Ashlyn M. Capote Authors “Primary and Noncontributory Provisions and Priority of Coverage” for The Brief
Ashlyn M. Capote, partner in the Global Insurance Services practice group, has authored an article titled “Primary and Noncontributory Provisions and Priority of Coverage” for The Brief, a publication by the American Bar Association.
In this comprehensive article, Ashlyn explores the split in insurance case law around primary and noncontributory endorsements in courts and the Appellate Division. The split in rulings is extremely important to risk transfer analyses because depending on how courts interpret endorsements, an insured’s additional insured coverage under another carrier’s policy may be deemed excess to its own coverage.
Ashlyn highlights, “When two or more policies afford coverage for the same risk, then a priority of coverage analysis must be made to determine the priority of coverage among those policies. In order to determine the priority of coverage between the policies, courts must examine all relevant policies… Importantly, most courts determine that the only evidence necessary in conducting a priority of coverage analysis are the relevant insurance policies. In other words, an underlying trade contract is not a factor in evaluating priority of coverage unless one or more of the policies specifically require that the contract be evaluated.”
READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE: “Primary and Noncontributory Provisions and Priority of Coverage,” ABA’s The Brief, December 20, 2023
MORE ABOUT GOLDBERG SEGALLA’S Ashlyn M. Capote:
Ashlyn M. Capote advises insurers on complex coverage matters and handles insurance coverage litigation throughout New York State. She manages all aspects of coverage litigation, from pleadings and discovery to mediation and settlement negotiation. Ashlyn regularly counsels clients on their obligations to provide coverage to insureds under their policies and their ability to seek additional coverages on behalf of their insureds. She frequently provides advice regarding coverage obligations related to liability policies, including issues related to additional insured coverage, priority of coverage, construction defects, environmental coverage, and Coverage B. She also routinely provides guidance regarding first-party coverage issues including those related to COVID-19 and catastrophic coverage claims resulting from natural disasters. She frequently publishes and speaks on these issues as well