A Second Circuit judge signaled to a restaurant that the court's existing precedent in COVID-19 coverage litigation doomed its appeal, saying it's a "hard sell" to persuade the panel that their colleagues "got this one wrong" when so many other U.S. courts "think they got it right."
Outdated flood maps have led homeowners in vulnerable areas to forego flood insurance, but industry experts warn the maps are only one problem that needs to be addressed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to predict and capture the full extent of the country's flood risk.
Federal appellate courts have taken divergent paths in grappling with COVID-19 coverage cases, with some waiting to hear from state high courts, others consolidating the suits and still more issuing ruling after ruling in favor of insurers who say policies don't cover the economic stifling of a global pandemic.
Policyholder attorneys said they felt disheartened and disappointed as California's high court justices declined on Wednesday to review the first COVID-19 coverage ruling by a Golden State appellate court in a move that may impact several Ninth Circuit appeals that were stayed awaiting this outcome.
Insurance companies have taken a stance for the past two years that forcing them to cover COVID-19 pandemic-related losses could trigger an industrywide solvency doomsday scenario, but policyholders are pushing back with financial statements showing insurers reaped profits during the pandemic.