Ambiguous wording in policy costs insurer additional $4M

Workplace Issues

By Mark D. DeBofsky

Mark D. DeBofsky is a name partner of DeBofsky, Sherman & Casciari P.C. He handles civil and appellate litigation involving employee benefits, disability insurance and other insurance claims and coverage, and Social Security law. He can be reached at mdebofsky@debofsky.com.

Posted August 12, 2019 9:27 AM

An inadvertent ambiguity in an insurance policy can be costly as Federal Insurance Co. learned in Tyll v. Stanley Black & Decker Life Insurance Program, 2019 WL 3081061 (D. Conn. July 12, 2019). There, the court resolved a motion for summary judgment seeking a determination as to the amount of business travel accident insurance owed when Michael Tyll died while on a commercial airline flight from Paris to New York.At the time of his death, Tyll was employed by Stanley and was receiving a salary of more than $1 million …

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