Termination of Agreement with Restaurant Closed by Superstorm Sandy Did Not Trigger Exclusions, N.Y. Judge Rules

MINEOLA, N.Y. — A New York judge has denied an attempt by Harleysville Insurance Co. to avoid coverage for a Superstorm Sandy property claim after the insurer argued that the post-loss termination of a licensing agreement with its insured triggered exclusions in the underlying commercial policy.

In an April 9 order, Nassau County Supreme Court Justice James P. McCormack ruled that the property owner’s decision to terminate the agreement after damage from Sandy rendered the subject property unusable as a catering and restaurant facility was not the event that caused the alleged losses. Rather, the judge said, it was damage …