Read World Harvest Church, Inc. v. GuideOne Mut. Ins. Co., 08-17258

In an action against an insurer claiming that the insurer was estopped from contesting that a judgment against plaintiff was covered by the policy, the court of appeals certified the following questions to the Georgia Supreme Court: 1) does an insurer effectively reserve its right to deny coverage if it informs the insured that it does "not see coverage," after the insured had received a written reservation of rights from the insurer's sister company in a similar lawsuit in another jurisdiction, or is a written or more unequivocal reservation of rights required?; 2) when an insurer assumes and conducts an initial defense without notifying the insured that it is doing so with a reservation of rights, is the insurer estopped from asserting the defense of noncoverage only if the insured can show prejudice, or is prejudice conclusively presumed?; and 3) if the insured must show prejudice, do the facts and circumstances of this case show it?

Appellate Information

• Decided 10/30/2009
• Published 10/30/2009

Judges

• CARNES, Circuit Judge:, Before CARNES, FAY and ALARCÓN, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Eleventh Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Amy Lin Hadra, Paul Edwin Nystrom, III, Andrew J. Ekonomou, Ekonomou, Atkinson & Lambros, LLC, Atlanta, GA, for Plaintiff-Appellant.


• For Appellees:
  
• Linda Bridgewater Foster, Rahul Karnani, Wiessman, Nowack, Curry & Wilco, Atlanta, GA, for Defendant-Appellee.