Last week, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York issued a coverage opinion reinforcing the broad duty to defend insurance companies owe their policyholders under New York law.1 In this coverage dispute, an additional insured under the applicable policy, Axis Construction Corp. (Axis), sought a declaration that Travelers Insurance Company of America (Travelers) owed a duty to defend and indemnify Axis in an underlying personal injury lawsuit brought against Axis by a subcontractor’s employee.
Axis was the general contractor for a New York construction project and hired subcontractor American Wood Installers (AWI) for millwork installation. The subcontract required AWI to obtain commercial liability insurance coverage that included Axis as an additional insured on a “primary and noncontributory” basis “for claims caused in whole or in part by the [s]ubcontractor’s negligent acts or omissions.”2 The subcontract also stated that the “[s]ubcontractor shall not be held responsible for conditions caused by other contractors or subcontractors.”3 The policy contained a “Blanket Additional Insured (Contractors)” endorsement that made Axis an additional insured “to the extent that [] injury or damage is caused by acts or omissions of [AWI] in the performance of [AWI’s] work” pursuant to its subcontract with Axis.4
After an AWI employee tripped on unsecured Masonite sheets (flooring protection) on the job site, he commenced a personal injury lawsuit...
Read Full Story: https://www.natlawreview.com/article/federal-court-reinforces-broad-duty-to-defend-additional-insured-new-york-under
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