Annual Survey of Developments in Insurance Law

This article reviews insurance coverage decisions in 2012. Most notably, the Connecticut Supreme Court shifted the burden of proof regarding the prejudice element of a liability
insurance company’s late notice defense and held that the insurance company, not the policyholder, now bears that burden. Connecticut state and federal courts issued several
other decisions favorable to policyholders in the context of bad faith claims against insurance companies. In general, though, the cases continued the balanced jurisprudence noted in 2011's survey of insurance coverage developments. Connecticut courts also decided several cases concerning policy exclusions in homeowner’s and professional liability insurance policies; strictly construed the terms “suit” and “other dispute resolution proceedings,” as used in commercial general liability insurance policies; clarified a policyholder’s ability to implead an insurance company via a third-party complaint; and addressed an insurance company’s right to subrogation in specific contexts.