No, No, No: No Accident, No Property Damage, No Duty to Defend Under Illinois Law

Westfield Insurance Co. v. West Van Buren, LLC, et al., 2016 IL App (1st) 140862 represents a continuation of Illinois law in the context of an insurer’s duty to defend construction defect claims. As articulated in Westfield, accidental events are required to trigger a duty to defend and shoddy workmanship does not constitute property damage. In addition, since the underlying complaint did not seek damages for any personal property damage, the Illinois Appellate Court held Westfield Insurance Company had no duty to defend …

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No Coverage for Construction Defect After Work Completed

On an underlying claim for negligent construction of a condominium project in south Mississippi, the Fifth Circuit overturned the Southern District of Mississippi’s decision to grant coverage to an additional insured.  The Fifth Circuit overturned on the grounds that the additional insured was temporally barred, by the policy’s limitation and exclusion, from doing so.

When initially declining to provide coverage to the additional insured, the insurer cited to language in the policy that limited its coverage “to liability arising out of your ongoing operations performed …

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