Hunton Insurance Recovery Blog

On November 2, 2016, a federal judge in California ruled that a Real Estate Property Managed endorsement in policies issued to a real estate manager negated a standard policy exclusion, but also rendered the policies excess to other available insurance. The case involved a dispute over coverage for a bodily injury claim involving “Pigeon Breeders Disease,” allegedly contracted due to the insured’s failure to keep pigeons away from a condo complex’s rooftop HVAC units. The plaintiff sued the property owners, Jerry and Betty Lee, and the property manager, Sierra Pacific Management Co. Inc. (Sierra Pacific).

A federal judge in Colorado recently ruled that a commercial property and general liability policy issued to a medical marijuana dispensary and its cultivation facility can provide coverage for harvested marijuana that is damaged or destroyed.  In the case of The Green Earth Wellness Center, LLC v. Atain Specialty Insurance Company, smoke and ash from a wildfire entered the facility’s ventilation system and damaged Green Earth’s potted pot plants to the tune of $200,000, with an additional $40,000 in damage to plants that had already been harvested and were being prepared for ...