Justia Insurance Law Opinion Summaries

MRMC purchased a primary-insurance policy from Zurich and excess insurance from AXIS. MRMC filed suit to recover under its primary- and excess-insurance policies after suffering losses in a state lawsuit. The trial court granted AXIS summary judgment. The court held that the AXIS policy unambiguously precludes exhaustion by below-limit settlement. In this case, the AXIS policy is not triggered where MRMC pays the difference between Zurich’s liability limit and a below-limit settlement releasing Zurich of any further obligations. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment. View "Martin Resource Mgmt. Corp. v. Zurich Am. Ins." on Justia Law

Plaintiff appealed the district court's grant of summary judgment to State Farm in plaintiff's suit contending that State Farm's breach of its fiduciary duty caused the excess judgment in an underlying lawsuit. The court made an Erie guess that the Mississippi Supreme Court would not impose a duty to timely offer to settle a claim in which the claim amount greatly exceeds the policy limits, absent a settlement offer by the third-party claimant. Further, an insurer has no duty to timely disclose the policy limits to a third-party claimant. The court also concluded that the district court did not err in finding no genuine dispute that the excess judgment was not caused by State Farm’s failure to advise plaintiff of his potential excess exposure and right to retain independent counsel. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment. View "Hemphill v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins." on Justia Law