Cases with intersecting issues of data breach and insurance coverage continue to slowly wind their way through the court system.
After a number of past losses dealt to insureds who sought insurance coverage under their garden-variety business policies, two recent decisions from the Fourth and Eighth Circuit Courts of Appeal may rekindle the interest of business insureds in seeking such coverage both in the first- and third-party contexts.
First, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in April, 2016 upheld a lower court's finding that Travelers had a duty to defend a class action lawsuit alleging a data breach brought against Portal Health Care Solutions, LLC ("Portal"). The lawsuit alleged that plaintiffs' private medical records had been made publicly available on the internet for more than four months. Travelers then sued Portal for a declaratory judgment that it was not obligated under certain Commercial General Liability ("CGL") policies to defend Portal, asserting that the class action complaint failed to allege a covered "publication" as required under the CGL's Coverage Part B - Personal and Advertising Injury.
To read the full article, download "Two Federal Courts of Appeal Find Insurane Coverage for Data Breaches"
