The court cases discussed in the Dec Page come mainly from Louisiana.

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana handled a case where the insurer denied coverage for a claim based on the concealment or fraud exclusion in an auto policy. The court had to decide if the insurer met its burden of proving that the exclusion applied.

The Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Third Circuit, was faced with the question of whether a liability exclusion in a homeowners policy was valid even though the signature line on the policy lacked a signature by the insured.

The U.S. District Court in Louisiana was asked to decide if the insurer had a duty to defend the insured in a case from New Orleans. The complaint was that loud music coming from the insured's premises caused a neighbor property damage under a general liability policy.

Moving away from Louisiana a bit, the final case comes from Florida. The District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District, discussed the need for independent defense counsels when both the named insured and the additional insured were sued, and each party blamed the other for the injury.

Questions and Answers

Does symbol 1 on the BAP cover the liability exposures for an auto that is under a long term lease by the insured? See Business Auto Symbol 1 and Long Term Lease. Is a CDW considered consequential damages under the terms of the BAP? See CDW Considered as Consequential Damages.

Is the false pretense endorsement going to apply when the insured sold a car to a customer that fraudulently used a credit card? After the sale, the credit card company informed the insured that the card was fraudulently used and the funds paid to the insured were revoked. The car was never recovered. See Credit Card Company and False Pretense Coverage. Does the newly acquired auto definition on the PAP include a new utility trailer that the insured purchased but did not have time to list on the policy before he had an accident? See Newly Acquired Trailer. On a commercial auto policy, would rental reimbursement be covered under UM physical damage? See Rental Reimbursement under UM Physical Damage.

Fine Art Insurance

This article discusses coverage and loss control measures for insuring fine arts. Whether fine arts are owned by museums, galleries, or wealthy insureds, the loss control measures for reducing risk and protecting the art work are the same. See Fine Art Insurance.

Credit Card and Forgery Coverage

This article discusses credit card and forgery coverage available to individual insureds. As identity theft has become more and more common, the need for this coverage has become greater. See Credit Card and Forgery Coverage.

Business Income Information

Insurance protection for loss of business earnings due to physical damage has undergone a gradual but steady evolution. Along with many changes in the provisions of coverage, it has also gone through several changes in name since the first time element coverage was written over a century ago. Known as “use and occupancy” insurance in its early days (a term that survived in boiler and machinery insurance until the late 1970s), the name, for fire insurance, was changed to “business interruption” insurance in the 1940s. This name, in turn, was replaced, under the Insurance Services Office simplified commercial property program, by the term “business income” insurance.

This article offers some basic information on business income insurance with a brief description of various forms that have figured in its evolutionary history.

See Business Income Information.