Broker pushed to center of Opry Mills insurance dispute

Pierce Greenberg has updated the big-stakes legal battle [2] over the post-flood renovation of Opry Mills. At issue are $150 million the mall's owners say they are entitled to but which their insurers won't pony up. A number of the latter are now pointing fingers at brokerage firm Aon, which apparently assured mall ownership — even after the waters had struck — that they had up to $200 million in coverage.

In a punchy answer to Simon’s complaint, Essex defends itself against all claims and also enters a cross-claim for indemnity, contribution and negligence against Aon. Zurich American Insurance also entered a similar cross-claim.

According to Essex, the “certificates of insurance” issued to Simon “(do) not accurately reflect the terms and conditions of the coverage relating to Opry Mills that was in effect at the time they were issued.”