Like all insurance, long-term care insurance policies are designed to cover risk. With these policies, the risk is that you will need custodial care such as in-home care, assisted living care or nursing home care. The best thing about these policies is that they create a pool of someone else’s money you can use to […]
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This case involves an insurance coverage dispute after Freddie Mae Burns died at Leland Health Care Center, a 128 bed skilled nursing facility, due to excessive heat. Teresa Johnson, administrator and former director of nursing, was responsible for controlling the HVAC settings and failed to set them properly during a heat wave. Leland Health Care, […]
Insurer denied coverage under a claims made policy. On motion for summary judgment, the Court ruled for the insurer, finding that the two policies in issue were clearly written. The first policy did not apply because, although the incident occurred during the policy period, it was not reported during the policy period. The second policy […]
Complete Healthcare Resources Eastern, Inc. sought a declaratory judgment that it was not liable to an insurer in subrogation and that it was not obligated to mediate and/or arbitrate the insurer’s subrogation claim. Complete Healthcare had entered into a management agreement with a nursing home. A claim arose on November 16, 2002, when Bertha Small […]
Insurer sought declaratory judgment against its named insureds, the nursing home, the company owning the realty and the management company after they were all named in a suit alleging they failed to provide adequate care for a resident. The suit alleged negligence, violations of the Arkansas Resident Rights Statute, breach of contract, and wrongful death. […]
Insurer denied coverage because a claim made against the insured during the coverage period was not reported to the insurer until after the coverage period. The court examined the policy and found that reporting the claim to the insurer during the coverage period was not a condition of coverage. The insurer’s motion for summary judgment […]
Lloyds commenced the defense of a wrongful death case against the insured nursing home and various other entities. It did so under a reservation of rights. Later, when on of the employees pleaded guilty to manslaughter, Lloyds filed a declaratory judgment action alleging it had no duty to defend or indemnify because criminal acts committed […]
Ohio Casualty filed a motion to compel other insurers to produce insurance claims file documents that were allegedly covered by work product doctrine. The action involved a coverage dispute between four insurers following a $78 million verdict in Sauer v. Advocate, Inc. (Circuit Court, Polk County, Arkansas, June 2001). “Advocat was apparently insured from October […]
Insurer filed a declaratory judgment action seeking coverage determination. Underlying suit, filed in State court, alleged sexual abuse by an employee who had disclosed prior accusations of sexual abuse when he was filed. The third amended complaint in State court alleged the resident, 90 years old, was physically abused and/or sexually molested and/or beaten, and […]
Manor Care purchased a policy from First Specialty for coverage of “triggering events” in excess of $500,000 up to an aggregate amount of $25,000,000. The dispute concerned “1) what constitutes a triggering event under the policy; 2) whether a lawsuit is a single “triggering event” for purposes of the policy or if each separate injury […]