Four times, Southwest Marine and General Insurance asked Hudson Excess to take over a defense. Four times, the filing says, Hudson did not respond.
That record is now at the center of a coverage fight in New York federal court. On June 4, 2026, Southwest sued Hudson Excess Insurance Company and Federated Mutual Insurance Company in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York. It wants a judge to declare that both insurers must defend and indemnify two companies Southwest covers - Skyward Developers Inc. and WASAF 164 LLC.
The dispute traces back to a Bronx injury. A worker, Luis Bustamante-Garcia, alleges he was hurt on May 11, 2023, at a property on East 164th Street, and sued WASAF and Skyward. The filing calls that case the "Underlying Action."
Southwest stepped in to defend Skyward and WASAF and has been paying their defense costs. It says it should not have to. According to the complaint, two contractors on the job - G&B Construction NY Corp. and UGS United Glazing Solutions Inc. - agreed to name Skyward and WASAF as additional insureds on their own policies. That, Southwest argues, puts the defense on Hudson, which insured G&B, and Federated, which insured UGS.
Both policies cover "bodily injury" caused by an accident during the policy period, the filing says. Southwest claims Skyward and WASAF qualify as additional insureds on a "primary and non-contributory" basis - meaning those policies should respond first, without splitting the cost with another insurer.
So Southwest tendered to Hudson on April 30, 2024. Hudson did not respond, the complaint says. Southwest tried again on June 10, 2024, then October 6, 2024, then May 14, 2025. Each time, according to the filing, Hudson did not respond.
That record anchors one of Southwest's central arguments. The complaint says Hudson's failure to respond leaves it "precluded from attempting to deny coverage pursuant to New York Insurance Law § 3420." In other words, Southwest argues the missed responses cost Hudson its coverage defenses.
Federated took a different path. After Southwest tendered on December 19, 2023, Federated denied Skyward's tender on January 19, 2024 and did not respond to WASAF's, the filing says. Southwest calls Federated's reasoning - that there was no evidence UGS caused the accident - "entirely incorrect and in direct contravention to New York law," and says there is evidence that UGS caused the accident.
Southwest is asking for declaratory judgment and damages for breach of contract: a ruling that both insurers owe a defense and indemnity, reimbursement of its defense costs, and attorneys' fees and interest.
For claims teams, the point of interest sits away from the job site. It is in the tender record. The complaint treats Hudson's failure to respond not as a coverage position but as a forfeiture of its defenses under § 3420.
Garcia is named only as a nominal defendant, because the result could affect his coverage - not because Southwest seeks anything from him.
None of the allegations has been tested in court. Hudson and Federated have not filed a response, and no judge has ruled.
