Allocation of Liability and Exhaustion of Policy Limits: Policyholder and Carrier Perspectives

This CLE course will provide insurance counsel with the latest developments in liability allocation, factors involved in allocation of losses, a review of critical issues in horizontal and vertical exhaustion, the interrelationship between the liability of the primary carrier and the excess insurer, allocation among multiple lines of insurance, and best practices to resolve priority of coverage disputes.

Allocating indemnity presents challenges for both policyholders and insurers, especially in continuous damage claims, where there is more than one policy period, an insurer with more than one policy in play, and multiple insurers. Allocation raises a host of other concerns, such as the insured's ability to stack policies.

Another issue that arises with increased frequency is the allocation among multiple lines of insurance. For example, what are the practice considerations when one claim impacts D&O, E&O, and CGL policies?

Practitioners face challenging issues when the parties disagree over who should pay a claim and the payment order among the applicable insurance policies. Counsel must understand when and how vertical and horizontal insurance exhaustion of policy limits apply and the principles related to triggering excess policies.

Unique challenges are present when the primary insurer settles a claim for less than the policy limits. Tapping the excess policies in these situations requires counsel to focus on the language of the policies and involves resolving a myriad of legal issues.

Listen as our authoritative panel of insurance attorneys examines the latest developments in liability allocation, the application of vertical and horizontal exhaustion of policy limits, allocation among multiple lines of insurance, and best practices to advocate and resolve priority of coverage disputes involving allocation of liability and exhaustion of policies.