Harvey Weinstein in legal battle with Chubb over lawsuit cover

Harvey Weinstein has filed a counterclaim against Chubb, alleging that the insurer has refused to fund his defence in lawsuits against him.

This is despite the disgraced media mogul, who is accused of sexually assaulting women, having paid over $1.2m in premiums between 1994 and 2018, the Hollywood Reporter reports.

Weinstein’s policies included one that promised $300,000 in crisis assistance benefits.

However, in late February various insurers under Chubb’s umbrella went to a New York federal court to request a judicial declaration to say that they would not have to provide defence or indemnity for Weinstein in 11 cases.

The cases concern allegations of sexual harassment or assault brought against the former studio boss.

The lawsuits arise “out of a pattern of intentional, egregious sexual predatory behaviour by Harvey Weinstein which included rape, flashing, fondling, harassing, battering, and other sexual assault, all for his own personal sexual gratification, which spanned at least the past 30 years,” documents filed by Chubb and available from the Hollywood Reporter reveal.

It is believed that Weinstein entered into strict nondisclosure agreements as part of confidential settlements with at least eight victims.

Over a hundred more women could have been affected by Weinstein’s behaviour in addition to those bringing cases against him, the documents filed by Chubb say.

The policies taken out by Weinstein include exclusions for: intentional acts; director’s liability; business pursuits; molestation, misconduct or abuse, and discrimination, Chubb claims.

But Weinstein has hit back in the counterclaim, alleging that Chubb responded to his claims by “churning” out letters that “improperly” denied them.

Chubb’s “mishandling” of the claim for coverage of the underlying lawsuits “bespeaks a systemic effort to wrongfully injure their insured,” documents filed on behalf of Weinstein and available through the Hollywood Reporter allege.

“So flimsy were the insurer’s denials that they failed to base their decision on the terms of any specific policy and/or the language of any particular form,” the documents read.

The counterclaim continues: “The time for such gamesmanship has ended. By this counterclaim, Mr Weinstein seeks to hold the Chubb Insurers accountable for their wrongs, to force the insurers to provide bargained-for policy benefits, and to pay other damages for their bad faith conduct.”

The case continues.