The court’s decision in Axis Specialty Insurance Company v. New Hampshire Insurance Company highlights the scope of recovery available for an excess carrier seeking to recover against a primary carrier. Emboldened by the recent Missouri Supreme Court decision recognizing the right of an excess carrier to sue a primary carrier for failure to reasonably settle an underlying claim in Scottsdale Ins. Co. v. Addison Ins. Co., 448 S.W.3d 818 (Mo. Banc 2014), Axis Specialty sought to recoup not only its excess indemnity payment but also its attorney fees incurred in monitoring and eventually settling the underlying lawsuit as well as its attorney fees in pursuing its equitable subrogation and the assigned claims for bad faith and vexatious litigation. In Scottsdale, the…
