Summary Judgment Victory for Insurance Carrier

Robert Chemers, Rich Burgland, and Paula Villela, recently secured summary judgment for their client, a liability insurance carrier, which was found to have no duty to defend a general contractor in an action alleging construction defects and conversion of the claimant’s property.

The underlying claimant brought an action against the general contractor for negligence in building a house for approximately $2 million and for knowingly taking certain materials belonging to the claimant without consent and with the intent to defraud. The insured tendered its defense to the insurance carrier and argued that the claim for conversion of property triggered the insurer’s duty to defend. Robert, Richard, and Paula successfully argued that their client did not owe a duty to defend the general contractor as the claim for conversion alleged only intentional conduct, which could not amount to an “occurrence” as required to trigger coverage under the policy.