Insuring Takings Claims, Christopher Serkin
Jan 2017
Insuring Takings Claims, Christopher Serkin
Christopher Serkin
Local governments typically insure themselves against all kinds of losses, from property damage to legal liability. For small- and medium-sized governments, this usually means purchasing insurance from private insurers or participating in municipal risk pools. Insurance for regulatory takings claims, however, is generally unavailable. This previously unnoticed gap in municipal insurance coverage could lead risk averse local governments to underregulate and underenforce existing regulations where property owners threaten to bring takings claims. This seemingly technical observation turns out to have profound implications for theoretical accounts of the Takings Clause that focus on government regulatory incentives. This Article explores the impact …
Insurance Policies: The Grandparents Of Contractual Black Holes, Christopher French
Dec 2016
Insurance Policies: The Grandparents Of Contractual Black Holes, Christopher French
Christopher C. French
In their recent article, The Black Hole Problem in Commercial Boilerplate, Professors Stephen Choi, Mitu Gulati, and Robert Scott identify a phenomenon found in standardized contracts they describe as “contractual black holes.” The concept of black holes comes from theoretical physics. Under the original hypothesis, the gravitational pull of a black hole is so strong that once light or information is pulled past an event horizon into a black hole, it cannot escape. In recent years, the theory has been reformulated and now the hypothesis is that some information can escape, but it is so degraded that it is virtually …
Revisiting Construction Defects As “Occurrences” Under Cgl Insurance Policies, Christopher French
Dec 2015
Revisiting Construction Defects As “Occurrences” Under Cgl Insurance Policies, Christopher French
Christopher C. French
Imagine a situation in which a homeowner hires a contractor to redo a bathroom, for example, and the work is done incompetently such that the plumbing leaks and causes damage to other parts of the house. If the homeowner sues the contractor to recover the costs of repairing the faulty workmanship and the damage caused by the faulty workmanship, has there been an “occurrence” that is covered by the contractor’s Commercial General Liability (“CGL”) insurance policy? This article provides an answer to that question.
The issue of whether construction defects are occurrences under CGL insurance policies has been litigated frequently …
Insuring Landslides: America’S Uninsured Natural Catastrophes, Christopher French
Dec 2015
Insuring Landslides: America’S Uninsured Natural Catastrophes, Christopher French
Christopher C. French
Landslides occur in all fifty states and cause approximately $3.5 billion in property damage annually. Yet, in America, “all risk” homeowners and commercial property insurance policies exclude coverage for landslides, and there is only limited availability of expensive, stand-alone “named peril” insurance policies that cover landslide losses. Consequently, the affected homeowners are often left financially devastated—homeless with a mortgage to pay on an unsaleable piece of property.
This Article analyzes the problem of insuring landslide losses in America and proposes ways to help solve it. It describes both historical and recent landslide events. It discusses the insurance industry’s response to …
Insuring Floods: The Most Common And Devastating Natural Catastrophies In America, Christopher French
Feb 2015
Insuring Floods: The Most Common And Devastating Natural Catastrophies In America, Christopher French
Christopher C. French
Flooding is the most common natural catastrophe Americans face, accounting for 90% of all damage caused by natural catastrophes. Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy, for example, collectively caused over $160 billion in damage, but only approximately 10% of the Hurricane Katrina victims and 50% of the Hurricane Sandy victims had insurance to cover their flood losses. Consequently, both their homes and lives were left in ruins in the wake of the storms. Nationwide, only approximately 7% of homeowners have insurance that covers flood losses even though the risk of flooding is only increasing as coastal areas continue to be developed and …
