Hunton Insurance Recovery Blog

On December 13, 2024, the North Carolina Supreme Court refused to follow the herd of poorly and in many cases, erroneously-reasoned decisions and applied settled rules of insurance policy interpretation to find Cincinnati Insurance Company owes coverage to a group of restaurants suffering business interruption losses stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.  While the North Carolina Court’s decision in North State Deli, LLC v. The Cincinnati Insurance Co., may come too late for many, the decision nevertheless offers reassurance that some courts remain willing to stand firm on fundamental guiding principles.

A New York appellate court recently held that renewable bio-diesel fuel manufacturer BioEnergy Development Group LLC may pursue tens of millions of dollars in damages from its insurers under two all-risk insurance policies, including amounts in excess of the policy limits, where the insurers refused to pay claims in a timely manner.

On December 1, 2016, the Florida Supreme Court held that the concurrent cause doctrine applies where multiple perils combined to create a loss even where one of those perils is excluded by the terms of the all-risk property insurance policy. The decision is a significant victory for Florida policyholders, especially where other jurisdictions have struggled to apply the efficient proximate cause doctrine after natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina. For detailed analysis of the Sebo v. American Home Assurance Co., Inc. decision, see Andrea DeField’s client alert

The World Health Organization (WHO) has called Zika an international public health emergency. The insurance industry is taking notice. Civil authorities have already begun to issue notices, like the Center for Disease Control’s travel notices for areas in which Zika transmission is occurring. As highlighted by Marsh in a recent blog post, the potential for action by civil authorities can create problems for some policyholders.¹