Property Damage Coverage in Doubt

The insured is a homeowners association. It contacted the local village to clear some trees and bushes in a common area believed to be on an easement. The Village cleared trees and bushes in the common area as well as some trees and bushes that were on property owned by two homeowners. The claim is for the loss of the trees/bushes as well as possible loss of value to the property. If the insured is somehow found legally obligated to respond to the property damage claim, would exclusions j5 and j6 apply since the work was done on behalf of our insured, even if the Village is not necessarily a “contractor”?

Connecticut Subscriber

Exclusion j5 may apply but not j6. Exclusion j5 is for PD to that particular part of real property on which the named insured or contractors working on the named insured's behalf are performing operations if the PD arises out of those operations. So, if the PD was discovered while the clearing was going on, then j5 would apply. However, if the PD was discovered after completion of the work, j5 does not apply since it is an ongoing operations exclusion, not a completed operations exclusion.

Exclusion j6 is not applicable in our opinion since it speaks of work incorrectly performed. Some jurisdictions hold that cutting down the wrong trees is incorrectly performed work, however, other jurisdictions disagree. FC&S agrees with the latter position. Just because the insured cuts down the wrong trees does not mean the work was done incorrectly. A mistake was made. But the insured cut down trees as they are meant to be cut.

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