NOTICE CONDITION BEGINS WHEN YOU LEAVE THE BUILDING … i.e., ARE SERVED.

The duty to provide notice of a claim under a liability policy begins when you or your authorized agent are served with summons and complaint, not when officers employed by your insured corporation first became aware of it.  This was the holding under Maryland law in the case of St. Paul Mercury Ins. Co. v. Am. Bank Holdings, Inc., 819 F.3d 728, 733 (4th Cir. 2016):  "Thus, according to the policy, the requirement to give notice is triggered not by 'actual knowledge' of a claim, but by 'service of a complaint' upon the insured."

 Please Read The Disclaimer.  ©2016 by Dennis J. Wall, author of "Insurance Claims and Issues" (forthcoming Thomson Reuters 2016).  All rights reserved.