If your CGL (or liability) insurer unjustifiably refuses to provide you a defense in a lawsuit, the insurer is liable for the reasonable attorney’s fees and costs you incur in defending that lawsuit. The operative word is “unjustifiably.” For instance, if you get sued and your CGL insurer refuses to provide you a defense and you retain private counsel to defend you, the CGL insurer will be liable for your attorney’s fees and costs if it should have provided you a duty defend in connection with that suit. Of course, on the other hand, if the CGL insurer justifiably refused to defend you (based on the allegations in the lawsuit / claim and coverage under the policy) then it will not be liable for your reasonable attorney’s fees and costs.
Please contact David Adelstein at dadelstein@gmail.com or (954) 361-4720 if you have questions or would like more information regarding this article. You can follow David Adelstein on Twitter @DavidAdelstein1.