On February 8, 2021, Meagher + Geer, PLLP attorneys Chuck Spevacek, Bill Hart, Michael McNamee and Julia Nierengarten made news heard around the insurance world when they obtained on behalf of two Chubb entities – ACE American Insurance Company and ACE Property & Casualty Insurance Company – an order from United States District Court for the District of Minnesota granting their motion for summary judgment and dismissing the claim of Target Corporation for insurance coverage for losses arising out of its 2013 data breach. In November of 2019, Target sued its primary CGL insurer ACE American, and third layer excess CGL carrier ACE Property & Casualty, for breach of contract and for a declaratory judgment, seeking to compel the Defendants to indemnify it for the sums paid in settlement of the claims of various payment card issuing companies alleged as the cost of replacement of millions of plastic payment cards compromised as a result of Target’s 2013 data breach. Target claimed its settlement payments were reimbursable under the ACE issued primary CGL and excess CGL policies as sums it was legally obligated to pay as damages for the loss of use of tangible property. The court rejected Target’s claims, and directed that summary judgment be entered in favor of the ACE defendants.

News of this decision has been reported in Insurance Journal, Reuters, Insurance Business, Business Insurance, The Insurer and Fintech Zoom. It was the “headline” case reported in Law360 Insurance.

Links to the decision and to the reporting in Insurance Journal follow:

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