The panel's certified question asked, "whether rainwater that lands and accumulates on either (i) a building's second-floor outdoor rooftop courtyard or (ii) a building's parapet roof and that subsequently inundates the interior of the building unambiguously constitutes 'surface waters' under Massachusetts law for the purposes of the insurance policies at issue in this case?" Credit: nito/Adobe Stock
The definition of "surface water" and its applicability to flood insurance coverage will be a decision for the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court now, as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit certified a question for its consideration earlier this week.
The three-judge panel said the certification will allow the state's high court to apply its law and policy judgments on this undecided issue, citing the lack of controlling precedent.
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