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Mealey's Construction Defects Insurance

  • July 25, 2024

    Idaho Supreme Court Affirms $647,331 Default Judgment In Unfinished Home Case

    BOISE, Idaho — In a 3-2 decision, the Idaho Supreme Court on rehearing affirmed its November ruling denying a motion by a builder to set aside a $647,331 default judgment for an uncompleted home, but the majority said it was “troubled” by the judgment and the way a trial court approved it and will change the applicable rules of civil procedure as a result.

  • July 24, 2024

    Panel Affirms Ruling In Insurer’s Favor In Suit Arising From Public Works Projects

    SAN DIEGO — A California appeals panel affirmed a lower court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of a commercial general liability insurer in a contractor’s breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit seeking coverage for two underlying actions brought by the San Diego Housing Commission, finding that the insured failed to demonstrate that it suffered damages.

  • July 22, 2024

    Justice Denies Summary Judgment Motions In Suit Arising From Inadequate Pinning

    NEW YORK — A New York justice denied an excess insurer and its insured’s motions for summary judgment in a coverage dispute arising from property damaged allegedly caused by contractors’ “inadequate pinning” of a parking garage during an expansion project, finding that questions of fact preclude summary judgment in favor of the insured and it would be premature to grant the insurer’s motion for summary judgment without first allowing the insured the opportunity to reply to the insurer’s amended answer.

  • July 22, 2024

    Judge Stays Suit Pending Arbitration Between New Orleans Aviation Board, Insureds

    NEW ORLEANS —A federal judge in Louisiana granted the New Orleans Aviation Board’s (NOAB)’s motion to stay litigation pending arbitration with insureds in a coverage dispute stemming from construction damages at a city airport, finding that a discretionary stay is warranted “to maintain control” of the court docket and “efficiently resolve” the lawsuit.

  • July 22, 2024

    Federal Judge Dismisses Coverage Dispute Over Alleged Defective Commercial Building

    BUTTE, Mont. — A federal judge in Montana dismissed with prejudice an insurer’s declaratory judgment lawsuit the same day the insurer, a contractor and a subcontractor agreed to dismiss the coverage dispute arising from a commercial building that allegedly suffers from damages and defects.

  • July 17, 2024

    Subcontractors Are Not Parties To Subrogation Waiver, Maryland High Court Affirms

    ANNAPOLIS, Md. — The Supreme Court of Maryland affirmed an appeals court’s finding that contractual waivers of subrogation do not bar an all-risk insurer’s claims alleging that tornado damage to an Amazon warehouse was caused by subcontractors’ negligence in designing and building the warehouse because the subcontractors were not intended third-party beneficiaries of the subrogation waiver, further affirming the appeal court’s ruling that the language of the subcontract waiver clause is ambiguous.

  • July 17, 2024

    11th Circuit Affirms Insured Did Not Establish Covered Loss Caused Property Damage

    ATLANTA — The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a Florida federal judge’s grant of an insurance company’s motion for summary judgment in a man’s breach of contract dispute over the insurer’s denial of a claim stemming from damages his property sustained during Tropical Storm Eta, finding that there is no genuine dispute that the policy’s gradual or sudden loss exclusion applied to the insured’s claim.

  • July 16, 2024

    General Contractor Appeals No Coverage Ruling In Suit Over Faulty Stucco Claims

    CHARLESTON, S.C. — A general contractor filed a notice in a South Carolina federal court indicating that it is seeking the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ review of the court’s finding that an insurer owed no coverage for damages caused after stormwater seeped through faulty stucco because the damage is not the result of an “occurrence” under the terms of the policy.

  • July 16, 2024

    Insured Seeks 9th Circuit Review Of Coverage Dispute Over Substandard Work Claims

    SANTA ANA, Calif. —An insured has asked the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to review a California federal judge’s grant of a commercial general liability insurer’s motion for judgment on the pleadings in the insurer’s declaratory judgment lawsuit disputing coverage for an underlying action alleging that it did substandard work on a Los Angeles luxury apartment project before being fired and that it was liable for flooding damage to switchgear.

  • July 11, 2024

    Insured Sues Insurer For Bad Faith, Seeks Coverage For ‘Hidden Damage’ To Condos

    SEATTLE — A condominium owners association sued its property insurer in a Washington federal court for breach of contract, bad faith and violations of the Washington Consumer Protection Act, seeking coverage for the cost of repairing “hidden damage” to its condominiums.

  • July 11, 2024

    Claims Against Third Parties Tossed In Coverage Suit Over Airport Construction Damages

    NEW ORLEANS — A federal judge in Louisiana held that the New Orleans Aviation Board’s (NOAB) third-party demand against a joint venture offering engineering and architectural services for the construction of a terminal at the city’s airport is improper, dismissing without prejudice NOAB’s claims against the third parties in a coverage dispute stemming from construction damages at a city airport.

  • July 09, 2024

    Judge: Insureds Failed To Show Their Damage Was Not Caused By Defect, Deterioration

    LOS ANGELES — A federal judge in California held that damages to insureds’ property “were caused by a defect, weakness, inadequacy, fault, or unsoundness in design, repair, construction, or materials — which in turn caused wear, tear, . . . deterioration, and wet or dry rot” and that, as a result, their loss is excluded from coverage under their homeowners insurance policy.

  • July 08, 2024

    Panel Certifies Question To Wyoming High Court In Negligence Suit Against Engineer

    DENVER — The 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals certified a question to the Wyoming Supreme Court in a subrogated homeowners insurer’s appeal of a Wyoming federal court’s ruling that its claim against an engineering firm that designed a home’s plumbing is time-barred by the two-year statute of limitations for professional negligence claims.

  • July 02, 2024

    Judge: CGL Insurer Has No Duty To Defend Suit Alleging Substandard Work By Insured

    SANTA ANA, Calif. — A federal judge in California granted a commercial general liability insurer’s motion for judgment on the pleadings in its declaratory judgment lawsuit disputing coverage for an underlying action alleging that its insured did substandard work on a Los Angeles luxury apartment project before being fired and it was liable for flooding damage to switchgear, finding that the insurer has no duty to defend or indemnify because the insured’s alleged “shoddy work” fails to constitute “property damage” to trigger coverage.

  • June 28, 2024

    Judgment Entered In CGL Coverage Suit After Insurer, Contractor Seek Dismissal

    OAKLAND, Calif. — A judgment was entered declaring that a commercial general liability insurer has no duty to defend or indemnify a contracting company insured and its owner against an underlying lawsuit alleging defective work on a home renovation project the same day a California federal judge signed the parties’ stipulation and proposed order for entry of final judgment.

  • June 26, 2024

    D.C. Circuit Reverses Ruling In Insurers’ Favor In Dispute Over Condensation Damage

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals reversed a lower court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of builders risk insurers in a real estate developer and contractor’s lawsuit seeking coverage for remediation of condensation damage, finding that the policies provide coverage because the ensuing-loss clause applies to losses from water damage that was caused by the excluded perils of dampness and temperature changes.

  • June 24, 2024

    Florida Panel: Contractor Waived Its Right To Invoke Rule Against Claim Splitting

    MIAMI — A Florida appeals panel reversed a lower court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of a contractor in an insured’s lawsuit seeking recovery of its losses from roof damage that was not covered by its insurance policy, finding that the contractor waived its right to invoke the rule against claim-splitting.

  • June 24, 2024

    Insurer Appeals Rulings In Construction Insurance Suit Prompted By Sprinkler Leak

    BATON ROUGE, La. — An excess insurer filed a notice indicating that it is appealing a Louisiana federal court’s rulings that first granted a manufacturer’s motion for summary judgment in a construction insurance dispute stemming from damages caused by a sprinkler leak and then dismissed all of the excess insurer’s claims against the manufacturer with prejudice.

  • June 24, 2024

    District Court’s Collapse Ruling Must Be Reversed, Contractor Tells 6th Circuit

    CINCINNATI — A federal judge erred in finding that no coverage is owed for a structurally unsound wall that remained standing after a portion of the wall collapsed during a building renovation because the lower court failed to apply Tennessee law in construing the meaning of the term collapse in the insurer’s policy, a building contractor says in its June 21 appellant brief filed in the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.

  • June 20, 2024

    Federal Judge Dismisses General Contractor From Subrogated Insurer’s Suit

    CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Following the parties stipulation of dismissal announcing they reached a settlement, a federal judge in Wyoming dismissed a general contractor with prejudice from a subrogated homeowners insurer’s lawsuit, while the insurer’s appeal of an earlier ruling that its claim against an engineer that designed a home’s plumbing is time-barred remains pending.

  • June 18, 2024

    ‘Lord Of The Dance’ Must Arbitrate Defects Dispute With Insurer, Irish Judge Rules

    DUBLIN, Ireland — The High Court of Ireland rejected dancer and businessman Michael Flatley’s bid to avoid arbitration of a 30 million euro dispute over defects in his County Cork mansion that he claims caused him and his family members severe health issues, rejecting his argument that the policy’s arbitration agreement is unfair and unenforceable.

  • June 18, 2024

    Judge Administratively Closes Insurer’s Suit Disputing Coverage For HOA’s Action

    JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A federal judge in Florida on June 17 administratively closed a commercial general liability insurer’s lawsuit seeking a declaration that it owed no indemnification to a subcontractor that worked on homes operated by a homeowners association after the insurer and the HOA filed a second notice of settlement.

  • June 18, 2024

    Insured Building Owner Says Lower Court Misinterpreted Policy’s Collapse Language

    CINCINNATI — The Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeal must reverse a district court’s ruling entered in favor of an insurer because the lower court failed to properly interpret and apply the language of the policy regarding the coverage afforded for the collapse of a wall, an insured building owner says in its June 17 appellant brief.

  • June 14, 2024

    11th Circuit Allows Insurer, Contractor To Amend Pleadings In Coverage Dispute

    ATLANTA — The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals granted a construction firm and its insurer permission to amend pleadings to adequately establish the citizenship of the parties for the purposes of diversity jurisdiction, allowing to proceed the construction firm’s appeal of an Alabama federal judge’s finding that the insurer had no duty to defend the firm from allegations that it caused structural damage to a couple’s home.

  • June 12, 2024

    Judge: No Coverage For Contractor For Repair Costs From Fixing Faulty Work

    CHARLESTON, S.C. — A federal judge in South Carolina granted an insurer’s motion for summary judgment, finding that the insurer owed no coverage to a general contractor for damages caused after stormwater seeped through faulty stucco because the damage is not the result of an “occurrence” under the terms of the policy.