One of the recurring D&O insurance coverage issues is the question of excess D&O insurers’ obligations when the underlying insurers have paid less than their full policy limits as a result of a compromise between the underlying insurers and the policyholder.
In the latest of a growing line of recent cases examining these issues, Judge Wayne Anderson of the Northern District of Illinois, in a June 22, 2010 opinion applying Illinois law, held that the "plain language" of the excess D&O insurance policies at issue required the actual payments of full policy limits in covered claims before the insureds could access the excess insurance.
Background
During the relevant period, Bally Total Fitness Holding Corporation carried a total of $50 million in D&O insurance arranged in five layers of $10 million each, between a primary insurer and four excess insurers. Bally and certain of its directors and officers were named as defendants in a securities class action lawsuit (about which refer here) in connection with which Bally incurred $33 million in defense expenses, for which Bally sought coverage under from its D&O insurers.
The primary insurer initiated an action in the Northern District of Illinois seeking a judicial declaration of noncoverage. Bally joined the excess insurers to the action as third-party defendants. Ultimately the primary insurer and the first and second level excess insurers reached a compromise by which they agreed to contribute a total of $19.5 million toward Bally’s defense expenses. The first level excess insurer settled for $8 million, $2 million less than its full policy limit. The second level excess insurer settled for $1.5 million.
The third and fourth level excess insurers refused to settle or otherwise contribute toward Bally’s defense expense. These two excess insures argued that the conditions precedent to coverage in their excess insurance policies had not been triggered. In making this argument, the third level excess insurer relied on its policy’s language that its payment obligations are triggered "only after the insurers of the Underlying Policies shall have paid, in the applicable legal currency, the full amount of the Underlying Limit." The fourth level excess insurer relied on language in its policy specifying that its payment obligations apply "only after all Underlying Insurance has been exhausted by payment of the total underlying limit of insurance."
The Court’s June 22 Opinion
In his June 22 opinion, Judge Anderson granted the third and fourth level excess insurers’ motions for summary judgment, finding that the plain language of their policies requires that the underlying insurers each "make actual payments of $10 million each in covered claims before Insureds can access coverage provided by the Third and Fourth Layer Excess Policies."
The insureds had argued that the third and fourth level excess policies were "ambiguous" as to whether the underlying policies had to make actual payment of a full $10 million each to trigger the top level excess carriers’ coverage. The insureds argued that the third and fourth level excess carriers had contracted to pay claims in excess of specified levels "regardless of who makes payment for covered claims" below those levels.
Judge Anderson considered the case law on which the insureds relied, particularly the 1928 Second Circuit decision in Zeig v. Massachusetts Bonding & Ins. Co.. In examining this line of cases, Judge Anderson concluded that "if an excess insurance policy ambiguously defines exhaustion, as in Zeig, courts generally find that settlement with an underlying insurer exhausts the underlying policies." However, Judge Anderson went on, "in cases where the policy language clearly defines exhaustion, the courts tend to enforce the policy as written."
Judge Anderson went on to find that the third and fourth level excess policies clearly defined how the underlying insurance must be exhausted prior to the insureds accessing coverage. Accordingly, and because the underlying insurance had not been exhausted by the underlying insurers’ payment of covered loss, Judge Anderson granted summary judgment in the third and fourth excess insurers’ favor.
Discussion
As a result of rising settlement levels and escalating defense costs, excess D&O insurance has become increasingly important in D&O claims resolutions. As more and more claims get pushed into the excess layers, more and more questions are arising, including this recurring question of whether the excess carriers’ payment obligations are triggered when the policyholder has compromised with the underlying carriers.
Judge Anderson’s holding in the Bally Total Fitness case joins a line of several recent cases in which courts have similarly held that, given the excess policy language at issue, the excess carriers’ payment obligation were not triggered when the underlying carriers paid less than their full policy limits as a result of a compromise with the policyholder. These recent cases include the July 2007 Eastern District of Michigan decision in the Comerica case (about which refer here) and the March 2008 California intermediate appellate court decision in the Qualcomm case (about which refer here).
The outcome of these various coverage disputes is a direct reflection of the excess policy language involved, and in particular the language specifying what is required in order for excess insurers’ payment obligations to be triggered. These cases underscore the critical importance of the language describing the payment trigger in the excess policy.
In recent months, and in large part as a reaction to these cases, excess carriers increasingly have been willing to provide language that allows the excess carriers’ payment obligations to be triggered regardless whether the underlying amounts were paid by the underlying insurer or by the insured. (I note as an aside that this language was not generally available at the time that Bally Total Fitness purchased the D&O insurance at issue in this case.)
The potential importance of the excess insurance payment trigger language, and the availability of language alternatives in the current insurance marketplace, in turn underscores the importance for policyholders of involving a knowledgeable and experienced D&O insurance broker in their acquisition of D&O insurance. The presence of the most favorable excess trigger language, among many other critically important policy language issues, could make a significant difference in the availability of coverage in the event of a claim.
Speedy Justice: According to Judge Wayne Anderson’s official biography (here), the Judge is the co-holder of the record for the 100-yard dash at Harvard University, from which he graduated in 1967.