- The amount of aggregate coverage available under policies issued in the 1960s and 1970s
- The applicability of “care, custody or control” and property damage exclusions
- Trigger of coverage in long-term, continuing damage and toxic tort claims
- Whether a gap in coverage exists when coverage is not available under an underlying policy, but is available under an umbrella policy
- Whether allegedly negligent construction constitutes an “occurrence“ or is otherwise excluded under various policies, and various other construction-related coverage issues
- Whether insurance coverage is available for damage caused by landslide, subsidence, hydrostatic pressure or “street creep”
- Applicability of homeowners coverage for claims arising from activities of an insured’s city council activities
- Insureds’ compliance with notice, cooperation and maintenance of underlying insurance conditions, and the effect on coverage
- Insurers’ duties to defend appeals, injunction claims and “false, fraudulent or meritless” claims
- Insurers’ liability for agents’ actions
- Risk transference issues including additional insured clauses and endorsements, waiver of subrogation clauses, indemnification and other contractual agreements, and other attendant circumstances
- Applicability of Fraudulent, Forged or Counterfeit Title Coverage
- Stacking, exhaustion and other insurance issues
- Liquor liability exclusions and endorsements
Kohnen & Patton has extensive experience in evaluating and litigating insurance coverage issues involving bodily injury, personal injury, property damage, toxic tort and uninsured/underinsured claims by first parties and third parties under homeowners policies, commercial general liability coverages, builders risk policies, inland marine coverages, auto policies, directors & officers policies, errors & omissions coverages, EPLI policies, disability policies, and umbrella/excess policies.
We have successfully defended bad faith and violations of unfair claims settlement practices lawsuits, and claims arising from the actions of agents and brokers. We are called upon frequently to prepare formal coverage opinions and to litigate declaratory judgment actions for insureds and insurers on a wide variety of issues.