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Mealey's Construction Defects Insurance

  • March 07, 2025

    Contractor Has Standing To Seek Reformation Of Policy, 11th Circuit Rules

    ATLANTA — The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held that a general contractor has Article III standing to seek reformation of an insurance policy and a lower court erred in dismissing the reformation counterclaim but affirmed the lower court’s ruling that a commercial general liability insurance policy’s course-of-construction exclusion (COCE) bars coverage for water damage in a suit stemming from the subcontractor’s alleged faulty installation of cladding and glazing systems in a construction job.

  • March 06, 2025

    Insurer Partly Granted Judgment In Leaky Grain Storage Bins Coverage Row

    INDIANAPOLIS — A grain equipment company’s commercial general liability insurance policies do not provide coverage for amounts a client paid to have leaky storage bins repaired and replaced, an Indiana federal judge held, partly granting the insurer’s summary judgment motion in finding that some of the claimed losses related to a contractual dispute rather than to coverage liability.

  • March 05, 2025

    Insurer Has No Duty To Defend General Contractor For Paint Repairs, Judge Says

    BANGOR, Maine — A federal judge found that an excess insurer has no duty to defend a general contractor insured that sought coverage for paint repairs it completed on a project in Ellsworth, Maine, agreeing with the insurer that no claim existed.

  • March 05, 2025

    Mass. Appeals Court: Insurer Had No Duty To Defend Plumber From Third-Party Claims

    BOSTON — A commercial general liability insurer did not have a duty to defend a plumber against third-party claims because the claimant alleged faulty workmanship, and not an “occurrence” or accident, which is required to trigger coverage, a Massachusetts Appeals Court panel found, affirming a trial court’s judgment.

  • March 03, 2025

    2nd Circuit Affirms $2.3M Arbitration Award In Favor Of Insurer

    NEW YORK — The Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court’s decision upholding an arbitration panel’s award of a $2.3 million judgment in the insurers’ favor as part of a settlement with a subcontractor that the insurers said provided faulty concrete work for a construction project.

  • February 28, 2025

    Magistrate Finds Good Cause To Set Aside Contractor’s Default In Water Leak Suit

    JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A subcontractor that has been sued by a condominium’s insurer, as subrogee, demonstrated good cause for its yearlong delay in responding to the negligence suit, a Florida federal magistrate judge ruled, granting the company’s motion to set aside default.

  • February 26, 2025

    Firm’s Window Installation Choices Were Intentional Despite No Intent To Injure

    WICHITA, Kan. — A commercial general liability (CGL) insurer has no obligation to indemnify a contractor for damage it caused while installing windows in a courthouse because although the damage was unintentional, the firm’s construction decisions that ultimately led to the damage were intentional, a Kansas federal judge found, leading him to grant the insurer’s summary judgment motion.

  • February 24, 2025

    Judge Refuses To Dismiss Construction Company’s Cross-Claims Against CGL Insurer

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A federal judge in California denied a commercial general liability insurer’s motion to dismiss a construction company insured’s cross-claims for breach of contract, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing and equitable contribution as assignee of an excess insurer that funded its $2,250,000 settlement of an underlying construction defects lawsuit.

  • February 24, 2025

    Judgment Entered In CGL Insurer’s Favor After Parties Announce Settlement

    SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge in California entered judgment in favor of a commercial general liability insurer after the insured and its construction company insured notified the court that they have settled the insurer’s declaratory judgment lawsuit disputing coverage for an underlying construction defects lawsuit.

  • February 20, 2025

    Highway Company Lacks Standing To Bring Claims Against Subcontractor’s Insurer

    DALLAS — A federal judge found that a highway construction company lacked standing to bring a breach of contract claim against a subcontractor’s insurer because a state trial court still had jurisdiction in an underlying case to determine attorney fees in the dispute between the company and subcontractor.

  • February 18, 2025

    Federal Judge Dismisses Subcontractor’s Suit Against Insurer After Parties Settle

    OAKLAND, Calif. — A federal judge in California dismissed with prejudice a subcontractor insured’s breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit against its commercial liability insurer one day after the parties indicated that they have executed their settlement agreement.

  • February 18, 2025

    Insurer Owed Contractor, Subcontractor A Defense In Condo Water Damage Row

    NEW YORK — Concluding that a condominium had been “put to its intended use” prior to a water damage incident that arose during remodeling, a New York federal judge found that a commercial general liability insurer was obligated to defend both a contractor and subcontractor from claims brought by an adjoining unit owner.

  • February 18, 2025

    Judge Issues Order After Parties Reach Settlement In Leaky Roof Coverage Dispute

    McALLEN, Texas — The same day a property owner and a subcontractor’s estate filed a notice of settlement in a suit over coverage for a leaky replacement roof, a Texas federal judge ordered the parties to file dismissal documents disposing of the lawsuit within 30 days.

  • February 18, 2025

    Defective Workmanship Claims Do Not Constitute Occurrence, Excess Insurer Argues

    PHOENIX — An excess commercial insurer filed a declaratory judgment lawsuit in an Arizona federal court arguing that underlying defective workmanship allegations “standing alone do not constitute an ‘occurrence’” and repair of the purported defective workmanship or product fail to constitute “property damage” to trigger coverage, seeking a declaration that it has no duty to defend or indemnify its subcontractor insured and an underlying $6 million stipulated judgment cannot be enforced against it.

  • February 18, 2025

    10th Circuit Rejects Condo Developer’s Petion For Panel Rehearing

    DENVER — The 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals denied a condominium developer’s petition seeking a panel rehearing of the court’s grant of a new trial following its reversal of a $2.54 million jury award in favor of the developer after finding that the developer cannot recover under a builders risk insurance policy for repair costs of a cracked concrete slab that it has not paid and has no obligation to pay.

  • February 13, 2025

    COMMENTARY: The Top Twelve Insurance Coverage Decisions Of 2024

    By Robert D. Chesler, Seán McCabe, Madilynne Lee and James A. Goodridge

  • February 07, 2025

    8th Circuit: Exclusion Bars CGL Coverage For Loss Caused By Defective Design

    ST. LOUIS — The Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Feb. 6 affirmed a lower federal court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of a commercial general liability insurer in an insured’s breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit seeking coverage for losses caused by a defectively designed hopper bin that catastrophically failed at a Mexico facility, agreeing with the lower court that the policy’s professional services exclusion barred coverage.

  • February 04, 2025

    Judge: Subcontractors’, Contractor’s Insurers Owe Defense In Gym Water Leak Suit

    LOS ANGELES — The “broad duty to defend” was triggered for both a contractor and two subcontractors in an underlying suit over damage from a water leak, a California federal judge found, leading her to partly grant the subcontractors’ motions to dismiss the commercial general liability (CGL) insurer’s suit seeking declarations that it was not obligated to provide coverage.

  • February 04, 2025

    Condo Association’s Motion To Amend Complaint Against Insurers Deemed Untimely

    JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A condominium association, which is the assignee of a contractor’s rights in a dispute over insurance coverage for a construction defects lawsuit settlement, saw its motion to amend its complaint to correct a “drafting error” denied by a Florida federal judge who found that the plaintiff offered no justification to amend more than 10 months after the court-appointed deadline had passed.

  • February 03, 2025

    Federal Judge Dismisses Suit After Condo Association, Insurer Settle All Claims

    DALLAS — The same day the parties announced that they reached a settlement, a federal judge in Texas dismissed a condominium association’s breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit against its insurer seeking coverage for property damage caused by “construction, lack of maintenance, faulty repairs, defective materials, [and] storms.”

  • February 03, 2025

    Insureds: Insurers ‘Flouted’ Order Compelling Discovery In Defects Coverage Suit

    NEWARK, N.J. — Insureds asked a New Jersey court to dismiss their insurers’ lawsuit disputing coverage for an underlying construction defects lawsuit, arguing that the insurers “have refused to meaningfully participate in the discovery process, repeatedly ignored deadlines and discovery rules, flouted this Court’s Order compelling discovery, and otherwise delayed the progression of this litigation.”

  • February 03, 2025

    Federal Judge Denies CGL Insurer’s Motion To Dismiss 2 Of Contractor’s Claims

    OAKLAND, Calif.— A federal judge in California denied a commercial general liability insurer’s motion to dismiss a licensed general contractor insured’s claims for declaratory relief for the appointment of Cumis counsel and punitive damages in his lawsuit seeking coverage for an underlying lawsuit alleging that the work on a renovation project was negligent.

  • February 03, 2025

    Judge Dismisses Cross-Claims Between Insurers, Subcontractor In Mold Damage Coverage Suit

    LAS VEGAS — A federal judge in Nevada issued two orders dismissing with prejudice cross-claims between professional liability insurers and a subcontractor in a mold and moisture damage coverage dispute.

  • January 27, 2025

    Subcontractor Offers Judgment In Suit Arising From Damage To Construction Project

    FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A subcontractor filed a notice in a Florida federal court serving offer of judgment to a plaintiff in its lawsuit alleging that a surety breached a performance bond by denying liability for damage to its construction project allegedly caused by the subcontractor’s “defective and deficient work.”

  • January 27, 2025

    Federal Judge Refuses To Disturb Take-Nothing Judgment In Suit Over Negligent Work

    HOUSTON — A federal judge in Texas on Jan. 24 denied plaintiffs’ motion for relief from a take-nothing judgment and motion for rehearing in their lawsuit seeking to recover an underlying $542,000 final default judgment against a construction company from the company’s insurer, finding that Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b)(6) does not apply and Rule 60(d)(2) does not entitle the plaintiffs to relief.