The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently affirmed a long-standing Texas rule: the duty to defend is not implicated unless the insured complies with the policy’s notice-of-suit requirements and demands a defense. Moreno v. Sentinel Ins. Co., Ltd., 35 F.4th 965, 975-77 (5th Cir. 2022). This rule applies even when an insurer knows of the lawsuit and defends an additional insured in the same case. About The Authors
An insurer can no longer claim its lack of notice of a lawsuit against its insured excuses it for failing to settle the suit after the Georgia Supreme Court’s recent decision in GEICO Indemnity Co. v. Whiteside, Case No. S21Q0227 (Ga. April 19, 2021). In Whiteside, the Georgia Supreme Court held that an insurer’s bad faith failure to settle a claim may result in liability for judgments in excess of the insured’s policy, even in cases where the insured also breaches its contractual duty to notify the insurer of a suit brought against it. About The Authors
