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Former NFL defensive lineman sues med mal insurers, brokers

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NFL

Former National Football League player Sharrif K. Floyd, whose career ended after knee surgery, sued a Sompo International Holding Co. unit, a The Doctors Co. unit, Marsh USA Inc. and USI Insurance Services LLC, charging a $10 million shortfall in insurance proceeds.

The defensive lineman, who was a first-round pick in the 2013 NFL draft, was playing for the Minnesota Vikings in 2016 when he was injured and underwent a right knee arthroscopy at Andrews Institute Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC in Gulf Breeze, Florida, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday.

The suit, Sharrif K. Floyd, individually and as assignee of the Andrews Institute Ambulatory Surgery Center, LLC v. Endurance American Specialty Insurance Co., TDC Specialty Insurance Co., USI Insurance Services LLC, and Marsh USA Inc., was filed in U.S. District Court in Gainesville, Florida. Mr. Floyd alleges the arthroscopy surgery effectively ended his career and he filed a medical malpractice suit against the institute and others in state court.

According to the suit, the institute’s primary insurer for the 2016-2017 policy period, a unit of Arch Capital Group Ltd. that is not a party in the suit, paid the $2 million primary limit. Endurance provided $25 million in umbrella coverage on a claims made basis, the suit states.

Endurance also provided excess coverage for the 2017-2018 policy period, where The Doctors Co. was the primary insurer, but the excess limit was cut to $15 million. The Doctors Co. also provided $10 million in excess coverage, the suit states. Marsh was the placing broker for the 2017-2018 coverage but USI was also involved, the suit states.

The suit alleges the institute notified USI of the potential claim prior to the expiration of the 2016-2017 policy and the broker immediately informed Arch but did not notify Endurance of the claim before the policy expired.

The suit says the institute’s insurers paid only $17 million in coverage, leaving a $10 million shortfall from the $27 million in coverage Mr. Sharrif says should be available. According to the suit, Endurance accepted coverage under the 2017-2018 policy and The Doctors Co. said the coverage fell under the 2016-2017 policy.

The lawsuit seeks declaratory judgments against the insurers and charges the brokers that handled the account with breach of contract and fiduciary duty and negligence. 

The Doctors Co. said in a statement, “We haven’t had the opportunity to review the lawsuit and it is not our practice to comment on pending litigation.”

Other defendants in the case had no comment or did not respond to a request for comment.