Hunton Insurance Recovery Blog

Hunton & Williams' insurance practice head, Walter Andrews, was quoted in a Law360 article yesterday regarding the confusion that is likely to result from a federal bankruptcy judge's decision in Rapid-American Corp. v. Travelers Casualty and Surety Co., where the court concluded that a majority of excess insurers owe no coverage to Rapid-American Corp. for underlying asbestos claims until the company exhausts the limits of its underlying primary and excess coverage through actual payment, not just accrued liability. According the Andrews, "the public policy clearly cries out against this ruling because you want to encourage settlement and have certainty in terms of a policyholder knowing what it can do with the coverage it has."  However, "[t]his case throws that into confusion and uncertainty," Andrews added.