Insurer Must Defend Defamation Claim Against Axiom Insurance Managers, Judge Rules

CHICAGO — An insurer has a duty to defend a Texas state court suit brought against a reinsurance program administrator by a competitor because the claims fall within the policy’s “personal and advertising injury” coverage and are not barred by the policy’s intentional acts exclusion, an Illinois federal judge has ruled. Axiom Insurance Managers LLC v. Capitol Specialty Insurance Corp., No. 11 C 4736 (N.D. Ill.).

However, Judge William T. Hart ruled that Capitol Specialty Insurance Corp. has no duty to defend claims brought by Axiom Insurance Managers LLC’s competitor in two other federal suits because they fall within the …