Welcome to FC&S Legal's next Insurance Coverage Law Quiz! We provide summaries of five state supreme court decisions discussed in the Case Law Developments column of FC&S Legal involving homeowners' insurance policies. You decide whether the courts found coverage or not. Answers appear Tuesday. Good Luck!
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1. Fencing
Fencing attached to a home by four bolts was damaged by Hurricane Ike. The homeowners and the insurer disputed whether the fencing was covered under the homeowners' policy's “dwelling” provision (which offered $247,200 in total “dwelling” coverage) or its “other structures” provision (which offered only $24,720 in coverage).
The trial court ruled in favor of the insurer, and the homeowners appealed.
In a split opinion, the court of appeals affirmed.
The dispute reached the Texas Supreme Court.
How did the court rule?
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2. The Post-Loss Assignment
After a storm damaged Howard Hunter's home, he made a claim under the homeowner's insurance policy he had obtained from Farm Bureau Property & Casualty Insurance Company.
He assigned his claim to a contractor, but Farm Bureau contended that the assignment was not valid.
The trial court found in favor of the contractor; its judgment was affirmed on appeal.
The dispute reached the Nebraska Supreme Court, where Farm Bureau contended that the purported assignment of rights by Mr. Hunter to the contractor was invalid given the policy's non-assignment clause.
How did the court rule?
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3. Efficient Proximate Cause or Concurring Cause?
Here, the question was what caused the insured homeowner's loss: a covered cause, or an excluded cause.
A Florida jury found in favor of the homeowner, and the trial court entered judgment against the insurer.
An appellate court reversed and remanded for a new trial, “in which the causation” of the homeowner's loss had to be “examined under the efficient proximate cause theory.”
The dispute reached the Florida Supreme Court.
How did the court rule?
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4. “Actual Cash Value”
Suppose a homeowners' insurance policy provided for the payment of “actual cash value” but did not identify how to calculate that value. How should it be done?
The issue reached the Minnesota Supreme Court.
How did the court rule?
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5. Workers' Comp Exclusions
Are workers' compensation exclusions in a homeowners' insurance policy enforceable?
The trial court in this case ruled that the policy language was clear and unambiguous and, given a ruling that the underlying plaintiff's injuries were compensable under workers' compensation law, the policy's workers' compensation exclusions applied.
The dispute reached the Delaware Supreme Court.
How did the court rule?
Steven A. Meyerowitz
Steven A. Meyerowitz, a Harvard Law School graduate, is the founder and president of Meyerowitz Communications Inc., a law firm marketing communications consulting company. He may be contacted at [email protected].