, Raziya Botee, owned a single-family home that was destroyed by an arsonist on October 10, 2012. It was undisputed that the structure had been vacant for over a month when the fire broke out. Her homeowner’s insurer, Southern Fidelity (SFIC), denied liability because the contract of insurance excluded coverage for losses caused by “vandalism and malicious mischief, theft or attempted theft” if the dwelling had been vacant or unoccupied for more than thirty consecutive days immediately before the loss. Ms. Botee responded by filing a declaratory judgment action against the carrier. The trial granted summary judgment to SFIC, and an appeal followed.
The policyholder argued that the contract of insurance was ambiguous. SFIC’s policy afforded all-risk coverage for loss to the structure under Coverage A and named perils coverage for loss to the contents under Coverage C. The vandalism and malicious mischief exclusion was found only in the former, and the latter expressly recited that both “fire or lightning” and “vandalism or malicious mischief” were covered causes of loss. Though the fire had resulted in no contents loss, Ms. Botee looked to the fact that the policy identified both fire and vandalism as “separate covered perils” without defining either one. According to the insured: Read more ›
The case arose after Tri-Union Seafoods initiated a recall in response to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warning about potential contamination. The policyholder’s claim was denied by its product contamination carrier, Starr Surplus Lines, and Tri-Union then filed suit in federal court in California, where it was headquartered and incorporated. Starr’s response was a motion to dismiss based on the contract of insurance’s forum selection clause and/or to transfer to New York pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a).
Petrey was a wholesale distributor of goods supplied to convenience stores, one of which was a two ounce “energy shot” drink called “5-Hour Energy.” It hired salespeople for delivery routes, and each of them leased a Petrey storage unit. The salespeople ordered inventory from Petrey’s warehouse, and the insured then delivered the goods to the storage unit for distribution.
The policyholder made claim after the heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems in five townhouses at its Creek’s Edge at Stoney Point Townhomes complex in Richmond broke down due to off-gassing from the drywall. Its property insurance carrier, Nationwide Mutual, responded by filing a declaratory judgment action asking the court to hold that it had no obligation to cover the claims. Stony Point conceded that it had no coverage under the main body of the contract of insurance in the wake of Travco, but it contended that the damage to the HVAC units was covered by an Additional Coverage for “Equipment Breakdown.” This recited that Nationwide “will pay for loss caused by or resulting from an ‘accident’ to ‘covered equipment.’ “ The provision also afforded coverage for “the additional cost to repair or replace Covered Property because of contamination by a ‘hazardous substance.’ “ 
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Maria Nucci filed a personal injury action against Target, alleging that she fell on “a foreign substance” on the floor of one of the defendant’s stores. Her complaint contended that she sustained permanent injuries, aggravated pre-existing ones, and also experienced lost earnings and emotional pain and suffering. Prior to her deposition, Target’s attorneys reviewed her Facebook profile and found that it contained 1,285 photographs. She was questioned about some of them at the deposition itself, and she promptly took three dozen of the pictures down.
The policyholders owned a gas station and convenience store in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. The structure experienced moderate damage during a storm on August 14, 2011. Two weeks later on August 28th, the rear portion of the building collapsed during Hurricane Irene. There was a 72” corrugated metal culvert running underground near the rear of the structure, and this was corroded and decayed. Experts for both sides agreed that the deteriorated culvert sustained damage during the first storm and then partially collapsed after Irene, leading to extensive soil erosion; when the insurer’s expert examined the property two days after the storm, there was a hole 60’ long, 20’ wide, and 8’ deep behind the building.
(1) A man who fell asleep during Red Sox game at Yankee Stadium filed a lawsuit against ESPN and its announcers as well as Major League Baseball and the Yankees after he was shown napping on a live telecast of the game. According to his complaint, he suffered “substantial injury” to his “character and reputation” and “mental anguish, loss of future income and loss of earning capacity” as a result of the incident. His complaint seeks $10 million in damages.
Congress has a bad habit of larding important legislation like TRIA with wholly-unrelated provisions, and it was one of those that doomed reauthorization. When the Senate wrote its own reauthorization bill earlier this year, it proposed including a provision creating the National Association of Registered Agents and Brokers (NARAB), a non-profit clearinghouse made up of state insurance commissioners and insurance market representatives which would oversee and streamline the licensing of agents and brokers. Senator Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) was opposed, believing that to be a federal infringement on authority traditionally reserved for the individual states, and the Senate bill that was sent to the House on July 17th sunset NARAB after two years.