Travelers has taken State National Insurance Company to federal court, alleging the carrier refused to honor additional insured obligations on a Bronx construction injury claim.
The action, filed on February 24, 2026 in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, shines a light on what happens when contractual risk transfer falls apart - especially under the weight of New York's Scaffold Law.
The dispute traces back to a NYCHA housing development project in the Bronx. In January 2021, Highbridge Owner, LLC and NYCHA Housing Development Fund Corporation entered into a construction management agreement with Gilbane to carry out remedial repairs and improvements to several building developments, including 1381 Franklin Avenue in the Bronx. Gilbane then subcontracted Perennial Painting Solutions Corp. in February 2022 to handle apartment door installations. Under the terms of that subcontract, Perennial was required to carry commercial general liability insurance naming both Gilbane and Highbridge as additional insureds on a primary and non-contributory basis.
That insurance arrangement is now at the center of the fight.
According to court filings, on July 1, 2022, a worker employed by Perennial was injured when a steel door he was removing collapsed on him, allegedly causing injuries to his lumbar and cervical spine that required two spinal surgeries. The worker sued Gilbane and Highbridge, alleging negligence and violations of New York Labor Law sections 200, 240, and 241(6). Section 240, widely known as the Scaffold Law, imposes absolute liability on property owners and general contractors for gravity-related injuries at construction sites - making even a single incident a potentially high-exposure claim.
Travelers, which carries Gilbane's general liability coverage, stepped in to defend both Gilbane and Highbridge. But the insurer alleges that State National - which issued the general liability policy to Perennial — should be the one on the hook.
State National's policy, according to the filings, includes a blanket additional insured endorsement extending coverage to any party Perennial agreed by written contract to insure. It also reportedly contains a primary and non-contributory endorsement, meaning the policy would respond ahead of any other coverage available to the additional insureds.
Travelers says it reached out to State National four separate times between October 2024 and January 2026 to tender the defense of Gilbane and Highbridge. Each time, the filings indicate, State National declined.
Travelers is now asking the court to declare that State National owes both a defense and indemnity to Gilbane and Highbridge as additional insureds, that its coverage is primary, and that Travelers is entitled to recover all defense and indemnity costs it has incurred.
No determination has been made in the case.
The dispute highlights a persistent friction point in construction insurance: when a subcontractor's carrier declines to step up on its additional insured commitments, the exposure rolls uphill. In New York, where the Scaffold Law can turn a single workplace injury into a significant liability event, the stakes for the carriers left carrying the load can be substantial.
The case is The Travelers Indemnity Company v. State National Insurance Company, Case No. 1:26-cv-01520, in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York.
