Court of Appeals Holds That Insured’s Medical Lien Does Not Reduce Liability Limit of Tortfeasor’s Policy for Determining Whether Tortfeasor is Underinsured
Catanzarite v. Safeco Ins. Co. of Indiana, 2020 WL 1465936 (Ind. Ct. App. 2020) In Catanzarite, the plaintiff was injured in a car accident caused by the negligence of another motorist. The plaintiff’s auto policy provided underinsured motorist (“UIM”) coverage with a limit of $100,000, which was also the liability limit of the tortfeasor’s auto […]
Indiana Court of Appeals Holds That Insurer Owes Duty of Good Faith to Non-policyholder Insured
Schmidt v. Allstate Prop. and Cas. Ins. Co., 2020 WL 701176 (Ind. Ct. App. 2020) In Schmidt v. Allstate Prop. and Cas. Ins. Co., an automobile passenger was injured while riding in a car being driven by a policy’s named insured. The passenger presented an underinsured motorist (“UIM”) claim to the vehicle’s insurer, Allstate. The […]
Insurer Exposed to Potential Liability Above Policy Limits for Failing to Notify Claimant of Interpleader Action
First Chicago Ins. Co. v. Collins 2020 WL 356240 (Ind. Ct. App. 2020) A driver of a car insured by First Chicago Insurance Company (“First Chicago”) was involved in an automobile accident which resulted in injuries to multiple parties. One of the injured parties, Dunn and her child, retained counsel who notified First Chicago of […]
Indiana Court of Appeals Finds Issue of Fact Over Whether School’s Insurer Actions Estopped School From Asserting Plaintiff’s Failure to Provide Tort Claims Notice Defense
Madison Consolidated Schools v. Thurston 2019 WL 5415842 (Ind. Ct. App. 2019) After an accident, an injured school bus passenger’s mother was contacted by an adjuster for the school’s insurer to discuss potential resolution of the passenger’s claim. The adjuster repeatedly advised the passenger’s mother that the passenger’s claim had to be resolved before the […]
Insured’s Voluntary Intervention in Lawsuit Did Not Trigger Insurer’s Duty to Defend Against “Suit”
Global Caravan Tech., Inc. v. The Cincinnati Ins. Co. 2019 WL 5288167 (Ind. Ct. App. 2019) Hoefer started and became the owner of a company manufacturing recreational vehicles. Other investors joined the company and became officers. Hoefer was eventually removed as an owner of the company, so he sued the investors and other part owners […]
Indiana Court of Appeals Finds That Liability Insurer’s Interest In Underlying Litigation Was Insufficient To Allow It To Participate To Avoid Effects On Future Litigation
Prime Ins. Co. v. Wright, 2019 WL 4678394 (Ind. Ct. App. 2019) This case presented an unusual situation concerning whether a liability insurer facing potential future liability under an MCS-90 endorsement has an interest in existing litigation to seek to set aside a default judgment against its insured. Federal law requires motor carriers to demonstrate […]
Indiana Court of Appeals Holds That Anti-Stacking and Offset Clauses Barred Insured’s Recovery Under Auto Policy
Glover v. Allstate Prop. & Cas. Ins. Co., 2019 WL 4399865 (Ind. Ct. App. 2019) When two or more insurance policies apply to a loss, a dispute often arises over whether the insured can combine or “stack” the coverage limits of those policies to increase the total coverage for the loss. While Indiana law generally […]
Court of Appeals Enforces Liability Exclusion for Claim by Minor Child in the “Care” of Named Insured
Auto-Owners Ins. Co. v. Shroyer 2019 WL 2518757 (Ind. Ct. App. 2019) A mother of two sons began living with the named insured boyfriend. One day, the boyfriend was moving a skid loader out of his barn when he accidentally drove over one of the son’s battery-operated four-wheeler, resulting in personal injuries to the young […]
Indiana Court of Appeals Permits Named Insured Under Commercial Auto Policy to Purchase UIM Limits That Were Less Than Liability Limits
Lee v. Liberty Mutual Fire Ins. Co., 2019 WL 1475092, (Ind. Ct. App. 2019) An employee was driving an employer’s automobile when he was involved in an accident with an underinsured motorist (UIM). After receiving $225,000 from the UIM, the employee sought coverage under his employer’s auto policy, which contained $2,000,000 in bodily injury liability […]
Additional Insured Coverage — Get What You’re Bargaining For
Many contracts require one party to name the other as an “additional insured,” but too often without specifying the scope of coverage required. This is problematic because coverage for additional insureds comes varied, and the parties may have different ideas of what coverage the contract requires. By the time the parties realize they have different […]
