A recurring professional liability insurance coverage issue is whether or not the notice prejudice rule applies to claims made policies. In a recent decision, District of Colorado Judge Richard P. Matsch, applying Colorado law, held that the notice prejudice rule did apply to claims made professional liability insurance policy with an “as soon as practicable” notice requirement, and he also rejected the carrier’s late notice defense on the grounds that the insurer’s failure to involve itself in or even inquire about the underlying claim undermined its assertion that it had been prejudiced by the late provision of notice.
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Late Notice and Claims Made Date Issues
A recurring circumstance fraught with peril for policyholders is one in which the policyholder receives a demand letter in one policy period and then receives a related lawsuit in a subsequent policy period. The fact that these events straddle two policy periods creates potential for possible coverage preclusive issues having to do with Notice of Claim and Claims Made Date issues. In an April 13, 2017 order (here), Judge James Robart, applying the law of Washington State, held that because Zillow failed to give timely notice of a demand letter it received in the prior policy period, there was no coverage for the later lawsuit filed against Zillow in the subsequent policy period, because the claim had first been made at the time of the demand. As discussed below, this case and Judge Robart’s analysis raises some interesting issues.
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Fidelity Bond Rescission Denied Where Application Signatory Was Embezzling Credit Union’s Funds
Material misrepresentations in an insurance application can serve as the basis for rescission of the resulting policy. A recent federal district court decision examined the question of whether or not an insurer could rescind a fidelity bond on the grounds that the credit union manager who signed the credit union’s insurance application failed to disclose that she was embezzling funds from the credit union. In a March 17, 2017 opinion (here), District of Minnesota Judge Donovan Frank, applying Minnesota law, held that because the manager was acting entirely for her own benefit when she failed to disclose her theft, the misrepresentation could not be imputed to the credit union, and therefore the insurer was not entitled to rescind the bond.
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Guest Post: Recent Trends in Interpreting Cyber and Commercial Crime Insurance
In the following guest post, David Bergenfeld, a Senior Associate in D’Amato & Lynch’s Fidelity Bond Practice Group, takes a look at the key judicial decisions during the third quarter of 2016 interpreting cyber and commercial crime insurance policies. I would like to thank David for allowing me to publish his article. I welcome guest post submissions from responsible authors on topics of interest to this blog’s readers. Please contact me directly if you would like to submit a guest post. Here is David’s guest post.
Continue Reading Guest Post: Recent Trends in Interpreting Cyber and Commercial Crime Insurance