Climate Change and Disaster Recovery Update

Key Points:

• Court decisions in 2020, 2021 and 2022 in disputes over coverage for storm damage illustrate pitfalls and ambiguities concerning deductibles, sublimits, and causation of damage
• Ambiguity must be construed in favor of the policyholder, but courts often disagree on whether policy language is ambiguous
• ICYMI, Anderson Kill last year launched a Climate Change and Disaster Recovery Group that’s on the front lines in climate change-related coverage disputes

Climate change risks are at the forefront of virtually all policyholders’ minds, and for good reason. Hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires and other perils associated with climate change are occurring more frequently and producing more damage than ever before.

In 2021, Anderson Kill launched its Climate Change and Disaster Recovery practice group, bringing together decades of experience in representing policyholders in complex property and business interruption claims as well as in connection with D&O liability issues that are now front and center in a variety of lawsuits against companies alleging, for example, misrepresentations concerning the company’s contributions to climate change. Most recently, Anderson Kill attorneys have been assisting their clients in recovering property insurance and business interruption proceeds stemming from Hurricanes Maria, Michael and Ida, California wildfires, and tornadoes in Kentucky, just to name a few. 

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