HNRK Coverage Corner

On September 18, 2018, Justice Hagler of the New York County Supreme Court issued a decision in Aspen Specialty Ins. Co. v. Zurich Am. Ins. Co., 2018 NY Slip Op 32328(U), holding that property owners and their construction manager were not entitled to defense coverage under a CGL policy based on a stop work order issued by the New York City Department of Buildings.

The standard CGL policy at issue in Aspen Specialtyrequired the insurer to defend a “suit,” defined as “a civil proceeding in which damages because of . . . ‘property damage’ . . . to which this insurance applies [is ...

On July 23, 2018, Justice Edmead of the New York County Supreme Court issued a decision Tricon Constr., LLC v Main St. Am. Assur., 2018 NY Slip Op 31721(U), holding that additional insured coverage for a general contractor under a sub-contractor’s CGL policy was primary over the GC’s own liability coverage. In Tricon, a general contractor (Tricon) sought coverage for a personal injury action as an additional insured under the CGL policy of its subcontractor (Boyle), issued by Main Street America Insurance Company (MSA). Tricon also had its own CGL policy issued by Grange Mutual ...

On July 10, 2018, Justice Schecter of the New York County Commercial Division issued a decision in J.T. Magen & Co., Inc. v. Atlantic Cas. Ins. Co., 2018 NY Slip Op 31584(U), holding that an unsigned purchase order could satisfy the requirement of a “written contract with the Named Insured” to qualify for coverage under an Additional Insured Endorsement to a CGL Policy. J.T. Magen & Co. involves a frequently-litigated coverage issue in construction-related matters – determining who qualifies as an additional insured under a blanket additional insured endorsement to a ...

On July 2, 2018, Justice Edmead of the New York County Supreme Court issued a decision in M&M Realty of N.Y., LLC v. Burlington Ins. Co., 2018 NY Slip Op 31399(U), holding that a property owner was entitled to coverage under a contractor’s CGL policy because extrinsic evidence demonstrated “the parties’ intent to confer additional insured status” on the property owner. In M&M Realty, a property owner (M&M) sought additional insured coverage under the CGL policy of a contractor (L&M) for a personal injury claim by the contractor’s employee.  L&M’s policy had a standard ...

On June 27, 2018, Judge Oetken of the SDNY issued a decision in Liberty Ins. Corp. v. WSP USA, Inc., Case No. 17-cv-4398(JPO), holding that coverage under a CGL Policy was excluded by a professional liability exclusion.

The insured, WSP, was hired by the Washington State Department of Transportation to “evaluate the repair or replacement of the Alaskan Way Viaduct, a highway project in Seattle.” WSP “agreed to develop an environmental impact statement and to perform ‘associated design work’ for the viaduct project." WSP was sued for negligence by a contractor that worked ...