Insurance
Contract Indemnity and Duty to Defend vs. Insurance Duty to Defend
June 10th, 2016
A New Hampshire court has issued a thoughtful decision on the duty to defend arising from an indemnity obligation in a design contract. The court distinguished between the duty to defend often invoked for insurance coverage, from a duty to defend exp…
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Tower crane is neither “temporary works” nor “incidental” to construction; damage excluded from builder’s risk coverage
December 24th, 2015
Many readers will remember seeing photos and videos of a dangling tower crane boom, high above the Manhattan skyline, resulting from Hurricane Sandy. A divided (3-2) New York appellate court has ruled against the One57 building owner and construction…
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Can Faulty Workmanship Give Rise to a Covered Insurance Claim? Illinois Court Says Yes
November 30th, 2015
The court states the issue in its first sentence: “This case presents a straightforward, but unsettled, question of Illinois law: Is there an ‘occurrence’ under standard-form comprehensive general liability (“CGL”) policies…
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When Is A Shovel Better Than A Jackhammer? Dig Safe Violation = Problem
October 19th, 2015
At times the subject of contractor jokes, Dig Safe laws and regulations are not to be trifled with; a Massachusetts contractor learned this lesson the hard way. Although the contractor notified Dig Safe ahead of time, and the gas utility marked some…
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Insurance Statute of Limitations Upheld Even After Timely Notice
October 7th, 2015
The insured sustains major water damage on December 19, 2009 (an unoccupied house under construction), and learns about the damage on December 28. He gives prompt notice to the carrier. The carrier investigates, and January 14, 2011 – just over a y…
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Reference to Arbitration Did Not Toll Statute of Limitations
September 17th, 2015
Where homeowners sought to arbitrate an insurance coverage dispute within the two-year statute of limitations, but the carrier declined to do so, the homeowners’ failure to file a lawsuit within that two-year period resulted in the claim being dism…
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Interplay of General Liability and Pollution Liability Coverage
March 19th, 2015
An explosion caused by release of natural gas from a damaged pipe caused personal injury and property damage. Resulting lawsuits against the contractor whose crew damaged the pipe were defended by the contractor’s general liability (GL) carrier, wh…
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Insurance Coverage for Damaged NYC Tower Crane
January 26th, 2015
Readers will recall photos of a tower crane damaged by Hurricane Sandy. Construction of the NYC high-rise building known as One57 was underway when the crane was lashed by hurricane-force winds. The crane jib was apparently blown backwards, and ended…
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Parsing the GL Exclusion of Coverage for “Your Work”
January 14th, 2015
Another state has joined the group of states that parse a common GL exclusion to allow coverage to remedy non-defective work damaged by defective work. The Supreme Court of New Hampshire just issued its decision, in the case of Cogswell Farm Condomin…
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About Stan Martin
Stan Martin holds a law degree and an undergraduate degree in architecture. He has been involved with the construction industry for more than 45 years, working in construction prior to law school and beginning his construction law practice. During his career, he has been actively involved with the Associated General Contractors of Massachusetts, the Boston Society of Architects, the American Arbitration Association, and the Massachusetts Building Congress.