Corteau v. Teachers Ins. Co.

338 F. Supp. 3d 88
CourtDistrict Court, D. Connecticut
DecidedSeptember 5, 2018
DocketNo. 3:16-cv-00580 (MPS)
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 338 F. Supp. 3d 88 (Corteau v. Teachers Ins. Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Connecticut primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Corteau v. Teachers Ins. Co., 338 F. Supp. 3d 88 (D. Conn. 2018).

Opinion

Michael P. Shea, U.S.D.J.

*90I. Introduction

Plaintiffs Kenneth Courteau and Cheryl Courteau filed this action against their homeowner's insurance provider, Teachers Insurance Company, for failure to pay for damages to the basement walls of their home caused by cracking concrete. The plaintiffs brought claims of breach of contract (Count One), breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing (Count Two), and unfair and deceptive practices in violation of the Connecticut Unfair Insurance Practices Act, Conn. Gen. Stat. § 38a-816 et seq. ("CUIPA") and the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act, Conn. Gen. Stat. § 42-110a et seq. ("CUTPA"). In my ruling on the defendant's motion to dismiss, I dismissed the plaintiffs' CUTPA claim. (See ECF No. 30 at 1.) Now before me is the defendant's motion for summary judgment with respect to the plaintiffs' remaining counts. (ECF No. 31.) For the reasons that follow, I grant the defendant's motion.

II. Background

A. Factual Background

The following facts, which are taken from the parties' Local Rule 56(a) Statements and the exhibits, are undisputed unless otherwise indicated. "Plaintiffs Kenneth and Cheryl Courteau have lived at 98 Winwood Circle, Somers, Connecticut ("the Property") continuously since 2006." (ECF No. 33, Defendant's Local Rule 56(a)1 Statement ("Def.'s L.R. 56(a)1 Stmt.") at ¶ 1; ECF No. 36-1, Plaintiffs' Local Rule 56(a)2 Statement ("Pl.'s L.R. 56(a)2 Stmt.") at ¶ 1.) The defendant "insured the Property under separate policies of insurance, each with one year terms, beginning on October 1, 2006 and continuing until October 1, 2016." (Def.'s L.R. 56(a)1 Stmt. at ¶ 2; Pl.'s L.R. 56(a)2 Stmt. at ¶ 2.) During the plaintiffs' tenure in the Property, "Plaintiff Kenneth Courteau had seen all along what he characterized as normal wear and tear cracks in the house concrete." (Def.'s L.R. 56(a)1 Stmt. at ¶ 3; Pl.'s L.R. 56(a)2 Stmt. at ¶ 3.) "In or around September 2015, Plaintiffs received an offer to purchase their home, which they accepted. The deal fell through, however, when the prospective buyers obtained a home inspection report that contained negative findings concerning the foundation and garage concrete." (Def.'s L.R. 56(a)1 Stmt. at ¶ 4; Pl.'s L.R. 56(a)2 Stmt. at ¶ 4.)

"On October 19, 2015, Plaintiffs submitted an insurance claim to [the defendant]." (Def.'s L.R. 56(a)1 Stmt. at ¶ 5; Pl.'s L.R. 56(a)2 Stmt. at ¶ 5.) After "[a]n adjuster retained by [the defendant] inspected the Property on October 22, 2015," the defendant "denied Plaintiffs' claim by letter dated October 26, 2015." (Def.'s L.R. 56(a)1 Stmt. at ¶¶ 6-7; Pl.'s L.R. 56(a)2 Stmt. at ¶¶ 6-7.) The plaintiffs' insurance policies with the defendant took two forms between 2006 and 2016. "From October 1, 2006, when Plaintiffs first insured with [the defendant], through October 1, 2013, the [defendant's] Policy ("Policy") did not contain any applicable coverage for collapse of a building or part of a building." (Def.'s L.R. 56(a)1 Stmt. at ¶ 10; Pl.'s L.R. 56(a)2 Stmt. at ¶ 10.) The versions of the Policy used thereafter contained "incidental coverage, applicable to direct physical loss to covered property involving the collapse of a building or part of a building." (Def.'s L.R. 56(a)1 Stmt. at ¶ 8 (internal quotation marks omitted); Pl.'s L.R. 56(a)2 Stmt. at ¶ 8.1 ) The post-2013 Policy defined *91the "collapse of a building or part of a building" as "an abrupt caving in, falling in, falling down, or giving way of the building or the part of the building that prevents the building or the part of the building from being occupied for the purpose for which it was intended just before caving in, falling in, falling down, or giving way ...." (Id. ) It also stated that "the following are not considered to be in a state of collapse: a) a building or part of a building that has not caved in, fallen down, or given way even if it displays evidence of bending, bowing, bulging, cracking, expansion ... and b) a building or a part of a building in danger of caving in, falling in, falling down, or giving way." (Def.'s L.R. 56(a)1 Stmt. at ¶ 9; Pl.'s L.R. 56(a)2 Stmt. at ¶ 9.)

"The damage alleged by the Plaintiffs ... is the result of a process of deterioration that has been occurring since the concrete [for the Property] was originally poured in 1984 ...." (Def.'s L.R. 56(a)1 Stmt. at ¶ 11; Pl.'s L.R. 56(a)2 Stmt. at ¶ 11.) "Petrographic analysis by Dr. Sidney Carter confirmed that core samples drilled from Plaintiffs' foundation walls contain[ ] iron sulfide materials, principally pyrrhotite, and that the cracking in the concrete relates to the oxidation of the iron sulfide minerals within the aggregates." (Def.'s L.R. 56(a)1 Stmt. at ¶ 13 (internal quotation marks omitted); Pl.'s L.R. 56(a)2 Stmt. at ¶ 13.) Despite these findings, the plaintiffs "currently occupy the Property" and continue to "use [the] basement as they have since they have owned the Property." (Def.'s L.R. 56(a)1 Stmt. at ¶ 14; Pl.'s L.R. 56(a)2 Stmt. at ¶ 14.) "No one has told Plaintiffs that the cracks in their foundation walls present a safety hazard," "that the Property or the foundation walls are in imminent danger of falling down, or that they need to move out of the property." (Def.'s L.R. 56(a)1 Stmt. at ¶¶ 15-16; Pl.'s L.R. 56(a)2 Stmt. at ¶¶ 15-16.)

B. The Plaintiffs' Complaint

According to their complaint, "the plaintiffs were notified [in October of 2015] that the basement walls of their home had a series of horizontal and vertical cracks throughout by way of a home inspection commissioned by a prospective buyer of their home." (Id. at ¶ 6.) The plaintiffs subsequently "undertook an investigation of the 'pattern cracking' condition," revealing that it had occurred "due to a chemical compound found in certain basement walls constructed in the late 1980s and the early 1990s with concrete most likely from the J.J. Mottes Concrete Company." (Id. at ¶¶ 7-8.) The plaintiffs allege that "[t]he aggregate used by the J.J. Mottes Concrete Company in manufacturing the concrete in that particular time period contained a chemical compound which, with its mixture with the water, sand, and cement necessary to form the concrete, began to oxidize (rust) and expand, breaking the bonds of the concrete internally and reducing it to rubble." (Id. at ¶ 9.)

After this realization, the plaintiffs claim they "made a timely claim for coverage of the loss in accordance with the terms of the [defendant's Policy] and the policies issued during the preceding years." (Id. at ¶ 15.) The plaintiffs allege that "[t]he defendant denied [their] claim for coverage by way of [a] letter claiming that the [Policy] does not afford coverage for the condition affecting their basement walls." (Id. at ¶ 16.) The plaintiffs claim that the defendant denied them coverage under the Policy on grounds contrary to "the express *92provisions of the [Policy]." (ECF No.

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338 F. Supp. 3d 88, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/corteau-v-teachers-ins-co-ctd-2018.