{"id":895414,"date":"2019-01-16T10:02:07","date_gmt":"2019-01-16T17:02:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?p=895414"},"modified":"2019-01-16T10:02:16","modified_gmt":"2019-01-16T17:02:16","slug":"insurer-must-defend-contractor-defective-condo-construction-suit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/insurer-must-defend-contractor-defective-condo-construction-suit\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida Federal Court Finds Insurer Must Defend Contractor in Defective Condo Construction Suit"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Michael S. Levine | Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP<\/a> | December 27, 2018<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida recently granted summary judgment in favor of developer, KB Homes, ruling that Southern Owners Insurance Co. must defend KB Homes under various Commercial General Liability policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The action arises from the construction of the Willowbrook Condominium project, a 51-building, 270-unit condominium project located in Manatee County Florida. Gallo Building Services, Inc., a subcontractor, entered into a master subcontract with KB Home, the developer and contractor for the project. Following the completion of the project, the association retained an engineering firm who discovered several defects at the project. The association sued KB, which then sued multiple subcontractors, including Gallo, forming the underlying litigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Southern, Gallo\u2019s insurer, then filed the coverage action seeking a declaration that it had no duty to defend or indemnify Gallo under its policies of insurance. After Gallo became insolvent, KB Home stepped in and moved for summary judgment on the duty to defend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Southern opposed the motion, arguing that the \u201cyour work\u201d exclusion and the Exterior Finishing and Stucco Exclusion barred coverage, and that the association\u2019s underlying complaint failed to allege property damage. The Court rejected Southern\u2019s arguments and held that the Southern\u2019s duty to defend was triggered by the broad allegations of \u201cdamage to other building components,\u201d \u201cdamage to other property,\u201d \u201cwater intrusion,\u201d and relocation of resident,\u201d which encompassed damage besides the work completed by Gallo. Moreover, the Court rejected the application of the Exterior Finishing and Stucco Exclusion stating that \u201cSouthern does not describe how each defect relates to stucco or an exterior finishing system,\u201d therefore, determining the exclusions did not do away with Sothern\u2019s duty to defend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not only is the decision a substantive win for policyholders, the decision provides a firm example of the value that can be obtained from other people\u2019s insurance. By obtaining insurance from Gallo\u2019s insurers instead of its own, not only did KB Home secure a complete defense in the litigation, it did so without implicating coverage under its own insurance and potentially impairing its own policy limits and without impacting its own loss ratios. Policyholders should therefore consider all potentially applicable insurance and indemnity agreements when faced with a claim or potential liability.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Michael S. Levine | Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP | December 27, 2018 The United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida recently granted summary judgment in favor of developer, KB Homes, ruling that Southern Owners Insurance Co. must defend KB Homes under various Commercial General Liability policies. The action arises from the construction… Continue reading Florida Federal Court Finds Insurer Must Defend Contractor in Defective Condo Construction Suit<\/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":[4,30,9914],"tags":[10700,4739,19,94,23],"class_list":["post-895414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-construction-defects","category-general-liability-policy","category-insurance-coverage","tag-advise-and-consult","tag-commercial-general-liability-policy","tag-construction-defects-2","tag-florida","tag-insurance-coverage","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nFlorida Federal Court Finds Insurer Must Defend Contractor in Defective Condo Construction Suit - 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