Insurance Coverage and Bad Faith

The lawyers at Houston Harbaugh have built a strong reputation over the past several decades representing insurance companies facing the full spectrum of complex legal challenges. No matter how big or critical the challenge, clients turn to the attorneys in Houston Harbaugh’s Insurance Coverage and Bad Faith practice group for our legal and business insights.

Third Circuit Confirms No “Occurrence” Under Pennsylvania Law for Poor Workmanship in Fracking Claim

By Tyler C. Park on June 6, 2023

In a May 31, 2023, precedential decision, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit confirmed that under well-settled Pennsylvania law, claims of poor workmanship do...

Pennsylvania Supreme Court: household vehicle exclusions are enforceable to preclude UM/UIM auto coverage

By Jake S. Oresick on February 20, 2023

On February 15, 2023, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania held that household vehicle exclusions were “valid and enforceable,” and may be relied upon by auto insurers to exclude...

Pennsylvania Supreme Court Addresses Whether Emotional Distress Constitutes Bodily Injury

January 19, 2023

In Lipsky v. State Farm, No. 24 EAP 2012, 2014 PA LEXIS 215 (Pa. Jan. 21, 2014), an equally divided Pennsylvania Supreme Court recently affirmed without opinion, the...

Third Circuit Holds Insurer Entitled to Recoup Defense Costs from Insured Under Claims-Made Professional Liability Insurance Policy Where Expressly Permitted Under Policy

In CAMICO Mut. Ins. Co. v. Heffler, Radetich & Saitta, L.L.P., No. 13-3619, 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 19636 (3d Cir. Oct. 10, 2014), the Third Circuit, in an unpublished...

Caution Required in Drafting Additional Insured Provisions in Subcontract

In Kreamer v. Lobar (Carbon County 2015), the Court of Common Pleas found that subcontractor Chowns Fabrication and Rigging did not breach its obligation under its subcontract with general contractor...

Verisk Develops New Coverage Options To Respond To Coronavirus

Verisk has developed two new optional endorsements for use with existing ISO commercial property business interruption coverage. The first form provides limited coverage in the event a business...

Third Circuit Finds No Coverage For COVID-related Business Income Losses

By Christopher M. Jacobs on January 10, 2023

In a January 6, 2023 precedential decision, the Third Circuit ruled in a consolidated appeal of 14 cases that Pennsylvania and New Jersey businesses are not entitled to coverage...

Pennsylvania High Court to Consider Whether Wrongful Death Emotional Distress Damages May Be Included Under Bodily Injury Coverage For Liability Insurance Policies

By Jake S. Oresick on November 17, 2022

On October 18, 2022, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania granted allowance of appeal in Kramer v. Nationwide Property and Casualty Insurance Co. regarding the issue of whether the Superior...

Pennsylvania Superior Court reaffirms invalidation of regular-use exclusion to preclude UIM coverage

By Jake S. Oresick on October 17, 2022

On September 7, 2022, the Superior Court of Pennsylvania held in Jones v. Erie Insurance Exchange that “the regular-use clause of an insurance contract contravenes Section 1731” of the...

Third Circuit: Pennsylvania auto insurers need not obtain new UIM election forms when a new vehicle is added to an existing policy

By Jake S. Oresick on October 10, 2022

On September 29, 2022, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals held, as a matter of first impression, the Pennsylvania Motor Vehicle Financial Responsibility Law (MVFRL) only requires auto...

Surety Cannot be Liable for Bad Faith Under PA Law

By Jake S. Oresick on September 12, 2022

On September 1, 2022, the Superior Court of Pennsylvania held, as a matter of first impression, that a surety is not subject to Pennsylvania’s bad faith statute, 42 Pa.C.S.A....

Pennsylvania High Court to Consider Whether Regular Use Exclusion Violates Statute

By Jake S. Oresick on July 7, 2022

On June 27, 2022, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania granted allowance of appeal in Rush v. Erie Insurance Exchange regarding the issue of whether the Superior Court erred...

Houston Harbaugh Secures Win for Insurer on Prior Related Acts Clause

June 21, 2022

On June 17, 2022, Houston Harbaugh obtained judgment on the pleadings for The Charter Oak Fire Insurance Company when the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of...

Wisconsin High Court Continues Trend of Finding No Business Interruption Coverage for Alleged COVID-Related Losses

By Tyler C. Park on June 8, 2022

On June 1, 2022, in a unanimous opinion, the Supreme Court of Wisconsin ruled that several restaurants were not entitled to business interruption insurance coverage for their alleged...

First State Supreme Court Decision Holds No Business Interruption Coverage for Covid Shutdowns

By Tyler C. Park on April 22, 2022

On April 21, 2022, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the trial court’s decision that several restaurants were not entitled to business interruption coverage for losses resulting from...

The State of Products Liability in Pennsylvania after Tincher – Part One

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has, after decades of only tangentially addressing clear issues with the state products liability law in the Commonwealth, at last spoken. Since the Pennsylvania...

Insuring for Deliberate Intent

March 14, 2022

AN EMPLOYER’S POTENTIALLY UNINSURED RISK: INSURANCE COVERAGE FOR DELIBERATE INTENTION CLAIMS As businesses throughout Pennsylvania are well aware, there exists a unique statutory provision that provides that employers...

Pennsylvania Supreme Court Denies Request To Exercise “King’s Bench” Jurisdiction Over All State Court COVID-19 Coverage Cases

May 20, 2020

On May 14, 2020, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, in Tambellini v. Erie Ins. Exch., 52 WM 2020, denied a policyholder’s application requesting that the Court exercise its extraordinary...

An Overview Of How Pennsylvania Courts May Approach The “Physical Loss Or Damage” Requirement Of COVID-19 Business Interruption Claims

May 18, 2020

To the extent a Virus Exclusion is not contained in a business interruption policy via endorsement such that the virus may arguably constitute a Covered Cause of Loss...

Insurers And Amici Resist Application For Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s Exercise Of King’s Bench Jurisdiction Over COVID-19 Coverage Cases

May 7, 2020

On May 7, 2020, Erie Insurance Exchange-along with AIG as an Amicus and several proposed Amici from the insurance industry-responded to a policyholder’s application for the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to exercise its...

Supreme Court of PA Holds That an Increase in UIM Coverage Requires Auto Insurers to Offer Opportunity to Waive Stacking

October 18, 2019

In Barnard v. Travelers Home and Marine Ins. Co., 2019 WL 4686740 (Pa. Sept. 26, 2019), the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania held that an increase to the limits...

Injured Worker Not a Borrowed Employee Entitled to Workers’ Compensation Coverage but a Leased Worker Under CGL Policy Leaving Facility Operator Uninsured

March 18, 2016

In Westfield Ins. Co. v. Astra Foods Inc., 2016 PA Super 31 (Pa. Super. Feb. 12, 2016) (opinion by Stabile, J.), the Superior Court of Pennsylvania held that...

PA Superior Court Holds Statute of Limitations Begins to Run for Insurers’ Declaratory Judgment Actions When Insurer Has Sufficient Factual Basis to Support its Determination

July 16, 2015

The statute of limitations for the filing of a declaratory judgment action brought by an insurance company regarding its duty to defend and indemnify begins to run when...

The State of Products Liability in Pennsylvania – Part Two

Since Berrier v. Simplicity Mfg., 563 F.3d 83 (3d Cir. 2009), the Third Circuit has been applying the Third Restatement articulation of a products liability design defect cause...

No UIM Coverage for a “Driver” Listed in Policy Because She Was Not a Resident of the Named Insured’s Household

By R. Brandon McCullough

In Carter v. Peerless Idem. Ins. Co., No. 684 EDA 2014 (Pa. Super. Feb. 13, 2015) (Unpublished), the Superior Court of Pennsylvania affirmed a trial court’s finding that...

Judge Wettick Explores the Scope of Regulatory Estoppel

March 18, 2015

In Sunbeam Corp. v. Liberty Mut. Ins. Co., 781 A.2d 1189 (Pa. 2001), the Pennsylvania Supreme Court adopted a strong application of regulatory estoppel. The question in Sunbeam...

Court Permits Injured Party to File Declaratory Judgment Counterclaim Directly Against Tortfeasor’s Insurer

January 15, 2015

In Arrowood Indem. Co. v. Rosser Int’l, Inc., No. GD-10-018929 (Pa. C.P. Allegheny Dec. 30, 2014) (Wettick, J.), Judge R. Stanton Wettick, Jr. of the Court of Common...

Alleged Assault and Battery Not Covered Under Homeowners Insurance Policy Because Not an “Occurrence”

December 18, 2014

In State Farm Fire & Cas. Co. v. Scalia, No. 1:14-cv-00049, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 170015 (M.D. Pa. Dec. 9, 2014) (Jones, III, J.), the U.S. District Court...

Environmental Liability of Parent Corporations

In Trinity Industries v. Greenlease Holding Co., No. 08-1498, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 61223 (W.D. Pa. May 2, 2014), the U.S. District Court for the Western District of...

Pennsylvania Supreme Court Holds Underinsured Motorist Insurer Entitled to Offset for Damages Recovered from All Tortfeasors

February 16, 2014

In AAA Mid-Atlantic Ins. Co. v. Ryan, 2014 Pa. LEXIS 196 (Pa. Jan. 21, 2014), the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania held that the amount of damages recoverable under...

Middle District Decision Allows Insurance Company’s “Bad-Faith Setup” as Affirmative Defense to Pass Pleading Stage

In Shannon v. NY Central Mutual Ins. Co., No. 3:13-CV-1432, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 165280, (M.D.Pa. Nov. 20, 2013), the Middle District of Pennsylvania recently held that an...

Middle District Decision Allows Insurance Company’s “Bad-Faith Setup” as Affirmative Defense to Pass Pleading Stage

In Shannon v. NY Central Mutual Ins. Co., No. 3:13-CV-1432, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 165280, (M.D.Pa. Nov. 20, 2013), the Middle District of Pennsylvania recently held that an...

Surety not subject to claims for bad faith or breach of fiduciary duty

September 18, 2013

In a case of first impression, Judge Mark Hornak of the U.S. District Court of the Western District of Pennsylvania has determined, in an “Erie guess” that thePennsylvania...

Pennsylvania Insurance Law 101–Insurance Company’s Responsibilities Under a Liability Insurance Policy: Duty to Defend and Duty to Indemnify

September 15, 2013

An insurance company’s responsibilities to its insureds are defined by the insurance contract, statutes and regulations. Case law further refines an insurer’s duties. The primary responsibilities of the...

Text Messages Found Sufficient to Evidence Construction Contract

In February of 2016, the Court of Common Pleas of Northampton County issued its opinion in Dietrick v. Fulciniti, PICS Case No. 16-0370 (C.P. Northampton Feb. 18, 2016)...

Pennsylvania Superior Court Holds Pennsylvania Unfair Trade Practice and Consumer Protection Law (UTPCPL) Does Not Guarantee Right to Jury Trial

January 13, 2013

In Fazio v. Guardian Life Insurance Co., 62 A.3d 396 (Pa. Super. 2012), Plaintiffs purchased various life insurance policies from Guardian Life Insurance over the course of four...

About Us

We’re committed to staying on top of the issues of today and tomorrow, such as the ever-changing landscape involving bad faith, cyber-insurance, and insurance for advanced technology sectors, artificial intelligence players, machine learning companies, and autonomous vehicle manufacturers and users.

Alan S. Miller - Practice Chair

Alan has more than thirty-eight years of experience in complex litigation and counseling, concentrating in the areas of environmental law, insurance coverage and bad faith, and commercial litigation. He chairs the firm’s Environmental and Energy Law practice and the Insurance Coverage and Bad Faith Litigation Practice.

Alan’s environmental law practice has involved counseling, litigation and alternative dispute resolution of matters involving municipal, residual, and hazardous waste permitting and compliance, contribution and cost recovery actions under CERCLA and related state statutes, claims for natural resource damages, contamination from leaking underground storage tanks, air and water pollution regulatory permitting and enforcement actions, oil and gas drilling compliance and transactions, and real estate transactions involving contaminated and recycled industrial sites.