DeBartolo v. Underwriters at Lloyd's of London

2007 VT 31, 925 A.2d 1018, 181 Vt. 609, 2007 Vt. 31
CourtSupreme Court of Vermont
DecidedApril 25, 2007
Docket06-027
StatusPublished

This text of 2007 VT 31 (DeBartolo v. Underwriters at Lloyd's of London) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Vermont primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
DeBartolo v. Underwriters at Lloyd's of London, 2007 VT 31, 925 A.2d 1018, 181 Vt. 609, 2007 Vt. 31 (Vt. 2007).

Opinion

925 A.2d 1018 (2007)
2007 VT 31

Desiree DEBARTOLO
v.
UNDERWRITERS AT LLOYD'S OF LONDON.

No. 06-027.

Supreme Court of Vermont.

April 25, 2007.

*1020 Present: REIBER, C.J., and DOOLEY, JOHNSON, SKOGLUND and BURGESS, JJ.

ENTRY ORDER

¶ 1. Insurer, Lloyd's of London, appeals the superior court's grant of summary judgment to its insured, Desiree DeBartolo. Insurer argues that the superior court erred: (1) in concluding that the policy it issued to insured provided coverage for damage to a restaurant property she owned, and (2) in finding that insured did not deliberately conceal that she had reopened the restaurant before the loss. We affirm.

¶ 2. The facts, which were largely stipulated below, may be briefly summarized. Ms. DeBartolo owned a restaurant property in Poultney, Vermont. She closed the restaurant in the fall of 2000 and let her commercial insurance lapse. The holder of the mortgage on the property demanded that Ms. DeBartolo obtain property coverage sufficient to pay the $92,000 outstanding mortgage debt. Accordingly, in March of 2001, Ms. DeBartolo applied, through her agent, for a six-month policy with a property coverage limit of $92,000, enough to cover the balance on the mortgage.[1] Ms. DeBartolo represented, on the application, that the restaurant was "closed for the season."

¶ 3. Ms. DeBartolo's agent placed the coverage with Lloyd's of London through one of its United States agents, S & H Underwriters. Lloyd's is a surplus lines insurer in Vermont, and therefore can issue coverage only if it is not reasonably available from other sources. 8 V.S.A. § 5024. The agent sent Ms. DeBartolo a copy of the policy, which was effective March 14, 2001, along with a letter on May *1021 1, 2001. The letter stated that if Ms. DeBartolo decided to reopen the restaurant, she must notify the agent so that he could "make the necessary changes regarding the insurance." Ms. DeBartolo received the letter and the policy before the loss but did not read either. The policy's Declarations page described the covered property as a "vacant restaurant" on Route 30 in Poultney. The policy explicitly provided coverage for property damage resulting from fire, with several pages of specific exclusions and limitations delineating risks not covered. No exclusion or limitation stated that the reopening of the restaurant would void the coverage. The policy also included a vacancy permit, which provided that the "VACANCY Loss Condition does not apply to direct physical loss or damage: (1) At the location; and (2) During the Permit Period; shown in the Schedule or in the Declarations."

¶ 4. Ms. DeBartolo opened the restaurant for business on May 26, 2001. At some point in the preceding days, a plumbing leak soaked a carpet, which Ms. DeBartolo attempted to dry using a kerosene heater. The heater caused a fire on May 30, 2001, resulting in damage to the restaurant exceeding the policy's property coverage limit. Ms. DeBartolo concedes that the restaurant was not vacant at the time of the loss.

¶ 5. Lloyd's denied coverage for the loss, contending that the policy provided property coverage only while the restaurant remained vacant, and asserting that Ms. DeBartolo had intentionally concealed a known material fact—the reopening—both at the time of the loss and when she applied for coverage. Ms. DeBartolo commenced a breach-of-contract action against insurer in 2003, also alleging that insurer's denial of coverage was made in bad faith. Insurer raised as defenses the same claims it raised in the denial letter. The parties stipulated to the above-detailed facts and submitted cross-motions for summary judgment.

¶ 6. The superior court concluded that the policy was ambiguous as to whether coverage would continue if the restaurant reopened. The court therefore construed the policy in favor of Ms. DeBartolo, granted her motion for summary judgment, and ordered Lloyd's to pay the full property-coverage amount, less the $500 deductible, plus prejudgment interest and costs. The superior court later issued a supplemental finding that Ms. DeBartolo had not concealed from Lloyd's that she had reopened the restaurant.[2] This appeal followed.

I.

¶ 7. Lloyd's argues, first, that the trial court erred in granting summary judgment to Ms. DeBartolo because the policy's plain language unambiguously limits property coverage to a vacant restaurant. It notes that the policy's Declarations page describes the covered property as a vacant restaurant, and contends that this description is material to, and limits the extent of, property coverage under the policy. DeBartolo asserts, by contrast, that the policy is at best ambiguous as to whether property coverage would continue when the restaurant reopened, and should therefore be construed in favor of finding coverage.

¶ 8. We review a grant of summary judgment de novo, applying the same standard as the trial court. Town of Lunenburg v. Supervisor & Bd. of Governors of Unorganized Towns & Gores of Essex County, 2006 VT 71, ¶ 6, 180 Vt. ___, 908 A.2d 424 (mem.). We will affirm a grant *1022 of summary judgment when there are no genuine issues of material fact and the prevailing party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. V.R.C.P. 56(c)(3); Zukatis v. Perry, 165 Vt. 298, 300, 682 A.2d 964, 965 (1996). If both parties seek summary judgment, each must be given the benefit of all reasonable doubts and inferences when the opposing party's motion is being evaluated. Toys, Inc. v. F.M. Burlington Co., 155 Vt. 44, 48, 582 A.2d 123, 125 (1990). When no issues of material fact remain, we will conduct a plenary, nondeferential review of the questions of law presented by the summary judgment motion. Hardwick Recycling & Salvage, Inc. v. Acadia Ins. Co., 2004 VT 124, ¶ 14, 177 Vt. 421, 869 A.2d 82.

¶ 9. We interpret insurance policies much like other contracts, striving to give effect to the intent of the parties as expressed by the plain language of the instrument. Sanders v. St. Paul Mercury Ins. Co., 148 Vt. 496, 500, 536 A.2d 914, 916 (1987). Any ambiguities in insurance policies are construed in favor of finding coverage. Id. As with other contracts, the determination of ambiguity is a question of law, and our review is nondeferential and plenary. Ferrill v. N. Am. Hunting Retriever Ass'n, 173 Vt. 587, 590, 795 A.2d 1208, 1211 (2002) (mem.). However, an insurer should "not . . . be deprived of unambiguous provisions placed in a policy for its benefit." Peerless Ins. Co. v. Wells, 154 Vt. 491, 494, 580 A.2d 485, 487 (1990). Accordingly, we will "enforce the contract as written and not . . . rewrite it on behalf of one . . . of the parties." Waters v. Concord Group Ins. Cos., 169 Vt. 534, 536, 725 A.2d 923, 926 (1999) (mem.). It is "appropriate, when inquiring into the existence of ambiguity, for a court to consider the circumstances surrounding the making of the agreement." Isbrandtsen v. N. Branch Corp., 150 Vt.

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Bluebook (online)
2007 VT 31, 925 A.2d 1018, 181 Vt. 609, 2007 Vt. 31, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/debartolo-v-underwriters-at-lloyds-of-london-vt-2007.