Insurance Coverage and Bad Faith Blog
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.
Pennsylvania Supreme Court Addresses Whether Emotional Distress Constitutes Bodily Injury
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...
Continue Reading
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 LEXIS 19636 (3d Cir. Oct. 10, 2014), the Third Circuit, in an unpublished...
Continue Reading
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...
Continue Reading
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)...
Continue Reading
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...
Continue Reading
Pennsylvania High Court to Consider Whether Wrongful Death Emotional Distress Damages May Be Included Under Bodily Injury Coverage For Liability Insurance Policies
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...
Continue Reading
Pennsylvania Superior Court reaffirms invalidation of regular-use exclusion to preclude UIM coverage
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...
Continue Reading
Third Circuit: Pennsylvania auto insurers need not obtain new UIM election forms when a new vehicle is added to an existing policy
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...
Continue Reading
Surety Cannot be Liable for Bad Faith Under PA Law
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....
Continue Reading
Pennsylvania High Court to Consider Whether Regular Use Exclusion Violates Statute
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...
Continue Reading
Houston Harbaugh Secures Win for Insurer on Prior Related Acts Clause
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...
Continue Reading
Wisconsin High Court Continues Trend of Finding No Business Interruption Coverage for Alleged COVID-Related Losses
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...
Continue Reading
First State Supreme Court Decision Holds No Business Interruption Coverage for Covid Shutdowns
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...
Continue Reading
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...
Continue Reading
Insuring for Deliberate Intent
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...
Continue Reading
An Overview Of How Pennsylvania Courts May Approach The “Physical Loss Or Damage” Requirement Of COVID-19 Business Interruption Claims
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...
Continue Reading
Supreme Court of PA Holds That an Increase in UIM Coverage Requires Auto Insurers to Offer Opportunity to Waive Stacking
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...
Continue Reading
Injured Worker Not a Borrowed Employee Entitled to Workers’ Compensation Coverage but a Leased Worker Under CGL Policy Leaving Facility Operator Uninsured
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...
Continue Reading
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
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...
Continue Reading
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...
Continue Reading
No UIM Coverage for a “Driver” Listed in Policy Because She Was Not a Resident of the Named Insured’s Household
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...
Continue Reading
Judge Wettick Explores the Scope of Regulatory Estoppel
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...
Continue Reading
Court Permits Injured Party to File Declaratory Judgment Counterclaim Directly Against Tortfeasor’s Insurer
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...
Continue Reading
Alleged Assault and Battery Not Covered Under Homeowners Insurance Policy Because Not an “Occurrence”
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...
Continue Reading
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...
Continue Reading
Pennsylvania Supreme Court Holds Underinsured Motorist Insurer Entitled to Offset for Damages Recovered from All Tortfeasors
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...
Continue Reading
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...
Continue Reading
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...
Continue Reading
Surety not subject to claims for bad faith or breach of fiduciary duty
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...
Continue Reading
Pennsylvania Insurance Law 101–Insurance Company’s Responsibilities Under a Liability Insurance Policy: Duty to Defend and Duty to Indemnify
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...
Continue Reading
Pennsylvania Superior Court Holds Pennsylvania Unfair Trade Practice and Consumer Protection Law (UTPCPL) Does Not Guarantee Right to Jury Trial
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...
Continue Reading
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
Overview
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.
