A commentary on insurance coverage issues in Hawaii and beyond
The Colorado Court of Appeals considered whether counterclaims against the insured for alleged faulty construction work were based in contract or constituted allegations of an "accident" under the policy. TCD, Inc. v. Am. Family Mutual Ins. Co., 2012 WL 1231964 (Colo. Ct. App. April 12, 2012).
The developer, Frisco Gateway Center, LLC, contracted…
When the additional insured argued it was entitled to coverage for loss to its cars due to a rain storm, the court disagreed because the endorsement only provided for third party coverage. BMW of N. Am. v. Complete Auto Recon Servs., 2012 S.C. App. LEXIS 218 (S.C. Ct. App. Aug. 1, 2012).
BMW had…
The insured's duty to cooperate after the insurer initially denies the claim but later agrees to defend under reservations was the issue in Travelers Prop. Cas. Co. of Am. v. Fid. & Guar. Ins. Co., 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 65834 (N.D. Cal. May 10, 2012).
Centex Homes developed several residential communities, subcontracting…
Coverage for construction defects was denied because the underlying claims were strictly contract-based and did not arise from an occurrence. Secura Ins. v. Horizon Plumbing, Inc., 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 4477 (8th Cir. March 5, 2012).
Weitz Company, LLC was the general contractor on a project for MH Metropolitan, LLC. Horizon Plumbing…
Although it was an additional insured under the tenant's commercial general liability policy, the landlord was not entitled to a defense for injury arising out of property other than the leased property. See VBH Luxury, Inc. v. 940 Madison Assoc. LLC, 2012 N.Y. LEXIS 217 (N.Y. Feb. 14, 2012).
The landlord was an additional insured…
The shopping mall owner, Bender Square Partners, sought to recover from the insurer for losses resulting from Hurricane Ike to property it had leased to PNS Stores, Inc. Bender Square Partners v. Factory Mut. Ins. Co., 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8095 (S.D. Texas Jan. 24, 2012). It turned out Bender was not an…
The insurer unsuccessfully moved for summary judgment, contending it had no obligation to defend two related underlying construction defect cases. Amerisure Ins. Co. v. R.L.Lantana Boatyard, Ltd., 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2466 (S.D. Fla. Jan. 9, 2012).
An engineering report noted design construction defects and deficiencies in visible, physical improvements at The Moorings at Lantana Condominium.
The contractor was covered as an additional insured under the subcontractor's policy even though the parties had never actually signed an agreement to add the contractor to the policy. Evanston Ins. Co. v. Westchester Surplus Lines Ins. Co., 2011 U.S. App. LEXIS 20081 (9th Cir. Oct. 3, 2011).
The policies held by Bellevue Master…
The interpretation of the additional insured endorsement was key to determining coverage in Lancaster v. Ferrell Paving, Inc., 2011 Tenn. App. LEXIS 507 (Tenn. Ct. App. Sept. 20, 2011).
Ferrell Paving, Inc. used a warehouse to store its construction materials. Ferrell employed Imperial Guard Service, Inc. to provide security services for the…
The cost of removing and replacing cracked flanges to prevent future leakage was not covered as an ensuing loss under a builder's risk policy in RK Mechanical, Inc. v. Travelers Prop. Casualty Co. of Am., 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 83958 (D. Colo. Aug. 1, 2011).
The insured, RK Mechanical Inc., was a…
