Court Rejects Dish, Travelers Attempts To Add Ace to Their Indemnification Fight

Travelers Property Casualty and Dish Network can file amended claims and counterclaims, but those filings can't include claims or counterclaims against Ace American Insurance or any other third party, said U.S. District Judge Sue Myerscough of Springfield, Illinois, in an order Thursday. Both insurers are seeking determinations they aren't responsible for defense costs as Dish fights claims by the FTC and California, Illinois, North Carolina and Ohio alleging violations of telemarketing sales rules because Dish helped dealers make robocalls and Travelers has tried to amend its complaint to assert a claim against Ace, seeking defense cost contributions from Ace to the extent the two insurers are found to owe Dish defense costs (see 1602120017) while Dish sought to amend its Travelers counterclaim to include third-party claims against Ace. In her order, Myerscough said neither Dish nor Travelers objected to the amendment of the claims and counterclaims against one another, and the changes will relieve them of the burden of maintaining two separate suits: one concerning Travelers' duty to defend Dish and another concerning its duty to indemnify it. She also said she disagreed with Ace's argument that Dish and Travelers "have engaged in inappropriate forum-shopping," but also said she couldn't find good cause to allow the Dish and Travelers third-party claims because the deadline passed more than three years ago. Since Ace and Dish already are litigating their coverage dispute in federal court in Colorado, she said, "Allowing Dish and Travelers to bring issues relating to the Ace policy into this case will only impede the Ace court's resolution of those issues." Dish and Travelers didn't comment.