Charter Oak Fire Insurance Company, part of Travelers, sued Zurich American Insurance Company in the Southern District of New York on May 8, 2026. Travelers wants a judge to declare that Zurich must defend and pay for Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corporation in more than 20 lawsuits tied to a gas explosion in Wappingers Falls, New York, on November 2, 2023. It also wants Zurich to repay the defense costs Travelers has been footing in the meantime.
The blast happened during a gas line replacement project Central Hudson had commissioned at 7 Brick Row. According to the complaint, a service line was struck during excavation. Gas leaked, built up, and ignited - destroying multiple residences, causing serious bodily injuries, and setting off a wave of lawsuits.
The lead case, brought by Shantelle Whyte and others against Central Hudson and its contractors, is one of more than 20 related suits. It lists eight causes of action, including negligence in locating and marking the gas line.
Two contractors sit at the center of the coverage fight. Zurich's insured, Onecall Holdings/USIC, was hired to locate and mark utilities. The Whyte case alleges USIC failed to do that properly. Travelers' insured, J. Mullen & Sons Inc., did the digging, and is alleged to have damaged the service line during excavation.
Both insurers added Central Hudson as an additional insured. That is where the argument starts.
Travelers issued a commercial general liability policy to J. Mullen, effective November 1, 2023. It contains an "excess" other-insurance clause - meaning the Travelers policy is excess over any other insurance when the insured is an additional insured under that other insurance. Translation: Travelers says it should be second in line.
Zurich's commercial general liability policy, issued to Onecall Holdings, runs from January 1, 2023 to January 1, 2024 and carries a $2 million per-occurrence limit and an $8 million general aggregate limit.
Travelers says Zurich has acknowledged Central Hudson is an additional insured on its policy. But according to the complaint, Zurich argues that coverage is subject to a $2 million Self Insured Retention, and that other policy provisions and exclusions block coverage anyway.
Travelers disagrees. The complaint says the Zurich policy covers Central Hudson "on a primary non-contributory basis" - first dollar, no waiting in line behind another insurer. On that reading, Zurich should be running the defense, and Travelers' policy should sit excess to it.
Central Hudson first demanded coverage from Zurich on November 9, 2023, a week after the explosion. Travelers has been paying Central Hudson's defense bills ever since and wants the money back. According to the complaint, Zurich has "improperly and without justification failed to provide said coverage."
Travelers is asking the court for declarations that Central Hudson is an additional insured on the Zurich policy, that Zurich must defend Central Hudson on a primary non-contributory basis and indemnify it in the underlying actions, that the Travelers policy is excess to Zurich's, and that Zurich must reimburse Travelers for all defense costs paid to date, plus interest. A jury trial has been demanded.
The allegations have not been tested in court. Zurich has not yet filed a response, and no court has ruled on the coverage questions.
