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Mealey's Construction Defects Insurance

  • December 19, 2025

    Judge Dismisses Abuse Of Process Claim For Mistakes In Underlying Coverage Action

    LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A federal judge in Kentucky dismissed an insurance underwriter’s motion for abuse of process in a case brought after a construction company’s former attorney filed an underlying coverage action for a repaired roof defect against the wrong entity, finding the attorney and the construction company had no ill intent in making the mistaken filing.

  • December 19, 2025

    Judge: Insurer Owes No Duty To Indemnify Damages From Subcontractor’s Faulty Work

    PENSACOLA, Fla. — A federal judge in Florida found that a subcontractor’s insurer owed no duty to indemnify the subcontractor or the contractor that hired it for damages owed after the U.S. Navy found defects in renovations the contractor, subcontractor and other subcontractors did on two buildings at the navel air station in Pensacola, Fla., agreeing with the insurer that deficiency notices didn’t assert a claim for property damage and an arbitration award didn’t allocate between covered and noncovered damages.

  • December 19, 2025

    Judge Remands Bad Faith, Negligent Misrepresentation Case To State Court

    KANSAS CITY, Kan. — A federal judge in Kansas remanded to state court a construction company owner’s complaint against his commercial liability insurer for alleged bad faith for not defending him in an underlying construction defect action and negligent misrepresentation against the insurer’s employee, finding that the owner adequately stated a claim against the employee and that complete diversity didn’t exist between the parties.

  • December 18, 2025

    Judge Won’t Amend Judgment As To Defective Bin Coverage

    INDIANAPOLIS — A federal judge in Indiana denied a grain production firm’s motion to alter or amend a partial summary judgment order in favor of a grain equipment company’s insurer, again holding that some of the claimed losses for the repair and replacement of leaky grain storage bins related to a contractual dispute rather than to coverage liability.

  • December 17, 2025

    Judge Adopts Report, Dismisses Insurer’s Action Against Subcontractor

    JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — On Dec. 16, a federal judge in Florida adopted the report and recommendations of a magistrate judge that an insurer’s action against its insured subcontractor seeking a declaration that it owed no coverage to the subcontractor in an underlying construction-defect lawsuit be dismissed for lack of Article III jurisdiction.

  • December 17, 2025

    Construction Manager Appeals Finding Policy Exclusion Precludes Coverage

    LOS ANGELES — A construction manager appealed to the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals a federal judge in California’s order granting an insurance company’s motion for summary judgment in a case the construction manager brought for coverage of an underlying case regarding issues with the laying of concrete flooring; the judge found that a policy exclusion precluded coverage.

  • December 17, 2025

    Property Owner Appeals After Judge Finds Jury Award Over Fire Damage Not Covered

    FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A property owner appealed to the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals a federal judge in Florida’s order granting an insurer’s motion for summary judgment in the insurance company’s declaratory action against the property owner and the company’s insured contractor; the judge found no coverage for damages awarded by a jury in an underlying case over damage after a fire because the economic damages aren’t covered under the policy.

  • December 17, 2025

    Current Owner Didn’t Waive Subrogation Rights Under Construction Agreement

    BOISE, Idaho — A federal judge denied a general contractor’s motion for summary judgment in a case brought by the insurer of the current owner of an apartment building after a fire-suppression water line froze and burst, finding that the current owner did not waive its subrogation rights under the construction agreement.

  • December 15, 2025

    9th Circuit: Tract Housing Exclusion Precludes Coverage For Faulty Work Dispute

    SEATTLE — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court’s grant of an insurer’s motion for summary judgment, agreeing with the lower court that coverage for a development company from claims of faulty work brought by a group of homeowners is barred by a policy exclusion related to the construction of tract housing.

  • December 11, 2025

    Hard Rock Hotel Collapse Coverage Dispute Dismissed After Settlement Reached

    NEW ORLEANS — A federal judge in Louisiana issued an order dismissing a property owner’s breach of contract lawsuit against builders risk insurers seeking additional insured coverage for its $89,877,694 in losses arising from the aftermath of the partial collapse of a Hard Rock Hotel project in New Orleans after being informed the parties reached a settlement.

  • December 10, 2025

    Stipulation Of Dismissal Granted In Coverage Dispute Over Defective Stonework

    ST. LOUIS — A federal judge in Missouri on Dec. 9 granted a joint stipulation of dismissal filed by an insurer, construction manager and homeowners in a case brought by the construction manager’s insurer seeking a declaration that it owed no duty to its insured in an underlying action against the construction manager for events arising out of the construction of the homeowners’ house.

  • December 10, 2025

    Texas High Court Will Not Review Court’s Reinstatement Of Insurer’s Subrogation Suit

    AUSTIN, Texas— The Texas Supreme Court denied a homeowners insurer’s petition for a writ of mandamus in a subrogation suit stemming from a roofing contractor’s defective work, refusing to disturb a trial court’s decision to set aside a default judgment and final judgment by default entered against the roofing contractor.

  • December 10, 2025

    Townhome Management Appeals Finding Of Collusion In Case Over Defect Coverage

    DENVER — A townhome management company, as subrogee for a contractor, appealed to the 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals a Colorado federal judge’s grant of summary judgment in favor of an insurer in the management company’s case against the insurer for insurance bad faith regarding the coverage of an underlying action the company brought against the contractor for alleged defective construction work; the judge found that the facts established that a Nunn agreement between the company and the contractor was the result of collusion.

  • December 10, 2025

    Panel Directs Lower Court To Order Appraisal In Dispute Over Reconstruction Costs

    HOUSTON — A panel of the Texas First Court of Appeals vacated a trial court’s denial of a builders risk insurer’s motion to compel appraisal in a coverage dispute over the cost of reconstruction of a home damaged by fire and directed the lower court to order the parties to appraisal after determining that the insurer did not waive its right to demand appraisal.

  • December 09, 2025

    Judge: Subcontractor Judicially Estopped After Conflicting Previous Arguments

    OKLAHOMA CITY — A federal judge in Oklahoma granted the motion to limit asset damages filed by a sub-subcontractor and its insurer in a third-party complaint filed by a subcontractor in a case brought after the discovery of construction defects.  The judge found that the subcontractor was judicially estopped because it brought arguments for the first time that were inconsistent with its position for the more than a decade the case has been working its way through the court system.

  • December 09, 2025

    Insurer Waived Right To Object To Insureds’ Civil Remedy Notice, Florida Panel Says

    ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A trial court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of a homeowners insurer in a bad faith suit stemming from the insureds’ claim for water and mold damage in their home because the insurer waived its right to object to the insureds’ civil remedy notice (CRN) by failing to raise an objection to the CRN when it responded to the CRN, a Florida appellate court said.

  • December 01, 2025

    Defective Construction Exclusion Does Not Bar Coverage For Water, Mold Damages

    SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge granted summary judgment in favor of insured homeowners on a breach of contract claim after determining that an all-risk policy provides coverage for rainwater intrusion and additional living expenses incurred as a result of mold contamination in the insureds’ home because rainwater, a covered loss, rather than defective construction, an excluded cause of loss, was the “efficient proximate cause” of the insureds’ loss.

  • November 25, 2025

    Judge Denies Homebuilder’s Motion To Sever, Finds Claims Address Same Questions

    AUSTIN, Texas — A federal judge in Texas denied a homebuilder’s motion to sever claims in a case in which the homebuilder alleges that its general liability insurer breached their contract by denying coverage for underlying construction defect claims and refusing to participate in settlement negotiations related to the underlying claims, finding no reason to apply different reasoning to separate claims.

  • November 21, 2025

    W.Va. Court Reverses Summary Judgment Rulings For Subcontractors’ Insurers

    CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Finding that a trial court misconstrued Soaring Eagle Development Co., LLC v. Travelers Indemnity Co. of America to preclude a general contractor’s breach of contract, bad faith and unfair trade practices claims against subcontractors’ insurers, the West Virginia Intermediate Court of Appeals in consolidated appeals reversed the trial court’s rulings granting summary judgment to the general contractor.

  • November 21, 2025

    West Virginia Appellate Court Finds Builder’s Coverage Not Yet Triggered

    CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The Intermediate Court of Appeals of West Virginia affirmed a lower court’s determination that a builder’s coverage under an excess commercial general liability policy had not been triggered because the builder had not met the terms of the policy’s endorsements and primary coverage had not yet been exhausted.

  • November 21, 2025

    Judge Finds Policy Provisions Preventing Continuous Damage Coverage Unenforceable

    ESSEX COUNTY, N.J. — A New Jersey judge granted partial summary judgment to a developer and its sole member in their case against several insurers seeking declaratory relief regarding policy provisions that purport to limit coverage for continuous damage that arose out of alleged construction defects in the building of a condominium, finding the policy limitations to be unenforceable.

  • November 20, 2025

    9th Circuit Won’t Rehear Case Over Coverage For Retaining Wall Damage

    SAN FRANCISCO — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel denied a property owner and construction company’s petition for panel rehearing of the split panel’s holding that the construction company’s insurer does not owe coverage for an underlying suit over damage caused by improperly constructed retaining walls because the policy’s impaired property exclusion bars coverage and the “sudden and accidental injury” exception to the exclusion does not apply.

  • November 19, 2025

    4th Circuit Affirms Finding Of No ‘Occurrence’ In Contractor’s Coverage Claim

    RICHMOND, Va. — A Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Nov. 18 agreed with a Virginia federal judge’s finding that a contractor is not owed reimbursement from excess insurers for expenses it sustained while repairing damage to walls at a school it was building for the U.S. Marine Corps caused by a subcontractor; the panel found no reversable error in the judge’s dismissal or subsequent ruling.

  • November 19, 2025

    Orders Issued Regarding Dismissal, Default Judgment Over Faulty HVAC Install

    SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge in California issued two orders in a declaratory judgment action an insurer brought against its insured HVAC provider, the construction company that hired it and the owner of the subject property, finding in one order that the insurer may have a duty to defend the construction company in an underlying suit regarding defects in the installation of the HVAC system; in the other order, the judge found that because she already found that the insurer may owe a duty to defend, the judge could not grant default judgment as to the property owner.

  • November 18, 2025

    Insurer Appeals Decision Finding Rescission Of Contractor’s Policy Time-Barred

    LOS ANGELES — An insurance company has appealed a California federal judge’s order denying its motion for judgment on the pleadings and granting summary judgment sua sponte in favor of a general contractor; the judge found that the insurer’s claim for rescission of the general contractor’s policies because the general contractor provided false information on its insurance applications was time-barred.