The Road to Insurance Recovery

Now that 44 states have permitted the use of cannabis to some extent, Congress is taking action to overcome some of the obstacles mentioned in previous post, "Five Insurance Considerations for Cannabis-Related Businesses". Bills have been introduced in Congress which, if passed, would have a substantial favorable impact on the cannabis industry.

Even though the cannabis industry has grown rapidly since many states have authorized the sale and use of cannabis to some extent, traditional insurers have been less willing to enter the industry because marijuana remains illegal under federal law as a Schedule 1 drug.

On May 7, 2021, a cyber-attack shut down Colonial Pipeline, the largest fuel pipeline network in the United States, for multiple days. The hackers requested nearly $5 million in ransom after the attack.

Policyholders that are still fighting their insurers for COVID-19 business interruption losses will want to take note of a recent policyholder win, this time from a federal court sitting in Texas.

Peloton Interactive enjoyed a surge of sales during the COVID-19 pandemic. Its newly released exercise equipment and its high-energy fitness classes, available on demand, were the perfect fit for health-minded, and virus-wary, individuals who decided to ditch gym memberships for the convenience and safety of at-home workouts. 

Lathrop GPM Insurance Recovery attorneys Sarah Lintecum and Alana McMullin, along with LGPM Environmental & Tort Partner Ally Cunningham, recently co-authored an article for Law360 titled “Cos. Should Review Insurance Policies for PFAS Coverage.” (If you’re not yet familiar with PFAS, see Lathrop GPM’s primer on the topic.)

When facing a lawsuit, most policyholders would understandably rather use familiar, trusted defense counsel instead of attorneys chosen by their insurer.

Policyholders should be reviewing their coverage programs now to identify what claims they will want to submit before major claim-filing deadlines hit in August and December this year.

The earliest COVID-19 insurance court rulings across the country were decided under a preliminary “motion to dismiss” standard – meaning, the courts were deciding whether the insured had a plausible claim for relief against the insurer if the insured’s allegations could be proven true, not that the insured was, in fact, entitled to coverage.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began earlier this year, policyholders have filed over a thousand lawsuits against their insurance carriers seeking coverage for business interruption losses caused by the coronavirus or resulting stay-at-home orders.