The insurance company can raise their own defenses and probably hold payment on the claim until after a trial. They don't want to pay on this claim, you can bet that and insurance companies have a lot of power when it comes to paying on claims. There's a powerful insurance lobby for one thing.
And, there's the matter of actually reading the policy line by line. The policy dictates what happens in any situation.
I don't think his attorney will count on the insurance money to defray defense costs either.