Practices: Insurance Coverage Disputes

Too often, what seems like all-inclusive insurance coverage at the time you pay the premium turns into a dispute with your insurance company when you need coverage to pay a claim. If you feel you have not received the coverage you paid for, rely on Ungaretti & Harris to interpret your policy coverage and litigate claims against insurers on your behalf.

Large manufacturers, major public agencies and public utilities have turned to us for help. We have asserted their coverage rights in even the most controversial areas such as asbestos claims, toxic torts and building structural failures. And we are at the forefront of some developing concepts in insurance law. We have helped clients with a wide range of coverage issues, including:

• Insurers’ duties to defend and indemnify policyholders.
• Occurrence, allocation and trigger-of-coverage applications.
• Interpretation and application of multi-year policies.

Focused Strengths

Policyholders turn to us for help in policy disputes because the strengths of our practice are especially focused on their needs:

• Trial and coverage lawyers who both understand the terms of your policy and know how to assert them in court.
• Extensive insider knowledge of insurance industry practices, including those of the surplus line insurance market.
• Greater cost effectiveness than larger firms, even in complex litigation.

Such capabilities have enabled us to recover well over $100 million in insurance proceeds during the past several years for clients in the areas of asbestos, environmental and toxic tort liability. We have also secured coverage agreements or insurer funding for asbestos defendants with over 100,000 claims outstanding. If you need a liability finding in a directors’ and officers’ liability action, recovery in insurance insolvency actions, or identification of commercial insurance assets through policy archeology, our experience in these areas can help you recover additional coverage.

Toxic Torts

If you have a problem involving loss from environmental pollution or alleged hazardous substances or products, you need the kind of toxic tort representation we can provide. Our lawyers have handled highly complex cases (one of them aggregating more than 10,000 separate claims) for defendants and plaintiffs, including claims over exposure to:

• Asbestos in manufactured products and in buildings.
• Lead-based paint.
• Benzine, dioxin and other manufacturing products.

We also represent manufacturers, distributors and public agencies in disputes over insurance coverage for environmental claims involving everything from pesticide exposure to underground storage tank discharge. When added to our toxic tort litigation in such high profile controversies as toxic shock syndrome claims, salmonella litigation and latex glove product liability claims, the result is a record of sophisticated trial capability and expert witness knowledge that enables you to pursue your toxic tort coverage claims with confidence.

Litigation Experience

When you litigate a policy coverage issue, you can be faced with the insurer’s legal and forensic experts who have more detailed knowledge of policy terms than most typical insurance defense lawyers. Our insurance coverage litigators are definitely not typical. We will represent you with the same combination of trial and technical skill brought to bear in these complex cases:

• Coverage case involving numerous coverage issues for underlying asbestos claims.
• Environmental claims regarding coal gasification plants.
• Defense of 10,000 injury claims from alleged PCB contamination at housing project sites.

Combined Advantages

If you have a policy coverage dispute with your insurer, Ungaretti & Harris gives you a combination of advantages that meet your needs:

• Knowledge of insurance company practices and strategies, and Experience with a wide range of policy coverage issues.
• Familiarity with defense and plaintiff representation, and a Track record of success in even complex coverage controversies.
• Affordability and Efficiency not found at larger, more heavily staffed firms.