Recovered More Than $1.65 Million on Behalf of Homebuilder in Insurance Coverage Case

Irvine partner Scott Thomas and associate Kevin Brantley recovered more than $1.65 million from several insurers on behalf of a homebuilder, reimbursing the homebuilder for all defense costs it had incurred, or would incur in the future, after the insurers denied coverage and refused to defend the homebuilder in a single-home construction defect action.

After being rebuffed by the insurers for more than five years, the homebuilder retained Payne & Fears to recover roughly $1 million in past defense costs and negotiate a going-forward defense-funding arrangement. After Payne & Fears filed suit against the insurers and engaged in several rounds of mediation, we negotiated a settlement that covered all of the homebuilder’s past and future defense costs, as well as a substantial portion of Payne & Fears’ costs incurred pursuing the insurers.