A recent Arizona Court of Appeals decision, Everest Indemnity Insurance Company v. the Hon. John Rea, Judge of Sup. Ct of State of Az., 2015 WL 195450, addresses the attorney-client privilege in a bad faith case.  Everest examines a highly fact sensitive and jurisdictionally specific issue of when an “implied waiver” of the attorney-client privilege occurs, even though the insurer has not asserted advice of counsel as a defense to a bad faith claim.  The Court held that as long as the insurer had not put the legal advice that it received at issue in the pending litigation, an insurer defending against a bad faith case based on its subjective good faith, did not waive the attorney client privilege. …

  Any Insurer issuing liability policies in Florida should be aware of the requirement of Florida’s Claims Administration Statute, § 627.426, or risk waiving viable “coverage defenses.”  The definition of “coverage defense” under the statute has been the subject of considerable litigation in Florida for many years.  Under current Florida law, however, “coverage defense” refers to an insurer’s reliance upon a insured’s alleged breach of a policy condition in a third-party liability policy.  In most instances, “coverage defense” indicates: late notice of a claim; failure to cooperate; refusal to submit to an examination under oath; or a settlement without the consent of the insurer. The first section of Florida’s Claims Administration Statute permits an insurer to take certain actions without…

Property insurance policies commonly contain a suit limitation provision which generally provides that an insured cannot file suit against the insurer unless the action is brought within one or two years of the date of loss.  While such provisions are generally enforced throughout the country, jurisdictions vary on the type of claims that suit limitation bars.   Recently, in Queensridge Towers, LLC v. Allianz Global Risks U.S. Ins. Co., 2014 WL 7359093, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 177433 (D.Nev., Dec. 24, 2014), a district court in Nevada held that a one-year suit limitation provision applies only to breach of contract claims against the insurer and does not bar bad faith or UCPA claims. Plaintiff was the owner and developer of a condominium…