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Mealey's Construction Defects Insurance

  • October 04, 2024

    Panel Vacates Portion Of Ruling Issued In Insurer’s Favor In Mold Coverage Suit

    ATLANTA — The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals vacated a district court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of an insurer on breach of contract, declaratory judgment and bad faith claims after determining that the insured met its burden of proving that there is a potential of coverage for mold damage even if there was damage that existed before the issuance of the policy.

  • October 04, 2024

    Judge Extends Deadline For Early Neutral Evaluation In Insurer’s Subrogation Suit

    BURLINGTON, Vt. —A federal chief judge in Vermont granted a defendant’s motion to extend the deadline for early neutral evaluation in a property insurer’s subrogation lawsuit arising from water losses that occurred at its insureds’ property as a result of the purportedly defective design, construction, maintenance and repairs of a sprinkler system.

  • October 02, 2024

    Professional Insurer, Contractor Settle Cross-Claims In Mold Damage Coverage Suit

    LAS VEGAS — A professional liability insurer and a contractor filed a notice in a Nevada federal court indicating that they have settled their cross-claims in a mold and moisture damage coverage dispute.

  • October 02, 2024

    Judge: Insurer Has Duty To Defend, Indemnify Against Claims Arising From Collapse

    CHICAGO — Granting an insured’s motion for partial summary judgment, a federal judge in Illinois held that an insurer has a duty to defend the insured against an underlying action alleging that the insured’s excavation work on ultraviolet disinfection facilities caused the collapse of an embankment supporting tracks for a line on the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) and has a duty to indemnify the insured against a second lawsuit brought by the project’s general contractor.

  • October 01, 2024

    Fact Issues Exist On Whether Coverage Is Owed For Water, Mold Damages, Judge Says

    LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge denied a motion for summary judgment filed by insurers that denied coverage for mold and water damages sustained in numerous buildings of an insured’s construction project because questions of fact exist as to whether the policies’ fungus extension and delay in opening extension afford coverage and whether the policies’ exclusion for cost of making good (COMG) excluded coverage for any damage caused by faulty workmanship.

  • October 01, 2024

    Insurer Can Pursue Subrogation Against Engineering Firm, Illinois High Court Rules

    SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — The Illinois Supreme Court affirmed an appeal court’s reversal of a lower court’s grant of summary judgment to an engineering firm in a builders risk insurer’s suit seeking subrogation damages for the flooding of a Chicago college building under construction, agreeing with the appeals court that the trial court erred in finding that the insurer does not meet the prerequisites for equitable subrogation and concluding that none of the facts or provisions barred the insurer’s subrogation action against the engineer.

  • September 30, 2024

    Contractor Says Coverage Is Owed For Damages To Entirety Of Building

    CINCINNATI — A federal district court erred in refusing to find that coverage is owed for damages to the entirety of a building as a result of the collapse of some of the bricks from one of the building’s walls, the contractor says in an appellant reply brief filed in the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.

  • September 30, 2024

    Reinsurer’s Declaratory Judgment Suit Is Tossed For Lack Of Contractual Privity

    BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Ruling in part that a reinsurer “failed to plead privity or third-party beneficiary status” and therefore failed to state any claims, a New York federal judge on Sept. 27 dismissed the lawsuit in which the reinsurer sought a declaratory judgment regarding state court litigation arising from a building’s partial collapse.

  • September 30, 2024

    Judge Dismisses Insurer’s Subrogation Suit Stemming From Parking Garage Collapse

    LEXINGTON, Ky. — A federal judge in Kentucky dismissed with prejudice all remaining claims in an insurer’s subrogation lawsuit arising from a parking garage collapse after the parties reached a settlement.

  • September 23, 2024

    Rain Exclusion Bars Coverage For Contractor, 9th Circuit Affirms

    SAN FRANCISCO —The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a lower federal court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of insurers in a contractor’s coverage dispute stemming from water intrusion damages caused by snow and rainfall during the construction process, agreeing that the insurers’ denial of the claim was proper based on the policies’ rain exclusion.

  • September 23, 2024

    Panel: Fact Issues Invalidate Summary Judgment In Faulty Grain Silo Coverage Suit

    NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Sept. 20 reversed a lower federal court’s finding that an insurer had no duty to indemnify a contractor in a farmers cooperative’s underlying lawsuit alleging defective construction of grain silos, finding that fact questions invalidate summary judgment and remanding.

  • September 19, 2024

    Interpretation Of ‘Direct Physical Loss’ Phrase Was Erroneous, Building Owner Says

    CINCINNATI — A district court erred in relying on a definition of the term “direct physical loss” as used in a prior opinion issued by the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals when it determined that the collapse of some bricks from a wall within a building did not cause any damage to the wall or building as a whole, the building owner maintains in a Sept. 18 appellant reply brief filed in the Sixth Circuit.

  • September 19, 2024

    Judge: No Coverage Owed For Suit Alleging Faulty Work On Apartment Complex Roofs

    NEW YORK — Adopting a magistrate’s report and recommendation, a federal New York judge concluded that insurers owe coverage for an underlying lawsuit that accuses a contractor and a subcontractor of faulty work on roofs in a New York City apartment complex that failed during Hurricane Sandy.

  • September 17, 2024

    Magistrate Rules On Discovery In Suit Alleging Surety Breached Performance Bond

    FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A federal magistrate judge in Florida granted in part and denied in part a plaintiff’s motions to compel discovery in its lawsuit alleging that a surety breached a performance bond by denying liability for damage to its construction project allegedly caused by a subcontractor’s “defective and deficient work.”

  • September 17, 2024

    11th Circuit Rejects Insurer’s Challenge To Ruling In Favor Of Contractor’s Assignee

    ATLANTA — The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals denied an insurer’s petition seeking reconsideration of its ruling that affirmed a lower federal court’s $557,500 summary judgment in favor of a contractor insured’s assignee in a lawsuit seeking coverage for damage incurred as a result of the insured’s misconduct.

  • September 16, 2024

    Federal Judge Dismisses Complaint In Additional Insured Coverage Dispute

    ORLANDO, Fla. — A federal judge in Florida partly granted an insurer’s motion to dismiss without prejudice a contractor and community owner’s amended complaint seeking declaratory relief as to additional insured coverage for a homeowner’s association’s underlying lawsuit allegedly arising from a subcontractor’s negligent and defect construction work.

  • September 09, 2024

    After Reconsideration, Judge Says Court Erred When It Ruled In Insurer’s Favor

    LOS ANGELES — Granting insureds’ motion for reconsideration, a federal judge in California said the court erred when it granted an insurer’s motion for summary judgment as to insureds’ breach of contract claim, finding that the court cannot conclude as a matter of law that the insureds’ water damage loss is not covered by their policy.

  • September 09, 2024

    Court: No CGL Coverage Owed For Suit Alleging Insured Installed Defective Equipment

    CHALESTON, W. Va. —The West Virginia Intermediate Court of Appeals held that a commercial general liability insurer had no duty to defend or indemnify for an underlying lawsuit challenging the insured’s design, building and installation of custom equipment for a whiskey barrel manufacturer, affirming a lower court’s grant of the insurer’s motion for summary judgment in the insured’s declaratory judgment lawsuit.

  • September 06, 2024

    Judge: Negligent Work, Rust And Corrosion Exclusions Bar Coverage For Condo Damage

    WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. —A New York federal judge entered judgment in favor of an insurer one day after finding that an insured’s damages to its condominium building were caused by “rust and corrosion” and “negligent work,” triggering a commercial property insurance policy’s exclusions, and that the insured failed to establish a triable issue of fact.

  • September 05, 2024

    Judge Dismisses Coverage Dispute After Underlying Defective Concrete Suit Settles

    PHOENIX — A federal judge in Arizona ordered an insurer’s declaratory judgment action dismissed after the insurer indicated that the underlying defective concrete lawsuit that prompted the coverage dispute has settled.

  • September 05, 2024

    Parties Settle Insurer’s Subrogation Suit Arising From Parking Garage Collapse

    LEXINGTON, Ky. — Noting that the parties indicated that they have reached a settlement as to all remaining claims, a federal judge in Kentucky denied as moot the pending motions for summary judgment and canceled a scheduled bench trial in an insurer’s subrogation lawsuit arising from a parking garage collapse.

  • September 04, 2024

    Settlement Reached With 2nd Insurer In Faulty Construction Coverage Dispute

    DENVER — One month after a plaintiff insurer and one of the defendant insurers filed a joint notice of settlement in a Colorado federal court in a dispute over coverage for a construction company accused of causing damages to homes through faulty construction, the plaintiff insurer filed another notice indicating that it has reached a settlement with the last remaining insurer defendant.

  • September 04, 2024

    Insurer Challenges Panel’s Affirmation Of Judgment In Favor Of Contractor’s Assignee

    ATLANTA — An insurer asked the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to reconsider its ruling that affirmed a lower federal court’s $557,500 summary judgment in favor of a contractor insured’s assignee in a lawsuit seeking coverage for damage incurred as a result of the insured’s misconduct.

  • September 03, 2024

    Indiana Panel Partly Reverses Ruling In Insured’s Suit Against Insurer, Contractor

    INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of a homeowners insurer in an insured’s breach of contract lawsuit but reversed the lower court’s finding that there is a genuine issue of material fact that a contractor’s work was negligently completed, finding that no privity of contract existed between the insured and the contractor and personal injury was not reasonably foreseeable to result from the contractor’s purported acts of negligence.

  • August 30, 2024

    Impaired Property Exclusion Bars Coverage For Improperly Constructed Retaining Walls

    TACOMA, Wash. — A federal judge in Washington held that an insurance policy’s impaired property exclusion bars coverage for underlying damage caused by retaining walls that were improperly constructed by the insured, further finding that the “sudden and accidental injury” exception to the exclusion does not apply.