Michael S. Levine, Lorelie S. Masters & Geoffrey B. Fehling | Hunton Andrews Kurth | July 2, 2018
A Connecticut court recently denied a motion to compel appraisal of a claim for coverage of a commercial property damage claim, holding that, where the insurance policy at issue provides for appraisal of disputes related to the value or quantum or a loss suffered—not the rights and liabilities of the parties under the policy—appraisal is premature. The decision relied on law that equates insurance appraisal to arbitration and follows a number of decisions holding that parties cannot expand the scope of appraisal clauses to resolve questions of coverage or liability where, as in this case, those issues are not supported by the applicable policy language.
Background
Ice Cube Building (ICB) owned commercial property in Groton, Connecticut, that was covered by a property insurance policy issued by Scottsdale. Following a winter storm, the weight of the accumulated snow and ice caused the roof to leak and water to enter the building. ICB provided notice of the claim to Scottsdale, which acknowledged partial coverage for the loss. Scottsdale paid the undisputed amount of the claim, but ICB asserted that it had incurred additional, unreimbursed loss in excess of $1 million that was covered by the policy.
When Scottsdale refused to pay, ICB sued in state court for breach of contract and a declaratory judgment that the policy covered all of its unreimbursed losses. After Scottsdale removed the case to federal court and filed an answer and counterclaim, ICB moved to compel arbitration under the policy’s appraisal provision and to stay the litigation.
June 18 Decision
The parties did not dispute that the policy required appraisal of certain disputes, including appraisal as to the amount of loss, arising from the policy. They disagreed, however, on whether the policy’s appraisal clause requires arbitration of a dispute over coverage of ICB’s claim and not simply the amount of damage ICB asserts remains unpaid.
In its motion, ICB pointed to the disagreement on the “amount of loss it suffered” and its written demand for appraisal, arguing that Connecticut’s arbitration statute and the terms of the policy require the court to appoint an appraiser to assess its unreimbursed losses. Scottsdale countered by arguing that “an appraisal is premature because there are outstanding coverage issues that the Court must address as a condition predicate to the appraisal process.” The Court agreed with Scottsdale and denied the motion.
In reaching its decision, the Court noted that “the Policy unambiguously provides for arbitration of disagreements relating to the ‘value of the property’ or the ‘amount of loss’ suffered by the policyholder.” However, “[b]ecause the Policy expressly provides for the arbitration of disputes related to the value or quantum of a loss suffered—not the rights and liabilities of the parties under the Policy—and the Court may only compel the parties to arbitrate matters which they have agreed to arbitrate under the provisions of the insurance policy, the Court cannot compel the parties to arbitrate the question of coverage . . . .” The Court agreed with Scottsdale’s position that, where coverage is in dispute, those unresolved coverage issues posed antecedent questions for the court and are not appropriate for appraisal. As a result, the court denied ICB’s motion to compel appraisal as premature.
Takeaways
As this decision makes clear, appraisal should not be used to determine coverage issues impacting the scope of an insurer’s liability for the claim. The court in Ice Cube Building specifically relied on the language of the appraisal provision, pointing out that appraisal, as a type of arbitration, is a creature of contract and its scope cannot exceed what the parties agreed to. This distinction is often made clear in the policy’s appraisal provision, which commonly limit appraisal to the “amount of loss.”
As was the case in Ice Cube Building, courts have followed such unambiguous restrictions on the scope of issues addressed in appraisals and have refused to compel appraisal where disputed issues include questions of coverage and liability. In many cases, insurers attempt to invoke appraisal clauses prematurely, seeking to resolve issues of both the extent of damage and coverage. Interestingly in Ice Cube Building the policyholder attempted to force appraisal, and the insurer correctly noted that, under the terms of the policy, unresolved coverage and liability issues posed antecedent questions for the court to decide that were inappropriate for appraisal. Policyholders should carefully review the proper scope of appraisal provisions in first-party property policies to determine the most efficient and effective way to resolve disputed claims and to ensure that coverage issues are resolved in the appropriate forum or process. The case is Ice Cube Building, LLC v. Scottsdale Insurance Co., No. 3:17-CV-00973 (VAB), 2018 WL 3025037 (D. Conn. June 18, 2018).