U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, 2023

KVK-Tech, Inc. v. Navigators Specialty Insurance Company

KVK-Tech, Inc. v. Navigators Specialty Insurance Company
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit · Decided September 21, 2023

KVK-Tech, Inc. v. Navigators Specialty Insurance Company

Opinion

USCA11 Case: 22-10245 Document: 43-1 Date Filed: 09/21/2023 Page: 1 of 3

[DO NOT PUBLISH] In the United States Court of Appeals For the Eleventh Circuit ____________________ No. 22-10245 ____________________ KVK-TECH, INC., Plaintiff-Counter Defendant-Appellant, versus NAVIGATORS SPECIALTY INSURANCE COMPANY,

Defendant-Counter Claimant-Appellee.

____________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama USCA11 Case: 22-10245 Document: 43-1 Date Filed: 09/21/2023 Page: 2 of 3

2 Opinion of the Court 22-10245 D.C. Docket No. 1:21-cv-00286-KD-C ____________________ Before WILLIAM PRYOR, Chief Judge, ABUDU, and ED CARNES, Cir- cuit Judges.

PER CURIAM: Following our careful review of the record, the parties’ briefs, and with the benefit of oral argument, we affirm the judg- ment of the district court.

The language of the insurance policies in this case required KVK-Tech, Inc. (“KVK-Tech”), an opioid manufacturer, to provide notice to Navigators Specialty Insurance Company (“Navigators”), an excess insurance carrier, when a covered claim was “first made” against it during the policy period or “as soon as practicable.” It is undisputed that KVK-Tech had notice of the first-made opioid law- suit against it on or before August 31, 2017—while the 2017-18 Navigators policy was in effect. As the district court correctly found, KVK-Tech had thirty days from the expiration of the 2017- Navigators policy, i.e., until September 20, 2018, to provide no- tice of that claim against it to Navigators. It is also undisputed that KVK-Tech notified other excess carriers of other opioid lawsuits that were pending against it on June 25, 2019. Yet KVK-Tech failed to notify Navigators of any of the opioid lawsuits against it until January 27, 2020—despite having notice nearly three years earlier and notifying other excess carriers of the opioid lawsuits against it on June 25, 2019. In sum, KVK-Tech failed to provide timely notice USCA11 Case: 22-10245 Document: 43-1 Date Filed: 09/21/2023 Page: 3 of 3

22-10245 Opinion of the Court 3 to Navigators. Therefore, we AFFIRM the judgment of the district court.

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