One insurer wants another to pay. Ohio Casualty is suing Zurich to make it defend a landlord over a sidewalk fall.
Ohio Casualty Insurance Company, or OCIC, filed suit against Zurich American Insurance Company in federal court in the Eastern District of New York on July 9, 2026. It wants a judge to declare that Zurich, not OCIC, owes the primary defense in a personal injury case.
The pieces fit together like this. OCIC insures a landlord. Zurich insures the tenant, Keurig Dr. Pepper. A man says he slipped and fell on the sidewalk next to the property on or about November 14, 2023, then sued in Queens, with the landlord among the defendants. OCIC is defending the landlord and wants Zurich to take over.
The lease drives the claim. The tenant, OCIC says, agreed to name the landlord as an additional insured "with limits of $5,000,000.00 combined single limit per occurrence for injury or death, or for damage to property." The complaint also points to a lease clause on sidewalk upkeep: "Tenant shall maintain the exterior, the parking lot, sidewalk, driveways and landscaping on, about or serving the Premises in good order and repair, including snow removal and sweeping."
OCIC alleges Zurich's policy - no. GL0855435302, in force from October 21, 2023 to October 21, 2024 - gives the landlord "primary, noncontributory additional insured coverage." It says its tenders were "consistently disregarded" and that Zurich "failed and/or refused to acknowledge" a duty to defend.
OCIC is asking the court to declare Zurich the primary insurer, place OCIC's coverage in excess, and award the defense costs it has incurred, plus interest. The fight comes down to which policy answers first once a landlord is added as an insured on a tenant's coverage.
The allegations have not been tested in court, and no judge has ruled.
