Insurer's Principal Place of Business Controls Choice of Law
Certain Underwriters at Lloyd's, London v Foster Wheeler Corp. (NY Oct. 11, 2007)
For reasons stated in the intermediate appellate court’s decision below (Certain Underwriters at Lloyd's, London v Foster Wheeler Corp., 36 AD3d 17 (1st Dept. 2006)), New York’s high court affirms that, in determining the law governing liability policies covering multistate risks, the state of the insured's principal place of business is the primary factor and should be regarded as a proxy for the principal location of the insured risk, which is a controlling factor in determining the law applicable to a liability policy. Court reasoned that state of the insured's principal place of business has a greater concern with issues of policy construction and application bearing on the amount of coverage than do states where contracting, negotiation, or payment of the premium happened to occur.
