{"id":902970,"date":"2024-07-10T16:03:17","date_gmt":"2024-07-10T22:03:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?p=902970"},"modified":"2024-07-10T16:03:19","modified_gmt":"2024-07-10T22:03:19","slug":"property-damage-under-cgl-policy-connecticut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/property-damage-under-cgl-policy-connecticut\/","title":{"rendered":"Water Alone is Not Property Damage under a CGL policy in Connecticut"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Bill Wilson | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.constructionlawzone.com\/2024\/07\/water-alone-is-not-property-damage-under-a-cgl-policy-in-connecticut\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Construction Law Zone<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Connecticut Appellate Court recently provided guidance on what does not constitute <a href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/cgl-policy-may-cover-more\/\">property damage<\/a> under a typical contractor\u2019s Commercial General Liability (CGL) insurance policy in\u00a0<em>Westchester Modular Homes of Fairfield County, Inc. v. Arbella Protection Ins. Co.<\/em>, 224 Conn App. 526 (2024). In this case, the contractor defended construction defect claims brought by an owner and then sued its insurer to recover $500,000 in defense costs for failing to provide a defense under the contractor\u2019s policy. In Connecticut, an insurer is obligated to provide a defense based on what is alleged in a complaint and if it has actual knowledge of any facts establishing a reasonable possibility of coverage. The contractor provided extrinsic evidence for two defects claimed by the owner: (1) windows were installed improperly such that water was collecting and will continue to collect in the window soffit areas and eventually rot the wall, and (2) the vapor barrier was not installed in the second-floor ceiling which will result in water condensation and water damage to the roof structure if not remedied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The insurer relied on typical provisions included in most CGL policies. The insurer has no duty to defend the insured against any suit seeking damages for property damage to which the insurance does not apply. The term \u201cproperty damage\u201d is defined as \u201cphysical injury to tangible property, including all resulting loss of use of that property.\u201d Under well-established Connecticut law, the phrase \u201cphysical injury\u201d unambiguously connotes damage to tangible property, causing an alteration in appearance, shape, color, or some other material dimension. It is also well-established that claims for property damage caused by defective work are covered under a CGL policy but claims for repair of the defective work itself are not. The insurer denied any duty to defend because no coverage was triggered under the liability policy. Both parties moved for summary judgment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Appellate Court affirmed the superior court\u2019s decision to grant summary judgment in favor of the insurer. The Appellate Court confirmed that the contractor failed to allege that construction defects caused damage to other non-defective property and rejected the contractor\u2019s extrinsic evidence of potential future damage from the water intrusion. Allegations that a contractor\u2019s faulty workmanship could lead to future property damage if not remedied do not constitute a claim for property damage covered under the contractor\u2019s CGL insurance policy. Nor is notification of the mere presence of water, without some corresponding physical damage, sufficient to provide an insurer with actual knowledge of the facts establishing a reasonable possibility of coverage required to trigger an insurance company\u2019s duty to defend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>When one of your cases is in need of a construction expert, estimates, insurance appraisal or umpire services in defect or insurance disputes &#8211; please call Advise &amp; Consult, Inc. at 888.684.8305, or email <a href=\"mailto:experts@adviseandconsult.net\">experts@adviseandconsult.net<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bill Wilson | Construction Law Zone The Connecticut Appellate Court recently provided guidance on what does not constitute property damage under a typical contractor\u2019s Commercial General Liability (CGL) insurance policy in\u00a0Westchester Modular Homes of Fairfield County, Inc. v. Arbella Protection Ins. Co., 224 Conn App. 526 (2024). In this case, the contractor defended construction defect&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/property-damage-under-cgl-policy-connecticut\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Water Alone is Not Property Damage under a CGL policy in Connecticut<\/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":[10791,30,9721],"tags":[9895,4739,56],"class_list":["post-902970","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commercial-general-liability-policy","category-general-liability-policy","category-property-damage","tag-advise-consult","tag-commercial-general-liability-policy","tag-property-damage","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>Water Alone is Not Property Damage under a CGL policy in Connecticut - Advise &amp; 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