Author: William D Wilson

Is money “tangible property”?  What about checks?  These questions recently were answered in the negative by a New Jersey Appellate Court in Estate of Keppel v. Angela’s Angels Home Healthcare, LLC, 2019 WL 2060285 (May 9, 2019). Donna Thomas was a home health aide employed by Angela’s Angels Home Healthcare.  She was no angel, however. … Continue reading Take the Money and Run: Appellate Court Holds Money Is Not Tangible Property

A life insurance policy is valid only if the insured has an “insurable interest” in the person covered by the policy at the time it is issued. Where no insurable interest exists, the policy is void and the policyholder has no right to recovery.  The insurable interest requirement is grounded in public policy so as… Continue reading Who Are You: Stranger Originated Life Insurance Policies No Longer Valid in NJ

What is a four-wheel passenger auto?  That was a question that recently was answered by the New Jersey Appellate Division in Starner v. Haemmerle, No. A-0153-17T2, 2018 WL 5273995 (N.J. App. Div. Oct. 24, 2018). Specifically, the issue before the court was whether an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) qualified as a “four-wheel passenger auto” under an automobile… Continue reading Mud on the Tires: An ATV Is Not a Four-Wheel Passenger Auto

An insurer typically has two distinct, albeit related, obligations under a third-party policy:  the duty to defend the insured in connection with potentially covered claims asserted against the insured and the duty to pay any judgments against the insured in connection with covered claims.   It is well established that an insurer can be estopped from… Continue reading You Should’ve Told Me: Failure to Inform Insured of Coverage Limitation Results in Waiver

Introduction When will it end is a refrain that must be on many liability insurers’ minds when it comes to liability under commercial general liability policies issued decades ago.  Many such policies contain anti-assignment clauses, the purpose of which is to allow an insurer to limit its liability to successor companies and better gauge its… Continue reading When Will It End: Anti-Assignment Clause No Bar to Post-Loss Claim Assignment

In a recent case, the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey held that an insured had no duty to defend an insured accused of falsely advertising the origin of its product.  Albion Engineering Company, a New Jersey company, was sued by a competitor for false advertising because it claimed that its… Continue reading Made in America: Insurer Has No Duty to Defend Insured Falsely Advertising Origin of its Products

Liability insurance policies do not provide coverage for injuries resulting from conduct that is “particularly reprehensible.”  As a general rule, coverage is barred where the insured had an intent to injure.  In most circumstances, courts apply a subjective standard to determine whether an insured had an intent to injure.  “Even when the actions in question… Continue reading Behind the Wall: Court Holds Domestic Violence Is Particularly Reprehensible

Insurance policies commonly contain an exclusion for losses caused by “earth movement” or “subsidence.”  Such exclusions typically exclude coverage for losses caused by earthquakes, landslides, mudflows, and earth sinking or shifting.  Absent language to the contrary, “[e]arth movement exclusions are often interpreted to refer to only natural, non-human events.”  See, e.g., El-Ad Group v. Northbrook… Continue reading I Feel the Earth Move: Subsidence Exclusion Bars Coverage

An updated and expanded version of New Jersey Insurance Coverage Litigation – A Practitioner’s Guide, the book I co-authored, is now available.  It has been over two years since the first edition of this book was published.  In this second edition, my co-author and I have added discussions concerning many of the over seventy insurance cases… Continue reading New Jersey Insurance Coverage Litigation – A Practitioner’s Guide (2017)

Leases of real property often require the tenant to obtain liability insurance covering the premises and to name the landlord as an additional insured under the policy.  The extent to which the landlord is entitled to coverage depends, at least in the first instance, on the particular language in the tenant’s policy.  A typical additional… Continue reading Up on the Roof: Court Holds Landlord an Additional Insured