On February 11, 2010, the Mississippi Supreme Court overturned the lower court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the insurer and held that a general contractor’s use of a subcontractor does not necessarily preclude coverage under the general contractor’s commercial general liability (”CGL”) policy for problems that arise once the project is complete due to work performed by the subcontractor. Architex Assoc. Inc. v. Scottsdale Ins. Co., ___ So.3d ___, 2010 WL 457236 (Miss. 2010). This was a major victory for the construction industry.
The policies in question provided coverage for an “occurrence” which was defined as “an accident, including continuous or repeated exposure to substantially the same general harmful conditions.” The policies excluded any property damage or bodily injury that…
A recent decision from the Third Circuit addresses a rather timely issue during this holiday season, that is, does inebriation render an intentional act accidental? State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. v. The Estate of Thomas W. Mehlman, 2009 WL 4827027 (3rd Cir. Dec. 16, 2009), holds that for purposes of a liability insurance policy, a person’s intentional act is not rendered accidental simply because one commits the act while inebriated.
State Farm issued two liability insurance policies to Mehlman, a Homeowner’s Policy and an Umbrella Policy. The insuring agreement of the Homeowner’s Policy provided coverage “if a claim is made or a suit is brought against an insured for damages because of bodily injury . . . cost by an…
The Michigan Court of Appeals recently ruled that just because a substance is considered a pesticide, does not mean it will always be an excluded “pollutant” under a commercial general liability policy. The court took into consideration the policyholder’s reasonable expectations and the insurer’s knowledge of the insured’s line of business.
In Hastings Mut. Ins. Co. v. Safety King Inc., 2009 Mich. App. LEXIS 2448 (Mich. Ct. App. Nov. 24, 2009), the appellate court overturned the trial court’s grant of summary judgment to the insurance company. Hastings had issued a policy to Safety King, a company in the air duct cleaning business. Safety King was sued by a homeowner for damages alleged from use of a sanitizing agent as part of the…
