A major television company has filed suit against one of its insurers, claiming more than $6.9 million in damages.
NBC Universal Media’s Universal Cable Productions alleges Bermuda-based insurance firm OneBeacon Insurance Group breached contract by failing to pay out after filming of a pilot for a new TV series was delayed by a 2014 attack by Palestinian group Hamas.
However, Atlantic Specialty Insurance – the OneBeacon subsidiary named in the suit – claims it does not have to pay thanks to the policy’s war exclusion.
Filed in US District Court in Los Angeles, Universal contends the war exclusion is not relevant as Hamas is not a sovereign entity.
Atlantic Specialty was insuring the TV show “Dig,” a police procedural based in Jerusalem and featuring an Israeli FBI agent whose investigation of an American’s death leads to the discovery of a 2,000-year-lld conspiracy.
The 10-episode season premiered in March 2014 on the USA cable network, but the filming of the pilot was delayed after Hamas targeted Israel with rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip in July. Universal postponed production after the US State Department warned of a potential escalation, and eventually resumed filming in Croatia and New Mexico.
The Atlantic policy covered television production losses from January 11, 2014 through June 30, 2015. The insurer first agreed that Universal’s losses following the attack were covered under its extra expense provision, which provides protection for “imminent peril,” the complaint says. Atlantic allegedly agreed to pay six days’ worth of postponement costs.
Coverage was eventually denied, however, after Atlantic argued that the event was not covered under the policy’s war exclusion.
“Atlantic’s position that the war exclusion is contrary to the policy’s terms, applicable law and foreign policy of the United States of America,” Universal says in the suit.
“In order for the exclusion to apply, under applicable law, Atlantic must establish that the event in Israel constituted war or war-like activity between two sovereign or quasi-sovereign nations…The United States government has officially designated Hamas as a terrorist organization,” not a sovereign government.
Universal charges Atlantic with breach of contract and good faith, and seeks the $6.9 million in addition to attorneys’ fees and costs.
The case is
Universal Cable Productions LLC et al v. Atlantic Specialty Insurance Co.
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