Insurer’s “Unsolicited Communications” Exclusion Held Effective in Excluding Coverage for TCPA Claim
Represented a commercial lines insurer in prosecuting a declaratory judgment action in the Eastern District of Missouri to determine insurer’s duty to provide its insured a defense in an underlying lawsuit asserting violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). Claimant asserted the insured had engaged in a “robo-call” advertising campaign which violated the TCPA and insured sought coverage under four consecutive commercial general liability policies. The insurer denied coverage under an “Unsolicited Communications” exclusion and, following submission of a motion for summary judgment, the Court agreed, finding no coverage existed under three of the policies as the discrete acts complained of occurred outside the effective policy periods and that coverage was otherwise excluded under the fourth policy’s “Unsolicited Communications” exclusion which, as was argued in the moving papers, was found to be broad enough to encompass and exclude coverage for the alleged TCPA violations.