In Bob Robison Commercial Flooring Inc. v. RLI Insurance Company (2025 WL 852889 (8th Cir. 2025), the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit determined that an ensuing loss provision of a builder’s risk insurance policy did not restore coverage resulting from defective workmanship where the insured failed to identify a separate covered peril.
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In Ram Krishana Inc. d/b/a Motel 6 Sulphur v. Mt. Hawley Insurance Co. (2025 WL 371016) (S.D.N.Y. 2025)), the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York determined that the plaintiff lacked an insurable interest in property it insured because it did not own or possess the property or suffer economic loss due to the property’s destruction. Consequently, the plaintiff was not entitled to indemnity for damage to the property it purported to insure under a commercial property insurance policy.[1]
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In Jackson v. Spinnaker Insurance Company, the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania considered a homeowners insurance coverage dispute, ultimately finding that questions of residency and alleged fraudulent misrepresentations precluded summary judgment. However, the court granted summary judgment in favor of the insurer on the bad faith claim, emphasizing that a thorough investigation into a questionable claim does not amount to bad faith
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In the recent decision Marquez v. Clear Blue Specialty Insurance Company, No. 6:23-cv-2025-ACC-DCI, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 219390 (M.D. Fla. Dec. 4, 2024), the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida granted the insurer’s motion in limine and excluded evidence and testimony regarding replacement cost value of damages, matching, and to limit damages to direct physical loss.
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In the recent decision Universal Property & Casualty Insurance Co. v. Qureshi, the Florida Fourth District Court of Appeal held that homeowners cannot recover replacement cost benefits unless they have incurred expenses for repairs. The court emphasized that under both the insurance policy’s plain language and Florida Statute §627.7011(3)(a), payment of replacement cost value is contingent upon the actual completion of repairs. The ruling reversed a jury award for homeowners who had sold their property without performing the necessary repairs, addressing a crucial question about recovery for unperformed repairs in property insurance claims.
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In a recent decision by the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Wood v. GeoVera Specialty Insurance Company (2024 WL 3952571), the court affirmed that unambiguous policy limits remain enforceable even when an appraisal award exceeds those limits. This decision provides valuable guidance for insurers handling post-catastrophe claims.
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In AMAG Pharmaceuticals, Inc. v. American Guarantee and Liability Insurance Company, the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts held that a loose bolt or fitting that could be remedied simply by tightening it did not constitute “direct physical loss of or damage” to equipment covered under an all-risk property insurance policy.[1]
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In J&S Welding, Inc. v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, the U.S. Court of Appeals reviewed a summary judgment ruling in favor of co-defendant West American Insurance Company (“West American”), issued by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee. The 6th Circuit held that the property policy’s cosmetic damage exclusion applied to bar coverage because the insured, J&S Welding, Inc. (“Insured”), failed to disclose or produce any expert evidence to rebut the conclusions of the West American’s three experts, who determined the roof’s damage was merely cosmetic.
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In Life Skills, Inc. v. Harleysville Insurance Company, 2024 WL 3792261 (D. Mass. 2024), the District Court of Massachusetts found that “collapse” provisions within a commercial property policy were ambiguous where a floor merely sagged without completely falling to the ground.
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In Zurich American Insurance Company v. Medical Properties Trust, Inc., 2024 WL 3504060 (Mass. Jul. 23, 2024), the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts held that the term “surface waters,” as used in a limitation contained in commercial property insurance policies, was ambiguous in the context of rainwater accumulating on roofs, thereby finding coverage for the insured.
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