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Commercial lines
Loss runs—insurance company requirements
Is there any N.Y. law relating to an insurer’s requirement to furnish loss runs?
Second notice—alternative renewal procedure
My insured on a commercial package policy got a conditional renewal notice saying that the new premium will probably exceed last year’s premium by more than 10%. Must the company send a follow-up notice telling the insured the exact premium?
Free Trade Zone protections
New York’s policyholder protections regarding cancellation, nonrenewal and advance notice of premium increases—do they apply to policies written in the Free Trade Zone?
Material misrepresentation—claim denial
Could a material misrepresentation on an application for a commercial policy be grounds for denying a claim presented under the policy?
Cancellation to inception date
Our client is a law firm. On the renewal application for their claims-made professional liability coverage, one of the partners failed to disclose a situation that resulted in a claim. The company wants to cancel the policy back to the renewal date. This would cause problems obtaining “prior acts” coverage under a replacement claims-made policy. Can they do this?
Ocean-marine policies
Are ocean-marine policies governed by any New York law that spells out cancellation procedures?
'Extra expense'—temporary location
We insure a senior residence that was damaged. The residents had to be housed at another location at a cost exceeding the rental value of the residence. The carrier will pay only the rental value under the CP 00 30 form, not the extra expense at the temporary location. Are they correct?
Business interruption payroll coverage
Under the Business Income Coverage form, how do we help a client decide between insuring ordinary payroll vs. just that of key employees?
Business interruption—’leader’ location
Have you ever heard of a coverage called “leader”? An adjuster suggested that our insured should have this.
Floor plan coverage
What can you tell me about “floor plan” insurance?
Hyperlimits excess liability policies
Changes are being made to the terms of a $10 million umbrella policy we sold. The client has not been notified of these changes by the company. I thought changes in policy terms required prior notice. Did the company make an error?
Bankrupt client
We’d like to know what the insured’s obligation is to the insurance company for premiums if the insured goes through Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Power-surge exclusion
A gas station with a package policy sustained a loss when a power surge shorted their computer equipment. It turned out that a tree limb on the premises was rubbing on the wires, creating power surges. Our company is denying coverage. Are they correct?
First-named insured pays
Suppose that more than one company under common ownership was insured under a commercial package policy and the company that was listed as the first-named insured was to go bankrupt. If there are any premiums due, can the other company refuse to pay the premiums due on the previous policy?
Umbrella drop-down provisions
We have an insured with an umbrella policy for $4 million in coverage, over a $1 million primary policy. If the carrier providing the underlying policy becomes insolvent, would the insured be able to collect on the umbrella policy?
Additional insureds—primary coverage
There was a New York court decision that interpreted all additional insureds to have primary coverage if coverage for the named insured was primary. Can you provide some details on this case and was there anything unusual about it that would prevent it from applying to all additional insured requests?
Amendment of insured contract definition
Was the Amendment of insured contract definition (CG 24 26) endorsement approved in New York and what is the time frame for New York to approve the 2004 edition of the additional insured endorsements?
Additional insured vs. additional named insured
Please clarify the difference between an additional insured and an additional named insured.
Completed operations
If a general contractor’s contract with a subcontractor contains a hold-harmless agreement that includes “any and all claims” (there is no restriction to bodily injury or property damage and there is no mention of products and completed operations), will the subcontractor’s contractual coverage respond to a completed operations claim?
Deleting an additional insured
What would be the guidelines for deleting an additional insured from the policy?
Completed operations liability
Could you please clarify the relationship between contractual liability and the additional insured endorsement with regard to completed operations coverage?
Loss runs—charging fees
A company sent a notice of conditional renewal to our commercial client. The notice included the client’s right to get loss runs, but said “there may be a fee charged for providing this information.” Can the company charge for providing loss runs?
Commercial-lines midterm premium increase
What are the rules for increasing the premium on a commercial-lines policy during the policy term?
Nonpayment cancellation (audit payment)
Can a commercial-lines policy be cancelled for nonpayment of the prior year’s unpaid audit premium?
Loss run data—how many years must be provided?
How many years’ worth of loss information must a commercial insurer provide upon request? Can a prospective insurer ask for more information than the current insurer is required to provide?
Offsetting premium owed by withholding from a claims payment
May a company reduce a claim payment by the amount of premium owed on the policy?
Equipment for apartment building breakdown
Should a standard six-story apartment building in New York have a need to purchase comprehensive equipment breakdown boiler insurance?
We understand the basic coverage covers boiler and machinery and that the comprehensive covers the electrical system, however, we are not sure if this is a necessary coverage. Should a fire result from any electrical arcing, the subsequent fire will be covered under his fire policy. Is there an example of something that would be covered under the comprehensive form and not the basic?
Business interruption from power outage
Because of the storm, my client is without power and will be unable to operate his business until it is restored. Will the Business Income Coverage be applicable to this loss?
New York premium audit time frames
We are moving a commercial policy to a new carrier. Suddenly the old carrier wants six years’ worth of records from the insureds so they can do premium audits. Can they do this?