LORDA Defeats a GC’s Attempt to Obtain AI Coverage from Sub’s Insurer
March 13, 2015
Galveston Federal Magistrate John R. Froeschner held oral arguments on March 11 and then two days later he issued a Memorandum Order recommending the granting of LORDA’s client Selective Insurance Company of South Carolina’s motion for summary judgment in a coverage dispute arising from a lawsuit over bodily injuries and a death at a construction site. When the General Contractor sought coverage as an Additional Insured under the Selective liability policy issued to one of the subcontractors, this coverage litigation ensued. Selective and the General Contractor then filed competing summary judgment motions on whether Selective owes the General Contractor a duty to defend in the underlying bodily injury/wrongful death lawsuit.
The Magistrate Judge analyzed the Selective’s policy’s blanket additional insured provision and found that it only provided coverage to the General Contractor “with respect to liability for bodily injury … caused in whole or in part by the [subcontractor’s] … ongoing operations or products.” Next, Magistrate Froeschner reviewed the live pleadings and noted that “there are no allegations that connect [the General Contractor] with any of [the subcontractor’s] unidentified operations or products.” Accordingly, the court held that “[u]nder a strict application of the eight corners rule, Selective has no duty to defend [the General Contractor] in this case.”