The news has been rife of late with announcements of intended mergers, including Amazon and Whole Foods, Sprint and Comcast, and the National Enquirer and Time Inc., to name a few. Although such deals are nothing new, the use of representations and warranties insurance (R&W insurance) is increasingly becoming a…
Policyholder Pulse
The D&O Cramdown: Triggering Side A DIC Coverage When an Underlying D&O Carrier Declines Coverage
A great deal of premium exchanges hands to buy the Difference in Condition (DIC) or “drop-down” component of excess Side A DIC coverage. Yet policyholders, brokers, and to a large extent, D&O liability carriers have surprisingly little understanding of just how that standard coverage feature is triggered—or how it works…
How the White Rabbit Lost His Insurance – The Importance of Keeping Your Eye on the Clock
If the White Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland bought insurance and suffered a loss he almost certainly would be an unhappy customer. Why? Recall his famous opening line in the Disney version of the story: “I’m late, I’m late for / A very important date. / No time to say…
Chambers, Legal 500 and More: Accolades for Pillsbury’s Insurance Group
We are pleased to share with our readers the recent awards and accolades Pillsbury’s Insurance Recovery & Advisory group has earned: Chambers USA The practice was ranked in Washington, DC for Insurance: Policyholder, and we had several individual rankings, including: Insurance: Policyholder; Washington, DC: Peter Gillon David F. Klein Mark…
Insurers Must Pay the Pipe(r): The Continued Corrosion of the Pollution Exclusion
The Flint, Mich., water crisis returned to the news recently as criminal charges were brought against additional government employees resulting from the crisis. Meanwhile, a federal court in Pennsylvania recently issued a ruling in an insurance case that, like Flint, related to alleged contamination in drinking water stemming from corroded…
New York Court of Appeals Decision Undermines Additional Insured Coverage
We put lights on the front of trains so we can see them approaching in a tunnel. And we buy insurance for the accidents that occur despite such precautions. General contractors try to manage their project risks by taking precautions to avoid accidents, but they also require subcontractors to name…
Is That Blanket Endorsement Keeping You Warm at Night?
An all-too-common problem in the construction industry occurs when a company that is supposed to name another company as an additional insured on its policy fails to do so. The company that expects to be an additional insured (typically an owner or upstream contractor) sometimes does not follow through to…
Do Recent Events Make You “Wanna Cry”?
On May 12, 2017, a massive ransomware cyber-attack infected over 100,000 computers in more than 150 countries. This malware, a Trojan virus known as “WannaCry,” encrypts files, and then threatens to destroy them, unless the victim pays a ransom. Colleagues Jamie Bobotek and Peri Mahaley opined about this recent attack and…
The Time a Government Subcontractor Fell Off a Ladder … Right after Its Defense Base Act Insurance Lapsed
Imagine you are a prime contractor to a Department of the United States of America supplying logistical support for the war on terrorism in Afghanistan. As the prime, you are kicking on all cylinders, including purchasing comprehensive Employer’s Liability, Workers’ Compensation and Defense Base Act (DBA) insurance to cover your…
Side A DIC Insurance – The D&O Safety Net
In the world of Directors and Officers insurance, no coverage may be less understood than the Side A Difference in Conditions (DIC) policy. While this type of insurance is generally available in the market, the vast majority of corporate policyholders do not know what the policy covers or whether it’s…