In deciding Westfield Insurance Company v. Custom Agri Systems, Inc., 2012 Ohio 4712, the Ohio Supreme Court recently held that defective construction or workmanship is not a covered “occurrence” under a commercial general liability (“CGL”) insurance policy, even if the defective work was performed by a subcontractor of the insured…
Illinois and California appellate courts recently issued two policy-holder favorable decisions. In both cases, the trial court had granted summary judgment in favor of the insurance company and denying coverage, and in both cases the trial court decisions were reversed. In the Illinois case, Patrick Engineering, Inc. v. Old Republic…
It is the rule in many jurisdictions that an insurer which assumes defense of its insured without issuing a reservation of rights can be estopped from later denying coverage based on rights or defenses in the insurance contract. This general rule was rejected by the Supreme Court of Wisconsin in…
The First Circuit has endorsed key principles that favor policyholders in insurance coverage disputes — principles that can frequently be used to help insureds in construction cases. So, this new case is worth a look. In Oxford Aviation, Inc. v. Global Aero., Inc., 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 10101 (1st Cir.…
Under the Texas code, the workers’ compensation exclusive remedy bar applies up and down: barring injured employees of subcontractors from bringing common law tort suits against a general contractor which provided workers compensation insurance, and also in reverse, barring injured employees of the general contractor from bringing suit against a…
It’s standard fare for contractors and subs to be required to provide certificates of insurance (COI) verifying that the insurance requirements specified in their contracts, e.g., the type of coverage, the coverage policy limits, have been met prior to starting work. According to an April 21, 2011 Administrative Letter issued…
A federal court in Louisiana denied a subcontractor’s coverage action against Ace Insurance because the subcontractor did not enroll in the Contractor Controlled Insurance Program. The case is Williams v. Traylor-Massman-Weeks, LLC, et al., EDLA No. 10-2309 and you can look at the pdf of the opinion here: Williams v.…
Can anyone claim that they read their homeowner’s insurance policy before they had a claim to submit? That’s what I thought. I don’t know whether Larry Ward read his before he had a claim, but he’s read it now, and so have several judges and numerous lawyers. Based on a…
“Does an insurance broker, after procuring an insurance policy for a developer on a construction project, owe a duty to apprise a subcontractor that was later added as an insured under that policy of the insurance company’s subsequent insolvency?” In this issue of first impression in California, the Fourth District…
Often on a construction project an insurer will point to the conduct of one insured contractor to exclude coverage for a different insured contractor under the same policy. Inevitably the innocent contractor points to the Separation of Insureds provision, which is a common provision in many insurance policies, to argue…