The Ninth Circuit reversed the District Court's denial of a defense based upon ambiguous allegations in the underlying complaint. Pulte Home Corp. v. TIG Ins. Co., 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 35988 (9th Cir. Dec. 4, 2019).

    Pulte Home Corporation sued TIG for failing to defend in two lawsuits brought by homeowners alleging construction defects. The district court granted summary judgment to TIG. 

    The underling allegations at least arguably brought the occurrence within the policy's coverage. The complaints' allegations were so ambiguous or incomplete that the property damage could have arisen out of ongoing operations, thus triggering the duty to defend. The underlying allegations did not specify when or how the property damage occurred, other than to say that it a rose out the original construction. 

    The policies did not require property damage to "manifest" during the policy period. Rather, the property damage had to simply occur during the policy period, no matter when it became apparent to the homeowners. Nor did the policies provide that coverage for occurrences during ongoing operations would cease after a subcontractor completed its operations. Given the vagueness of the underling complaints, TIG failed to meet its burden to prove without dispute that the business-risk exclusions applied. 

    Therefore, the case was reversed and remanded for further proceedings