In a construction loss coverage litigation brought by Indianapolis Airport Authority (IAA) against its builders risk insurer, Travelers Property Casualty Company, IAA unsuccessfully attempted to issue a subpoena to Travelers’s reinsurer. The subpoena sought various reinsurance agreements, premium and underwriting information, analysis, communications, and loss reports. Travelers moved for a protective order and to quash IAA’s subpoena on the grounds that the discovery of reinsurance information was overly broad, unduly burdensome and not discoverable. Travelers argued that the material requested contains “sensitive business information typically not relevant to coverage itself.” The court agreed that the discovery requested was overbroad in that “IAA requests reinsurance discovery from 2005 through July 10, 2013, despite the fact that the steel tower collapse at issue in this litigation occurred January 24, 2007.” The court further found that the communications requested were irrelevant because they did “not speak to Travelers’ intent and do not clarify any ambiguous terms of the policy.” The court quashed the subpoena and entered a protective order precluding IAA “from obtaining any discovery of reinsurance documentation.” Indianapolis Airport Authority v. Travelers Property Casualty Co. of America, Case No. 1:13-cv-01316 (USDC S.D. Ind. April 7, 2015).
This post written by Michael Wolgin.
See our disclaimer.