{"id":900734,"date":"2023-01-17T16:20:00","date_gmt":"2023-01-17T23:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?p=900734"},"modified":"2023-01-10T16:38:02","modified_gmt":"2023-01-10T23:38:02","slug":"liabilty-insurer-duty-to-defend-indemnify","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/liabilty-insurer-duty-to-defend-indemnify\/","title":{"rendered":"Understanding Liability Insurer&#8217;s Two Duties: To Defend And To Indemnify"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>David Adelstein | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.floridaconstructionlegalupdates.com\/understanding-liability-insurers-two-duties-to-defend-and-to-indemnify\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Florida Construction Legal Updates<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/liability-insurance-duty-to-defend-broader-than-duty-to-indemnify\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">liability insurer<\/a> has two duties that are the crux of a liability policy: the duty to defend\u00a0the insured in legal actions and the duty to indemnify the insured from losses covered under the policy<\/strong>. \u00a0Many times, policyholders (insureds) do not fully understand or appreciate these two important duties. They need to and this is why having private counsel assist with coverage-related considerations is an absolute must.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>An insurers\u2019 duty to defend is separate from its duty to indemnify. &nbsp;A recent opinion out of the Middle District of Florida in&nbsp;<em>Progressive Express Ins. Co. v. Tate Transport Corp<\/em>., 2022 WL 16963815 (M.D.Fla. 2022) clarifies the distinction between these duties with a focus on an insurer\u2019s initial duty \u2014 the duty to defend. &nbsp;Please read below so you can have more of an appreciation of these duties. &nbsp;The court does a good job discussing Florida law with the emphasis on when an insurer\u2019s initial duty to defend kicks-in:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong><u>Duty to Defend<\/u><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Under Florida law, \u201can insurer\u2019s duty to defend its insured against a legal action arises when the complaint alleges facts that fairly and potentially bring the suit within policy coverage.\u201d&nbsp; The duty to defend is a broad one, broader than the duty to indemnify, and \u201c[t]he merits of the underlying suit are irrelevant.\u201d&nbsp; We determine whether an insurer has a duty to defend its insured based only on \u201cthe eight corners of the complaint and the policy,\u201d and only as the complaint\u2019s alleged facts are \u201cfairly read[.]\u201d The \u201cfacts\u201d we consider in evaluating the duty to defend come solely from the complaint, regardless of the actual facts of the case and regardless of any later developed and contradictory factual record.&nbsp; \u201cAny doubts regarding the duty to defend must be resolved in favor of the insured,\u201d&nbsp;and \u201cwhere a complaint alleges facts that are partially within and partially outside the coverage of an insured\u2019s policy, the insurer&nbsp; is not only obligated to defend, but must defend that entire suit[.]\u201d&nbsp;But of course, because the lawsuit must be for something covered by the insurance policy, \u201cthe insurer has no duty to defend\u201d when \u201cthe pleadings show the applicability of a policy exclusion.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>An insurance policy can, without creating a conflict or ambiguity, both provide coverage and exclude some things that might otherwise fall within that coverage.&nbsp; On the other hand, an insurance policy\u2019s coverage becomes illusory if it grants coverage in one provision and completely takes it away in another provision.&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Because [insurer] relies on an exclusion to deny coverage, \u201cit has the burden of demonstrating that the allegations of the complaint are cast solely and entirely within the policy exclusion and are subject to no other reasonable interpretation.\u201d&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>***<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>An insurer\u2019s duty to defend an insured in a legal action under Florida law \u201carises when the complaint alleges facts that fairly and potentially bring the suit within policy coverage.\u201d&nbsp; Even if the allegations in the complaint are meritless, the duty to defend nonetheless arises. All doubts about whether the duty to defend applies are resolved in favor of the insured.&nbsp; \u201cIf an examination of the allegations of the complaint leaves any doubt regarding the insurer\u2019s duty to defend, the issue is resolved in favor of the insured.\u201d&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Progressive Express Insurance, supra<\/em>, at *3-5 (internal citations omitted).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong><u>Duty to Indemnify<\/u><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>\u201cWhile the duty to defend is broad and based on the allegations in the complaint, the duty to indemnify is determined by the facts adduced at trial or during discovery.\u201d&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Therefore, unlike the duty to defend, the trial court must look beyond the allegations in the underlying complaint to decide whether an insurer has a duty to indemnify. The duty to indemnify arguably may not become fully ripened until the merits of the underlying litigation are resolved.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Progressive Express Insurance, supra<\/em>, at *6 (internal citations omitted)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>When one of your cases is in need of a construction expert, estimates, insurance appraisal or umpire services in defect or insurance disputes &#8211; please call Advise &amp; Consult, Inc. at 888.684.8305, or email <a href=\"mailto:experts@adviseandconsult.net\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">experts@adviseandconsult.net<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>David Adelstein | Florida Construction Legal Updates A liability insurer has two duties that are the crux of a liability policy: the duty to defend\u00a0the insured in legal actions and the duty to indemnify the insured from losses covered under the policy. \u00a0Many times, policyholders (insureds) do not fully understand or appreciate these two important&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/liabilty-insurer-duty-to-defend-indemnify\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Understanding Liability Insurer&#8217;s Two Duties: To Defend And To Indemnify<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[10,10721],"tags":[9895,57,478,11821],"class_list":["post-900734","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-duty-to-defend","category-insurance","tag-advise-consult","tag-duty-to-defend-2","tag-duty-to-indemnify","tag-liability-insurer","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Understanding Liability Insurer&#039;s Two Duties: To Defend And To Indemnify - Advise &amp; 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