{"id":886990,"date":"2016-02-10T10:59:23","date_gmt":"2016-02-10T17:59:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?p=886990"},"modified":"2016-02-10T10:59:23","modified_gmt":"2016-02-10T17:59:23","slug":"when-indemnitor-is-off-the-hook-for-contractual-indemnity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/when-indemnitor-is-off-the-hook-for-contractual-indemnity\/","title":{"rendered":"When Indemnitor Is Off the Hook For Contractual Indemnity"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Jill Berkeley | Policyholder Insurance Law Blog | February 3, 2016<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/2-subcontractor-must-pay-for-general-contractor-defense-including-its-litigation-mistakes-after-ignoring-general-contractors-tender-under-express-indemnity-provision\/\" target=\"_blank\">Contractual indemnification clauses<\/a> are among the most overused and misunderstood rights that parties argue over and negotiate for.\u00a0 Although nothing in Illinois law prohibits parties from specifically contracting to provide for indemnity in non-construction related contracts, \u201c[i]t is quite generally held that an indemnity contract will not be construed as indemnifying one against his own negligence, unless such a construction is required by clear and explicit language of the contract or such intention is expressed in unequivocal terms.\u201d <em>Buenz v. Frontline Transportation Co<\/em>., 227 Ill. 2d 302, 316 (2008) (citing <em>Westinghouse Electric Elevator Co. v. La Salle Monroe Building Corp<\/em>., 395 Ill. 429, 434-35, 70 N.E.2d 604, 607 (1946)).\u00a0 If the agreement does not expressly provide <a href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/contractual-indemnity\/\" target=\"_blank\">contractual indemnity<\/a> for the indemnitee\u2019s own negligence, it is unenforceable as a matter of law.<\/p>\n<p>In order for an indemnity agreement to be enforceable for something other than pro rata allocation in contribution, it must provide that the obligation to indemnify include liability for the indemnitee\u2019s own negligence.\u00a0 This rationale derives from the legal distinction between contribution and indemnity.\u00a0 As the Illinois Supreme Court has observed:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>There is an important distinction between contribution, which distributes the loss among the tortfeasors by requiring each to pay his proportionate share, and indemnity, which shifts the entire loss from one tortfeasor who has been compelled to pay it to the shoulders of another who should bear it instead.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><em>Virginia Sur. Co. v. Northern Ins. Co.<\/em>, 362 Ill.App.3d 571, 574, 840 N.E.2d 1271, 1274 (3d Dist. 2005) (quoting Prosser,<em> Law of Torts<\/em>, sec. 51, at 310 (4th ed. 1971)).\u00a0 An \u201cindemnity provision\u201d that requires the indemnitor\u00a0 to \u201cindemnify and hold harmless\u201d the indemnitee for only the indemnitor\u2019s negligence is not really indemnity at all, but is actually a form of contractual contribution (sometimes labeled \u201cpartial indemnity.\u201d).\u00a0 <em>See Stevens v. Silver Manufacturing Co<\/em>., 70 Ill. 2d 41, 46 (1977) (\u201cAlthough stated in terms of partial indemnity rather than contribution, the prayer for relief clearly seeks contribution based on the relative degree to which the employer\u2019s misuse of the product or assumption of the risk contributed to cause plaintiff\u2019s injuries\u201d); <em>Estate of Willis<\/em>, <em>supra<\/em>, 357 Ill.App.3d at 1006.<\/p>\n<p>Stated differently, unless the indemnitee is shifting liability for its own negligence to the indemnitor (i.e., the entire loss), the contractual indemnification clause is not really \u201cindemnity\u201d in its true sense.\u00a0 The courts recognize that if the indemnitee becomes liable to the Plaintiff, then its liability is based on its own negligence.\u00a0 In order to transfer its liability under an indemnification clause for \u201cits own negligence,\u201d the indemnity clause must so provide explicitly.<\/p>\n<p>If the indemnitee\u2019s liability to the third party arises from its own negligence, the indemnitee cannot enforce the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/indemnity-duty-to-defend-and-timing\/\" target=\"_blank\">contractual indemnity<\/a> clause against the indemnitor. Absent language expressly providing&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.policyholderinsurancelaw.com\/blog\/when-indemnitor-hook-contractual-indemnity\" target=\"_blank\">To finish reading this article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jill Berkeley | Policyholder Insurance Law Blog | February 3, 2016 Contractual indemnification clauses are among the most overused and misunderstood rights that parties argue over and negotiate for.\u00a0 Although nothing in Illinois law prohibits parties from specifically contracting to provide for indemnity in non-construction related contracts, \u201c[i]t is quite generally held that an indemnity&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/when-indemnitor-is-off-the-hook-for-contractual-indemnity\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">When Indemnitor Is Off the Hook For Contractual Indemnity<\/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":[9],"tags":[72,9076],"class_list":["post-886990","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-construction-contracts","tag-construction-contracts-2","tag-contractual-indemnity","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>When Indemnitor Is Off the Hook For Contractual Indemnity - Advise &amp; 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