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Mealey's Construction Defects Insurance

  • 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.

  • November 18, 2025

    Insurer, General Contractor Dismiss Damages Coverage Suit

    ORLANDO, Fla. — A general contractor and a commercial liability insurer filed a joint stipulation for dismissal in a Florida federal court of the insurer’s lawsuit seeking a declaration regarding coverage for construction-related damages at a condominium development.

  • November 18, 2025

    4th Circuit Grants Homeowners Dismissal Of Dispute Over Water Damage Coverage

    RICHMOND, Va. — The Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals granted North Carolina homeowners’ motion to voluntarily dismiss their appeal of a lower court’s order dismissing their case against a waterproofing company’s insurer; the lower court found that the homeowners had no standing to bring a suit against the insurer after the company’s work allegedly caused damage to their property.

  • November 17, 2025

    Subcontractor, Insurer Dismiss Suit Seeking Duty To Defend Property Damage Action

    RIVERSIDE, Calif. — A subcontractor and a general liability insurer filed a stipulation of dismissal in federal court in California, dismissing the subcontractor’s action against the insurer seeking defense of a cross-claim in an underlying dispute over property damage during a construction project.

  • November 17, 2025

    Calif. Federal Case Closed After CGL Insurer, Construction Company Seek Dismissal

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The same day a commercial general liability insurer and a construction company insured filed a stipulation to dismiss all claims, counterclaims and a cross-claim in a coverage dispute arising from alleged construction defects in a concrete slab the insured poured for a new building, a federal court in California terminated the entire action.

  • November 14, 2025

    Insured, Property Owner Seek Rehearing Over Retaining Wall Damage Coverage

    SAN FRANCISCO — A property owner and a construction company filed a petition for panel rehearing in the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals of a 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, arguing that the panel’s decision is inconsistent with circuit court precedent and that the panel improperly weighed the evidence submitted by the parties.

  • November 14, 2025

    Indiana Court Grants Rehearing Petition, Reissues Opinion On Fire Damage Coverage

    INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Court of Appeals granted a petition for rehearing and reissued its opinion finding that the insurers of a subcontractor and a sub-subcontractor did not owe coverage for the cleanup of damage after a fire broke out while the sub-subcontractor was welding because the damage was covered under the project owner’s all-risk insurance policy and the project owner’s master agreement with the contractor required the project owner and contractor to waive their subrogation rights, omitting a footnote from the original opinion.

  • November 13, 2025

    Insurer Urges 9th Circuit To Vacate Amended Judgment In Damages Coverage Row

    SAN FRANCISCO — In its opening appellant brief, a general contractor’s insurer argues that the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals should vacate a lower court’s amended judgment in favor of a subcontractor’s commercial general liability insurer, stating that the subcontractor’s insurer had a duty to defend the subcontractor in the insurer’s equitable contribution and equitable indemnification suit arising from construction defect-related damages to a hotel that the general contractor and subcontractor were constructing.

  • November 12, 2025

    Railway Company, Insurer Dismiss Case Over Coverage Of Underlying Flood Claim

    OAKLAND, Calif. — A railway company and an insurer filed a stipulation to dismiss the insurer’s claim for declaratory relief that it did not have a duty to indemnify the railway company in an underlying complaint against it for negligence after the construction of the railway caused property to flood.

  • November 12, 2025

    Subcontractor, Insurer Settle Dispute Over Defense Of Action Over Microtunneling

    SEATTLE — A subcontractor and its insurer filed a notice of settlement in a case brought by the subcontractor alleging that the insurer failed to defend it against a counterclaim in an underlying suit arising out of the subcontractor’s microtunneling work for a water project in Seattle.