A global reinsurance company is set to challenge a yacht owner at the US Supreme Court, bringing to the forefront a longstanding clash between federal maritime law and state insurance rules. Anthony Bartell spoke with Bloomberg Law about the rarity of the Supreme Court taking on insurance cases, as they are typically governed by state law, and about the potential impact of the case on policyholders: “Insurance companies generally want New York state law to apply to coverage disputes, because New York law historically has been more favorable to insurers,” Anthony said. “Policyholders don’t really have the power to negotiate over these [choice of law] provisions” in most instances, he added, and “in a lot of cases, the application of a particular state’s law means the difference between whether or not the policyholder gets the coverage.”
10.5.2023