The entertainer’s insurer does not feel obligated to pay his claims as he allegedly hid his condition from them.
Usher’s insurance company alleges the singer failed to inform them that he had received a herpes diagnosis before he obtained coverage. As a result, the insurer states that should not have to pay his claims for the lawsuits filed against him from sexual partners to whom he did not disclose his condition.
Documents filed in a Los Angeles Superior Court state that the insurers feel they are not obligated to provide coverage.
Usher’s insurance company is New York Marine and General Insurance Company. Their filings in the L.A. court show that it feels it has no obligation to fork over the cash for the singer’s defense. Usher is being sued in both California and Georgia for having failed to disclose to his sexual partners the fact that he had received a herpes diagnosis. Moreover, the insurance company court documents also stated that it is also not responsible for paying for the performer’s defense if any other future lawsuits of this nature should arise in the future.
There were several reasons identified by Usher’s insurance company excusing it from having to cover him.
For one thing, New York Marine stated that the policy the singer carries specifically states “does not provide coverage for an ‘insured’ who has a. intentionally concealed or misrepresented any material fact or circumstance.” This suggests that because Usher did not disclose his herpes diagnosis to the insurance company, they don’t need to cover him for claims relating to it.
Furthermore, the insurer also stated that the policy “does not apply to ‘bodily injury’ … arising out of the transmission of any communicable diseases by insured.” Therefore, even if Usher had disclosed his sexually transmitted disease to the insurer, the policy itself still would not have covered lawsuits of that specific nature.
Finally, Usher’s insurance company said that the celebrity had already settled a previous lawsuit filed against him in 2012. That lawsuit involved the exact same problem and concluded with a $1.1 million settlement. As a result, the celebrity insurance company has requested that the court excuse them from the requirement to pay the performer’s claim for his defense.