First Coast Energy, LLP v. Cincinnati Insurance Co.

227 F. Supp. 3d 1282, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 109973, 2017 WL 120688
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Florida
DecidedJanuary 5, 2017
DocketCase No. 3:15-cv-1256-HES-JRK
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 227 F. Supp. 3d 1282 (First Coast Energy, LLP v. Cincinnati Insurance Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
First Coast Energy, LLP v. Cincinnati Insurance Co., 227 F. Supp. 3d 1282, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 109973, 2017 WL 120688 (M.D. Fla. 2017).

Opinion

ORDER

HARVEY E. SCHLESINGER, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

THIS CAUSE is before the Court on Defendant Central Mutual Insurance Company’s (“Central”) “Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings” (Dkt. 11), and Plaintiff First Coast Energy, LLP’s (“First Coast”) Response in opposition thereto (Dkt. 17). Upon review of the parties’ filings and the relevant case law, the Court determines the following.

I. BACKROUND

This case is an action to recover under a Coblentz agreement entered into by First Coast and Central’s insured, Georgia Tank Co., Inc. d/b/a/ Metal Products Company (“Metal Products”). The material facts are undisputed.1 In 2009 and 2010, First Coast purchased and installed 115 underground gas tanks from Metal Products to store fuel at First Coast’s convenience stores. (Compl. ¶¶ 9-12). Metal Products’ negligent manufacture of the tanks resulted in 13 of the purchased tanks to fail or deteriorate, which caused damage to First Coast’s property. (Id. ¶¶ 13-14).

Subsequently, First Coast filed suit against Metal Products to recover damages arising from the defective tanks. (Id. ¶ 15). Metal Products requested that its insurers, Central and Cincinnati Insurance Company (“Cincinnati”), defend and indemnify Metal Products under the commercial general liability (“CGL”) policies each had issued to Metal Products. (Id. ¶ 16). Both insurers refused to do so, advancing numerous bases for the denial of coverage. (Id. ¶ 19). First Coast and Metal [1285]*1285Products ultimately settled the case, and agreed to a consent judgment finding Metal Products liable to First Coast for breaches of the express and implied warranties alleged in the Complaint, as well as for related and consequential property damages. (Id. pp. 20-23). Metal Products also assigned its rights and potential causes of action under the CGL policies to First Coast. (Id. ¶ 21).

First Coast filed the present declaratory judgment action against Central and Cincinnati, and asserts that both insurers had an obligation to defend and indemnify Metal Products for the damages First Coast suffered from the defective tanks. (Id. ¶ 22). In response, Central filed the present motion which requests judgment on the pleadings. (Dkt. 11). In its motion, Central insists that the policies do not provide coverage for the claims at issue and thus, it had no duty to defend or indemnify Metal Products in the underlying action. (See id. pp. 6-16).

II. STANDARDS OF REVIEW

Motions for judgment on the pleadings are governed by Rule 12(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which provides: “After the pleadings are closed—but early enough not to delay trial—a party may move for judgment on the pleadings.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(c). “Judgment on the pleadings is appropriate where there are no material facts in dispute and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Perez v. Wells Fargo N.A., 774 F.3d 1329, 1335 (11th Cir. 2014) (quoting Cannon v. City of W. Palm Beach, 250 F.3d 1299, 1301 (11th Cir. 2001)). Put differently, judgment on the pleadings will be granted “only when the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claim which would entitle him to relief.” Horsley v. Feldt, 304 F.3d 1125, 1131 (11th Cir. 2002) (quoting Moore v. Liberty Nat’l Life Ins. Co., 267 F.3d 1209, 1213 (11th Cir. 2001)). “In determining whether a party is entitled to judgment on the pleadings, we accept as true all material facts alleged in the non-moving party’s pleading, and we view those fact in the light most favorable to the non-moving party.” Perez, 774 F.3d at 1335 (citing Hawthorne v. Mac Adjustment Inc., 140 F.3d 1367, 1370 (11th Cir. 1998)).

Under Georgia law,2 “Insurance is a matter of contract and the parties to the contract of insurance are bound by its plain and unambiguous terms.” Hurst v. Grange Mut. Cas. Co., 266 Ga. 712, 470 S.E.2d 659, 663 (1996). An insurer may set the terms of its own policies, “insuring against certain risks and excluding others, provided the terms are not contrary to law.” Id. (citing Hulstzman v. State Farm Fire & Cas. Co., 188 Ga.App. 12, 372 S.E.2d 9 (1988)). However “any exclusions from ... coverage must be defined clearly and distinctly.” State Farm Fire & Cas. Co. v. Walnut Ave. Partners, LLC, 296 Ga.App. 648, 675 S.E.2d 534, 537 (2009). And any ambiguities in the policy language will be strongly construed against the insurer. O.C.G.A. § 13-2-2(5).

Nevertheless, Georgia’s rules of construction also require that the policy be “construed where possible to uphold the contract in whole and in every part, avoiding interpretations that render portions of the contract language meaningless.” Walnut Ave., 675 S.E.2d at 537 (citing O.C.G.A. § 13-2-2(4)). Thus, an unambiguous exclusion “binds the parties to its terms and must be given effect, even if beneficial to the insurer and detrimental to [1286]*1286the insured.” Fidelity Nat. Title Ins. Co. of New York v. OHIC Ins. Co., 275 Ga.App. 55, 619 S.E.2d 704, 706 (2005) (internal quotation marks and citations omitted); see also Reed v. Auto-Owners Ins. Co., 284 Ga. 286, 667 S.E.2d 90, 92 (2008) (“Where the contractual language unambiguously governs the factual scenario before the court, the court’s job is simply to apply the terms of the contract as written, regardless of whether doing so benefits the carrier or the insured.”).

“[Wjhether an insurer has a duty to defend depends on the language of the policy as compared with the allegations of the complaint.” Hoover v. Maxum Indem. Co., 291 Ga. 402, 730 S.E.2d 413, 418 (2012). “If the facts as alleged in the complaint even arguably bring the occurrence within the policy’s coverage, the insurer has a duty to defend the action.” Id. (quoting BBL-McCarthy, LLC v. Baldwin Paving Co., 285 Ga.App. 494, 646 S.E.2d 682 (2007)). However, “the insurer is justified in refusing to defend the insured’s lawsuit” if the facts alleged do not state a claim for which there would be coverage. City of Atlanta v. St. Paul Fire & Marine Ins. Co., 231 Ga.App.

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Bluebook (online)
227 F. Supp. 3d 1282, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 109973, 2017 WL 120688, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/first-coast-energy-llp-v-cincinnati-insurance-co-flmd-2017.