Attorney obtained summary judgment in favor of an insurance carrier in an insurance coverage case

Attorney obtained summary judgment in favor of an insurance carrier in an insurance coverage case. The policyholder sued his insurance broker, who procured a commercial automobile policy, alleging that the broker should have procured a private lines policy or a commercial line policy endorsed with a different endorsement. The broker then sued the insurance carrier, alleging that the carrier's underwriting procedures and decisions were to blame, or alternatively, that the broker at all times acted as the carrier's agent, and the carrier was therefore responsible for any professional negligence of the broker. The attorney persuaded the court that although an agency agreement existed between the broker and the insurance carrier, the scope of the broker's agency was limited and did not include any authority to advise policyholders on what coverage to procure or not to procure. Additionally, the attorney obtained favorable testimony from the broker at his deposition, establishing that the insurance carrier was not responsible for the selection of the policy or types of coverage procured by the broker, and the policy requested from the company was the policy that was produced. The broker further admitted that he could not point to anything specific that the carrier did wrong in the underwriting process, but maintained that the carrier was responsible to indemnify the broker in the underlying dispute as the broker's principal. The court granted summary judgment, dismissing the broker's claim against the insurance carrier, holding that the broker did not act as the insurance carrier's agent for purposes of procurement of coverage for the policyholder as a matter of law, and the carrier had no duty to indemnify the broker.