A feature of most corporate liability insurance programs is the tower system of coverage: a primary policy with several overlying excess policies stacked atop one another collectively providing coverage up to a desired (or available) limit of liability. Depending on the size and liability exposures of a policyholder, a tower…
The legal cannabis industry in the U.S. is growing at an unprecedented rate and is projected to reach $73.6 billion by 2027. While federal law still classifies marijuana as a Schedule I drug, many states have legalized both medical and recreational marijuana. As state restrictions ease, new business opportunities continue…
In recent weeks, two insurers with significant legacies of occurrence-based general liability coverage took important steps to liquidate their estates. Bedivere Insurance Company (OneBeacon) Liquidation The first insurers are associated with Bedivere Insurance Company, formerly known as OneBeacon Insurance Company (OBIC). OBIC’s history stretches back to the 1800s but is…
Cannabis is now fully legal in ten states plus the District of Columbia, and medical marijuana is legal in 23 states. Despite growing acceptance among states, cannabis remains illegal federally under the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 as a Schedule 1 substance, which has made oversight and regulation of the…
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a hot topic in industries from manufacturing to the medical profession. Developments in the last ten years have delivered AI technology, once a fiction reserved for the movies, to private corporations and even to everyday homes. Examples include: 2004 Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) sponsors…
Regular readers of the Policyholder Pulse know that we often frame coverage issues with a lighthearted or (hopefully) humorous theme, but there’s nothing funny about the opioid crisis that continues to devastate lives and communities across the United States. The extent and impact of opioid addiction are being examined and…
California law has long held that an insurer may not use declaratory relief or other tactics to prejudice the defense of its policyholder in an underlying lawsuit. But in their zeal to avoid coverage, and despite California Supreme Court precedent, insurers sometimes employ tactics that actually increase their policyholder’s risk…
If you believe the news, I may be lucky to make it out of the driveway alive on my morning commute tomorrow. That microwave-ready triple egg breakfast sausage sandwich I stuff into an increasingly jowly face on my way to the car? Recalled. The overpriced technology-assisted car that practically backs…
The era of the self-driving car has arrived, with the shiny promise of fewer auto collisions—and the inevitable potholes of a transformative technology. Despite the significant concerns raised by a recent accident involving a driver’s reliance on a partially autonomous automatic braking and steering system on the Tesla Model S—one…
Matthew D. Stockwell recently published an article in the June 2016 edition of Claims magazine, a PropertyCasualty360 publication, titled “Is That Product Liability Claim Covered?” In the article, he discusses Commercial General Liability insurance policies and whether or not these policies cover claims of bodily injury and property damage.