Court Allows Insured to Seek Damage Caused by “Premature Exhaustion” of Other Insurance Due to Insurer’s Failure to Contribute to Claims Payments
"Continuous trigger" cases typically implicate numerous carriers providing coverage over the applicable time period. When one triggered insurer denies coverage, other insurers may step in and fill this gap. The insured, however, may still be damaged by the wrongful denial, since the denial can adversely affect the rest of its insurance program. A damage claim based on this impact was recently accepted in an opinion by Judge Patel of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in Flintkote Co. v. General Accident Assurance Co. of Canada (08.06.08).