An excess insurer says it first learned of a fatal-crash lawsuit against its policyholders 62 days before trial.
Hallmark Specialty Insurance Company filed a declaratory judgment complaint on July 28, 2026, in the US District Court for the Northern District of Florida. It asks the court to declare that it has no duty to defend or indemnify its insureds under an excess liability policy covering the January 1, 2023 to January 1, 2024 period.
The underlying lawsuit stems from a death. According to the complaint, a pedestrian was struck by a tractor-trailer on February 2, 2023, in the parking lot of a Marathon gas station on US Highway 90 in Madison County, Florida, and died from his injuries that April. The complaint says the estate sued in October 2024, naming the company that owns the site and later adding an affiliated company that operates it. A truck driver and his trucking employer, initially named, were later dismissed from that suit, according to the filing.
The timing is central to Hallmark's claim. The insurer alleges the insureds did not report the crash or the lawsuit to it until June 9, 2026 - which, by Hallmark's count, was 1,223 days after the crash and 613 days after the suit was filed.
By that point, the complaint says, several things had already happened in the underlying case. The insureds had missed an April 23, 2025 expert-disclosure deadline, their rebuttal expert had been disclosed 384 days late and struck from the case, their motion for summary judgment had been denied, and a May 28, 2026 mediation had ended without a settlement. Hallmark also alleges the settlement demand had risen from $1 million to $21 million.
Hallmark's action turns on the policy's notice conditions. The complaint cites language requiring the insured, once a suit is brought, to see to it that the insurer receives written notice "as soon as practicable." It also points to a clause giving the excess carrier "the right and be given the opportunity to be associated in the defense and trial of any SUITS." Receiving notice roughly two months before trial, Hallmark alleges, deprived it of that opportunity and caused it "irreparable prejudice."
According to the complaint, Hallmark reserved its rights on July 1, 2026, and disclaimed coverage on July 22, 2026, before filing suit.
The allegations have not been tested, and no court has ruled on whether the policy provides coverage.
