The construction boom in New York City over the past decade has produced a flood of accident claims involving injured workers. These claims are usually brought in the state courts by the injured worker against the site owner, general contractor, and/or subcontractors. Often, these claims give rise to disputes between the defendants and their liability insurers over indemnity and insurance coverage issues.
One recurring dispute concerns the “priority of coverage” between the various insurers, wherein the courts are asked to decipher the order in which the insurers have to pay. Typically, the insurers for the site owners and general contractors argue that the subcontractor’s primary layer liability insurer and excess layer umbrella insurer have to exhaust their policies before they have to pay anything. Also, the excess insurers customarily argue that they do not have to pay anything until the primary layer insurers have exhausted their policy limits.
Bright Line Rules
