News & Analysis as of

Denial of Insurance Coverage Construction Defects

Rivkin Radler LLP

September 2024 Insurance Update

Rivkin Radler LLP on

In this month’s update, we discuss Russian-seized planes, Starbucks-caused traffic jams, a squabble over the use of a family name, a restaurant’s pandemic-based loss, a poorly built house, and whether insurance covers any of...more

Hinckley Allen

Contractors, Beware: General Liability Insurers Wrongfully Denying Claims for Damage Caused by Defective Subcontractor Work

Hinckley Allen on

As a contractor, you are familiar with working together with subcontractors — delegating project scope as part of the overall job. However, when a subcontractor’s work is defective, who is liable for the damage?...more

Carlton Fields

Alabama Federal Court Finds No Duty to Defend Lawsuit Alleging Concealment of Defects in Sale of Home

Carlton Fields on

In Nationwide Mutual Fire Insurance Co. v. Carmichael, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, applying Alabama law, entered summary judgment ruling that Nationwide Fire Insurance Co. had no duty to...more

Cozen O'Connor

Pennsylvania District Court Finds No Coverage for Foreseeable Damages to Third-Party Property Caused By Faulty Workmanship

Cozen O'Connor on

In Berkley Specialty Ins. Co. v. Masterforce Constr. Corp., No. 4:19-CV-01162, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14006 (M.D. Pa. Jan. 26, 2021) (Brann, J.), the Court recently concluded that, under Pennsylvania law, all reasonably...more

Cozen O'Connor

Ensuing Loss Clause Does Not Create Coverage for “Collapse” Inseparable from Damage Caused by Excluded Perils

Cozen O'Connor on

     In Jowite Limited Partnership v. Federal Insurance Company, the United States District Court for the District of Maryland issued a rare opinion addressing whether “collapse” is a covered “ensuing loss” under an all-risks...more

Butler Weihmuller Katz Craig LLP

Heads I win, Tails You Lose: Southern Owners Insurance Company v. MAC Contractors

On July 29, 2020, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals issued its opinion in Southern Owners Ins. Co. v. MAC Contractors, of Fla., LLC, --- Fed. Appx. ---, 2020 WL 4345199 (11th Cir. July 29, 2020).  While claiming to follow...more

Carlton Fields

Connecticut Supreme Court Fortifies Crumbling Foundation Claim Denials in Trio of Insurer Victories

Carlton Fields on

A year ago, we wrote about a rapidly emerging area of insurance litigation in Connecticut: crumbling foundations. As a quick recap, tens of thousands of homes in northeastern Connecticut built over a span of more than 30...more

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

Court Finds That “Care, Custody Or Control” Exclusion Did Not Negate Coverage For General Contractor Who Shared Jobsite...

McMillin Homes Constr., Inc. v. National Fire & Marine Ins. Co., 35 Cal.App.5th 1042 (2019); Fourth Appellate District Court of Appeal, Division One, Case No. D074219 (June 5, 2019). McMillin Homes Construction, Inc....more

Troutman Pepper

Federal Court in North Carolina Enforces Insurers’ Duty to Defend a General Contractor as an Additional Named Insured Under the...

Troutman Pepper on

Westfield Ins. Co. v. Weaver Cooke Constr., LLC, 2019 BL 129431 (E.D.N.C. Apr. 11, 2019) - This case arises out of the alleged defective construction of a condominium complex in North Carolina. In 2009, the developer on...more

Spilman Thomas & Battle, PLLC

A Case to Watch: Brayman v. Westfield Insurance

Pennsylvania law suggests construction defects generally are not considered an "occurrence" under most CGL insurance policies because defects are not true accidents, e.g., a fortuitous event. However, an exception generally...more

Bricker Graydon LLP

Got coverage? What to consider in the wake of the Ohio Supreme Court’s ruling on Ohio Northern University v. Charles Construction...

Bricker Graydon LLP on

On October 9, 2018, in Ohio N. University v. Charles Constr. Servs., Inc., Slip Opinion 2018-Ohio-4057, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that property damage caused by a subcontractor’s allegedly defective work was not covered...more

Carlton Fields

California Federal Court Holds Scope of Duty to Defend Is Determined by the Language of the Contract

Carlton Fields on

In Harper Construction Co. v. National Union Fire Insurance Co. of Pittsburgh, the Southern District of California rejected an insured’s attempt to expand a CGL policy’s definition of “suit” to encompass mere demands without...more

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

Illinois Appellate Court Rejects Federal Insurance Coverage Analysis, Finds Duty to Defend Against Construction Defect Allegations

On March 29, 2019, the Illinois Appellate Court issued an opinion clarifying when a duty to defend against construction defect allegations exists under a subcontractor’s commercial general liability (CGL) policy. The decision...more

Buckingham, Doolittle & Burroughs, LLC

Dear YouDig? Forgot to Buy Insurance

Dear YouDig?, We thought we had insurance coverage if a subcontractor screws up. Now we hear that the Ohio Supreme Court says we might not? What is going on? I would never be caught dead without comprehensive insurance. I...more

Carlton Fields

Court Enforces Policy’s Crumbling Foundation Plain Language in Dismissing Claims Against Insurers

Carlton Fields on

A federal judge in Connecticut recently dismissed claims against insurers related to their denial of a claim by two homeowners whose home’s foundation was crumbling. The case, Hyde v. Allstate Ins. Co., No. 3:18-cv-00031 (D....more

Carlton Fields

South Carolina Federal Court Denies Motion to Stay and Orders Insurer to Produce Documents

Carlton Fields on

The background of this case is as follows. In 2014, ContraVest Inc., ContraVest Construction Co., and Plantation Point Horizontal Property Regime Owners Association Inc. (collectively, “Plaintiffs”) brought suit in South...more

Stoel Rives -  Ahead of Schedule

California Court Finds Coverage When “Property Damage” Doesn’t Require Physical Injury By Definition

Although it may seem strange at first, the recent ruling by the California Fourth Appellate District Court in Thee Sombrero, Inc. v. Scottsdale Co., (2018 EL 5292072), holding that an insurer must pay for a claim where there...more

Saul Ewing LLP

Update: Ohio Supreme Court Denies Insurance Coverage for Contractor’s Defective Work

Saul Ewing LLP on

On Oct. 9, 2018, the Ohio Supreme Court denied insurance coverage under a Commercial General Liability ("CGL") policy for a contract's defective work. The Court reasoned that "property damage caused by a subcontractor’s...more

Troutman Pepper

Fifth Circuit Holds Settlement Proceeds Received by General Contractor From Subcontractors Constitute “Other Insurance” Which...

Troutman Pepper on

Satterfield & Pontikes Constr., Inc. v. United States Fire Ins. Co., 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 21488 (5th Cir. Aug. 2, 2018) - This case arises out of an excess insurance provider’s refusal to cover damages incurred by the...more

White and Williams LLP

Complex Insurance Coverage Reporter – February 2018

White and Williams LLP on

An Insurer’s Guide to Reserving Rights: Tips for Avoiding Waiver and Estoppel - Insurers know all too well that the penalties for an ineffective reservation of rights letter can be severe...more

Carlton Fields

Look Beneath The Surface: No Coverage For DC Row House Collapse Under Builder’s Risk Policy

Carlton Fields on

The interpretation of a property insurance policy may seem like a dull endeavor, but courts sometimes face fundamental questions about what words mean, or how we conceptualize cause and effect. In Taja Investments LLC v....more

Troutman Pepper

Applying Florida’s “Eight Corners Rule,” Eleventh Circuit Finds that Insurer Has a Duty to Defend Claim That Insured’s Faulty...

Troutman Pepper on

Addison Ins. Co. v. 4000 Island Blvd. Condo. Ass’n, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 26870 (11th Cir. Dec. 28, 2017) - The owner of a high-rise condominium building in Florida hired a contractor to replace the building’s concrete...more

Haight Brown & Bonesteel LLP

Ownership is Not a Conclusive Factor for Ongoing Operations Additional Insured Coverage

In McMillin Management Services v. Financial Pacific Ins. Co. (No. D069814, filed 11/14/17), a California appeals court held that an insurer had a duty to defend a general contractor under an “ongoing operations” additional...more

Perkins Coie

Absolute Pollution Exclusion—Not So Absolute

Perkins Coie on

Slapping insurers with breach of contract and bad faith, Washington state’s highest court recently found that a general liability policy’s so-called “absolute” pollution exclusion may not be so absolute. In Xia et al. v....more

Carlton Fields

Reading the Crystal Ball: Reservation of Rights Letters under South Carolina Law in the Wake of Harleysville Group Insurance v....

Carlton Fields on

The South Carolina Supreme Court recently took a firm stance on what constitutes a sufficient reservation of rights letter in Harleysville Group Insurance v. Heritage Communities, Inc., et al., — S.E.2d — , No. 2013-001281,...more

33 Results
 / 
View per page
Page: of 2

"My best business intelligence, in one easy email…"

Your first step to building a free, personalized, morning email brief covering pertinent authors and topics on JD Supra:
*By using the service, you signify your acceptance of JD Supra's Privacy Policy.
- hide
- hide