Insurance Law

Recent Posts

California Supreme Court to Address One of My Favorite Issues - “Use of an Auto”
Posted on 17 Nov 2015 by Randy J. Maniloff

Two Lewis Brisbois Lawyers Superbly Explain What’s At Stake I’ve always liked “use of an auto” cases – be they in the context of coverage under an auto policy or the auto exclusion in a general liability or homeowners... Read More

Jets And Sharks And Insurance Coverage: Judicial Writing At Its Finest
Posted on 15 Apr 2015 by Randy J. Maniloff

Forget whether you can tell a book by its cover (a lot of times you really can I think), I have long maintained that you can very often tell a coverage case by its opening paragraph. A recent one from the New Jersey Appellate Division has as good as a... Read More

Wall Of Confusion: GEICO General Insurance Company v. Bottini And Its Ill-Begotten Progeny
Posted on 16 Oct 2014 by Mealeys

By Julius F. "Rick" Parker III A three-judge panel of Florida's Second District Court of Appeal has released what, on its face, appears to be a relatively innocuous opinion in Geico General Insurance Company v. Bottini.1 The Bottini appeal... Read More

Court Holds That Labrador/Boxer Mix Is An Underinsured Motorist [Most Interesting Dog Bite Coverage Case Ever]
Posted on 1 Oct 2014 by Randy J. Maniloff

I love dog bite coverage cases. And there are a lot of them. So that’s a good thing. But that also means that there are a lot of dog bites. And since I also love dogs -- that’s not such a good thing. It’s a real double-edge sword. [As... Read More

“Warriors . . . come out to playyyyyy” (or "What Are The Insurance Implications Of Driving Your Mom's Car To A Street Fight?")
Posted on 7 May 2015 by Peter J. Gallagher

By Peter J. Gallagher ( @pjsgallagher ) One of the most ridiculously entertaining movies of the late-1970’s/early-1980’s was “ The Warriors .” You need to watch it to fully appreciate how ridiculous and entertaining it was... Read More

Come On. Who Doesn’t Love A Good “Use Of An Auto” Case
Posted on 18 Jun 2015 by Randy J. Maniloff

Cases involving whether injury arises out of the “use of an auto” – for purposes of triggering an Auto or UM/UIM policy or the applicability of a CGL or homeowner’s policy’s auto exclusion -- have a way of involving strange... Read More

Driverless Cars: The Real Insurance Issue
Posted on 23 Mar 2015 by Randy J. Maniloff

There has been a lot of talk lately about driverless cars. It has included when various manufacturers plan to introduce models with some driverless features (soon) and, more generally, longer-term predictions of when we’ll all be skootin’... Read More

CGL Policy with Specific “Other Insurance” Clause Ruled Excess Over Auto Policy for Claim Arising out of Automobile Accident
Posted on 3 Feb 2015 by Troutman Sanders

Employers Ins. Co. of Wausau v. Lexington Ins. Co. , 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 115747 (C.D. Cal. Aug. 19, 2014), [ enhanced version available to lexis.com subscribers ] In Employers , the Central District of California found that a CGL Policy was excess... Read More

How to Lose Auto Coverage Without Trying – Insurable Interest Required for Coverage to Apply
Posted on 4 Aug 2015 by Barry Zalma

Insurance is a contract of personal indemnity. It does not insure cars or property of any kind but insures people against the risk of loss of their property. People who know nothing about insurance do not understand this essential insurance concept and... Read More

Crime Doesn’t Pay – Running Over Victim in the Course of a Robbery Is not an Accident
Posted on 12 Aug 2015 by Barry Zalma

Insurance, as I have said often, only insures against fortuitous events. If the event is either contingent or unknown it can be insured against. In Smith v. Patton , Slip Copy, 2015 Wisc. App. LEXIS 547 (Wis.App., July 2015), [subscribers can access... Read More

Automobile Policy’s Exclusion for Bodily Injury to “an Insured” Held Unenforceable and Against Public Policy With Regard to Injuries Sustained by a Non-Relative of the Named Insured
Posted on 29 Jan 2015 by Troutman Sanders

Mercury Cas. Co. v. Chu , 229 Cal. App. 4th 1432 (2014), [ enhanced version available to lexis.com subscribers ]. In Mercury , the California Court of Appeal held that an exclusion in an automobile policy for “bodily injury to an insured”... Read More

Lawyer Thinking About Work, On the Way To The Office, Is Not Working
Posted on 10 Jun 2015 by Randy J. Maniloff

Coverage Opinions Gets A Mention In The Wall Street Journal Law Blog Cases involving coverage under automobile policies do not usually get a lot of play in Coverage Opinions (what is “use of an auto” cases are sometimes an exception;... Read More

Auto Insurance Telematics Data Privacy And Ownership
Posted on 29 Jul 2015 by Mealeys

By Frederick J. Pomerantz and Aaron J. Aisen Introduction Data collection is the new normal in the 21st century. This extends from search engines to social media to consumer shopping habits. This also includes monitoring driving behavior and auto... Read More