A slew of pandemic-related lawsuits brought by universities against United Educators, one of the top higher education liability insurers, is a clear example of the need to argue for broad defense obligations, especially in circumstances where partial damages coverage is on the table, policyholder attorneys say.

Raymond A. Mascia Jr., a partner at Anderson Kill PC, said the coverage disputes over tuition reimbursement show an industry looking for ways to deny already promised coverage for claims that should be expected for these types of policyholders.

"This is another example where the insurance industry is selling a policy … and everyone understands that it's being sold to cover this type of risk," he told Law360. "But because the insurance industry doesn't like the claims that come after the policy's underwritten, they're trying to post-loss underwrite with exclusions that really don't apply."

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