Recent Updates
LA - BAD FAITH - No Bad Faith by Insurer Where Insured Failed to Cooperate
The insured did not fulfill his duty to cooperate in the investigation of his personal contents claims following alleged hurricane damage. The insurer suffered prejudice given that most of the items claimed were no longer available for inspection and the photographic evidence was inadequate.
MN - VALUED POLICY - Minnesota Statutes Did Not Mandate Full Policy Limits for Total Loss to Tenants Improvements
Valued Policy statute did not apply to tenants improvements and betterments which were a part of Business Personal Property coverage. Minnesota's Valued Policy law, when read in conjunction with the state's Standard Fire Policy statutes, mandated total-loss coverage up to the full policy limit only for buildings, not other kinds of property. Only willful or intentional misstatements calculated to deceive the insurer operate to void the policy, and this is a question of fact for the jury.
Windstorm Deposits Farm Soil On Insured's Property: Is There Coverage?
The insured’s dwelling is next to a farm. A windstorm blew soil from the farm fields onto the insured’s property, resulting in soil accumulating in layers on the insured’s property. Is there coverage for the loss?
In Alaska, Would an Employer’s Liability Exclusion Bar Liability Coverage for Bodily Injury from a Workplace Fight?
This coverage question response was based on the specific policy language provided and the case law available at the time it was written. For a general understanding of the exclusion issue, see PLRB, Commercial General Liability Policy Annotation Key GL47 – Employer’s Liability Exclusion. POLICY FORM ISO Commercial General Liability Coverage Form CG 00 01 12 07 FACTS A fight broke out between two employees at the named insured Alaska bar. One of the employees, a bouncer with known anger management issues, beat the other employee badly. The injured employee sued the other employee, the bar and the bar owner alleging that the bar and bar owner deliberately failed to make him aware of the threat the other employee posed. Also, the bar owner failed to purchase worker’s compensation insurance. Such coverage could otherwise have paid for the worker’s medical treatment. STATE OF LOSS Alaska QUESTION In Alaska, would an employer’s liability exclusion bar liability coverage for bodily injury from a workplace fight? POLICY LANGUAGE 2. Exclusions This insurance does not apply to: … e. Employer's Liability "Bodily injury" to: (1) An "employee" of the insured arising out of and in the course of: (a) Employment by the insured; or (b) Performing duties related to the conduct of the insured's business; or (2) The spouse, child, parent, brother or sister of that "employee" as a consequence of Paragraph (1) above. This exclusion applies whether the insured may be liable as an employer or in any other capacity and to any obligation to share damages with or repay someone else who must pay damages because of the injury. … ANSWER In Alaska, coverage for such a suit as against the bar and bar owner should be barred from commercial liability coverage by an employer’s liability exclusion. DISCUSSION In Devine v. Great Divide Ins. Co., 350 P.3d 782, 784 (Alaska 2015), there was a fight at a jobsite between co-employees under circumstances similar to those in the instant loss. The named insured company’s owner failed to purchase worker’s compensation insurance. 350 P.3d at 788. The Alaska Supreme Court held that the employer's liability exclusion barred CGL coverage for the employee’s injuries. Id. at 792. The court noted that the injuries were work-related. Id. at 790-91. Similarly, in the instant loss, the named insured bar, through it’s owner, failed to warn the injured employee of the bouncer’s violent tendencies. The bar owner failed to purchase worker’s compensation coverage which could have covered much of the instant loss. Per Devine, the loss should be viewed as a work-related injury- one not covered because of the employer’s liability exclusion.
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