Insurers Face Wave of Costly Child Sex-Abuse Claims

By Nicole Friedman And Ian Lovett
Wall Street Journal
October 20, 2019

https://on.wsj.com/2p1A5P4

New state laws encouraging child sex-abuse victims to come forward are expected to spur a wave of lawsuits against insurance companies.

Twenty-two states and Washington, D.C., have laws going into effect this year that extend or eliminate the statute of limitations for child sex-abuse claims against alleged abusers or the institutions they were affiliated with, according to advocacy group Child USA.

Most of these institutions, such as churches or schools, are expected to try to use liability insurance to cover some of the cost of defending against these lawsuits and paying potential damages.

But almost every aspect of these insurance contracts could end up under dispute. In some cases, it might be difficult to find a contract at all.

“The insurance litigation wave is just beginning,” said Robert Chesler, an attorney at Anderson Kill, which represents insurance policyholders.