{"id":2009,"date":"2013-08-19T06:13:10","date_gmt":"2013-08-19T12:13:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?p=2009"},"modified":"2013-08-13T14:13:25","modified_gmt":"2013-08-13T20:13:25","slug":"wisconsin-supreme-court-narrows-definition-of-occurrence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wisconsin-supreme-court-narrows-definition-of-occurrence\/","title":{"rendered":"Wisconsin Supreme Court Narrows Definition of \u2018Occurrence\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Burke Coleman – August 7, 2013<\/p>\n

Public policy and insurance law allow insurance coverage only for fortuitous events and not for harm or loss resulting from intentional acts. To this end, insurance policies provide coverage when an injury or loss is caused by an \u201coccurrence\u201d which is typically defined as \u201can accident.\u201d\u00a0 While coverage disputes often involve the detailed conditions and exclusions that modify coverage, the analysis begins with determining whether an \u201coccurrence\u201d has even triggered coverage. This seemingly simple question has been the subject of many cases and has resulted in lengthy opinions detailing the proper definition, analysis and application of the term.<\/p>\n

A handful of recent cases have explored the issue. See, e.g., W.R. Berkley Corp. v. Rea\u2019s Country Lane Constr., Inc., 2013 Miss. App. LEXIS 464 (holding that the term \u201coccurrence,\u201d defined as an \u201caccident,\u201d refers to the insured\u2019s action and not whatever unintended damages flowed from the act.\u201d); But see, Capstone Building Corp. v. American Motorists Ins. Co., 308 Conn. 760 (2013) (holding that a volitional act of an insured may still constitute an occurrence because insurance policies are \u201cdesigned to cover foreseeable risk, including negligent acts\u201d).<\/p>\n

The most notable recent decision on the issue came from the Wisconsin Supreme Court, which narrowly defined the term \u201coccurrence\u201d and found that the volitional act of an insured resulting in an unexpected injury was not an \u201coccurrence.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Schinner v. Gundrum, 2013 WI 71, the insured hosted an underage drinking party where one of the guests became intoxicated and assaulted another guest. The victim sued the party host and the host\u2019s insurer, but the insurer disputed coverage arguing that there was no \u201coccurrence\u201d to trigger its defense and coverage obligations because the insured acted intentionally in hosting the party and providing alcohol which led to the injury.<\/p>\n

The trial court agreed with the insurer that no \u201coccurrence\u201d existed because the injury resulted from the insured\u2019s act of \u201cintentionally procuring alcohol for an underage drinking party.\u201d The appellate court came to a vastly different conclusion and reversed the decision, holding that the assault\u2014not the hosting of the party\u2014was the injury-causing event and constituted an accident, at least from the standpoint of the insured.<\/p>\n

Consistent with the insurer\u2019s argument and the trial court\u2019s original decision, the Supreme Court ruled that there was no \u201coccurrence\u201d because the insured intended to throw the party which led to the injury. The majority stated that the question is not whether the result was expected or intended, but whether the act itself was accidental. \u201cA result, though unexpected, is not an accident; the means or cause must be accidental.\u201d\u00a0 The majority viewed the hosting of the party as the \u201cmeans or cause\u201d and noted that the insured intended to host the party, intended to invite minors, intended to provide alcohol to those minors, and intended to encourage heavy drinking. These actions \u201cwere entirely volitional\u2026 [the insured] did not host the underage drinking party by mistake, against his will, or by chance.\u201d The majority concluded, \u201cBodily injury was hardly unforeseeable. All the conditions for a tragic injury had been put in place, and they were put in place intentionally.\u201d<\/p>\n

Accordingly, the majority set forth a narrow definition of \u201coccurrence\u201d that focuses on the insured\u2019s intent to act and requires a lack of volition to constitute an accident.<\/p>\n

The dissent objected to this narrow definition and questioned the majority\u2019s analysis. While the majority looked at whether the insured intended the act, the dissent looked at whether the insured intended the injury. In fact, both the majority and dissent agreed that the determination of an \u201caccident\u201d or \u201coccurrence\u201d should be viewed from the standpoint of the insured, but they applied this analysis differently. For the dissent, the injury-causing event was not the party, but the assault; and the proper question should have been whether the assault of the victim was an accident from the perspective of the insured, not whether the insured intentionally threw the party. Or, more simply put, \u201cDid the insured expect or intend the injury?\u201d But the majority based its decision on the insured\u2019s intent to throw the party and, in a more objective tone, the fact that the insured should have foreseen the result.<\/p>\n

According to the dissent, such a narrow definition of the word \u201caccident\u201d by the majority \u201cso greatly restricts the insurer\u2019s liability as to render the policy valueless or even meaningless, and denies coverage for what is the predicate of any likely liability against the insured.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Wisconsin Supreme Court\u2019s decision indeed provides a narrow definition of \u201coccurrence\u201d that limits an \u201caccident\u201d to those acts or events lacking volition, even if the resulting injury was unintended or unexpected. According to the ruling, it is the insured\u2019s intent to act in light of foreseeable harm rather than the insured\u2019s subjective intention or expectation of injury that controls the \u201coccurrence\u201d analysis in Wisconsin. The decision is favorable for insurers who can utilize this restricted definition of \u201coccurrence\u201d to avoid coverage obligations.<\/p>\n

As the recent case law demonstrates, insurers should be aware of how courts define \u201coccurrence\u201d and analyze the actions of the insured, as they can utilize such definitions to limit coverage obligations where appropriate.<\/p>\n

via Wisconsin Supreme Court Narrows Definition of \u2018Occurrence\u2019<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Burke Coleman – August 7, 2013 Public policy and insurance law allow insurance coverage only for fortuitous events and not for harm or loss resulting from intentional acts. To this end, insurance policies provide coverage when an injury or loss is caused by an \u201coccurrence\u201d which is typically defined as \u201can accident.\u201d\u00a0 While coverage disputes… Continue reading Wisconsin Supreme Court Narrows Definition of \u2018Occurrence\u2019<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[309,3],"class_list":["post-2009","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-insurance-claims","tag-occurrence","tag-insurance-claims","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nWisconsin Supreme Court Narrows Definition of \u2018Occurrence\u2019 - Advise & Consult, Inc.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wisconsin-supreme-court-narrows-definition-of-occurrence\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Wisconsin Supreme Court Narrows Definition of \u2018Occurrence\u2019 - Advise & Consult, Inc.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Burke Coleman – August 7, 2013 Public policy and insurance law allow insurance coverage only for fortuitous events and not for harm or loss resulting from intentional acts. 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