Maryland Court Rejects Insurer Effort to Avoid Cable Company Indemnity

Axis Insurance is responsible for defending and indemnifying Maryland's Ellicott City Cable in its legal fight against DirecTV, U.S. District Judge Richard Bennett of Baltimore ruled in a memorandum opinion (in Pacer) Friday. DirecTV sued Sky Cable, Ellicott and their owners in 2013, alleging DirecTV agent Sky Cable was fraudulently using the DirecTV Multiple Dwelling Unit Bulk Program to get discounted subscription rates for clients including Ellicott; that case settled in November 2015. After Ellicott notified Axis about the suit, the insurer denied coverage on the grounds the underlying action came from Ellicott's alleged intentional unauthorized use of DirecTV programming and is within the exclusions of the liability policies it issued, Bennett said. In the opinion, the judge dismissed a pair of arguments Axis made about those exclusions, denying an Axis motion for dismissal and granting an Ellicott cross-motion for partial summary judgment. Axis didn't comment Monday.