BatesCarey attorneys Adam H. Fleischer, Matthew P. Fortin and Craig M. Leff prevailed on behalf of their client, Swiss Re, in Hertz v. ACE American Ins. Co., where the court granted BatesCarey’s motions for partial summary judgment on the issues of number of occurrences and trigger of coverage. The court held that personal injury claims stemming from different interactions with law enforcement resulting in the false arrest or detention of Hertz’s customers constitute separate occurrences and, therefore, could not be aggregated as Hertz had insisted in order to exhaust its $10 million annual retention. The court also ruled that each occurrence could only “trigger” policies in effect when the false arrest, or “covered offense,” took place.

Swiss Re argued that, based upon the legal rulings it sought, Hertz has no group of personal injury claims in any policy year exceeding the $10 million retention, meaning that neither Swiss Re nor any of the higher layer insurers are liable for damages.

The case stems from hundreds of claimants alleging that Hertz engaged in systemic errors in tracking car rentals, returns and license plates, which resulted in false police reports being issued on cars that were not stolen. The reports resulted in hundreds of customers being falsely arrested or maliciously prosecuted between 2014 and 2020. Hertz settled 388 of these claims for a combined sum of more than $168 million. Hertz then sued its insurers, seeking indemnity for these settlements.