In HDI World Specialty SE v. PF Holdings LLC, the Eleventh Circuit lately affirmed a district courtroom ruling that the insurers of two condo administration corporations didn’t must cowl a $54 million arbitration award in opposition to the businesses for his or her alleged mismanagement of government-subsidized flats. The Eleventh Circuit held that administration corporations’ failure to cooperate breached basic legal responsibility insurance coverage insurance policies issued by the insurers.
After the administration corporations offered discover to the insurers of a declare by their residents for substandard dwelling circumstances, the insurers ultimately agreed to defend the administration corporations as further insureds, underneath a reservation of rights. The administration corporations disagreed with the insurers’ protection place and, opposite to the insurers’ choice to nominate totally different protection counsel, continued to retain the protection legal professional they’d chosen to defend them within the underlying motion.
Ultimately the arbitrator issued a $54 million award in opposition to the administration corporations, which was comprised of compensatory and punitive damages, in addition to attorneys’ charges. Whereas the arbitration was pending, the insurers filed a declaratory judgment motion, searching for a declaration that it didn’t must indemnify the administration corporations for the arbitration award or associated protection prices. Within the declaratory judgment motion, the insurers argued that they didn’t must cowl the arbitration award as a result of the administration corporations hadn’t cooperated with the insurers and had subjected the insurers to potential legal responsibility for the arbitration award with out the insurers’ consent, thereby violating the coverage.
The administration corporations argued that the insurers’ delay in responding to its request for a protection was a refusal to defend the administration corporations; due to this fact, the insurers had breached the coverage, relieving the administration corporations of their obligation to cooperate with the insurers.
The district courtroom agreed with the insurers and the Eleventh Circuit affirmed. The District Courtroom held that whereas a delay in responding may be thought of a refusal, the “slight delay” right here was not prejudicial to the administration corporations. Additional, the courtroom held that the administration corporations breached the insurance policies by “clearly” failing to cooperate with the insurers once they moved the counsel employed by the insurers “to the sidelines throughout the arbitration hearings.” The courtroom additionally held that the administration corporations had breached the coverage by subjecting the insurers to potential legal responsibility, particularly by failing to hunt the insurers’ consent to enter right into a binding arbitration award.
The district courtroom additionally rejected the administration corporations’ rivalry that the insurers had acted in unhealthy religion by failing to just accept pre-arbitration settlement provides inside the limits of their insurance policies. The courtroom reasoned that though the insurers doubtless had ample info to find out that the administration corporations had been liable, they didn’t have any particular info concerning damages, and that due to this fact no affordable jury would discover the insurers had acted in unhealthy religion.
Though there are causes a courtroom might have gone the opposite manner on these points, this choice serves as reminder {that a} policyholder ought to try and work with its insurers even after the policyholder believes the insurer has breached the coverage. If nothing else, such efforts can function proof in a protection motion to indicate that the policyholder acted fairly, or conversely that the insurer didn’t. Moreover, policyholders and protection counsel ought to bear in mind to offer insurers ample info in order that they will make knowledgeable selections concerning settlements. If not, policyholders may be on the hook for thousands and thousands of {dollars} that might in any other case be lined.
