Home Ins. Co. v. Liberty Mut. Ins. Co.

641 N.E.2d 855, 204 Ill. Dec. 425
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedOctober 28, 1994
Docket1-92-0563
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 641 N.E.2d 855 (Home Ins. Co. v. Liberty Mut. Ins. Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Home Ins. Co. v. Liberty Mut. Ins. Co., 641 N.E.2d 855, 204 Ill. Dec. 425 (Ill. Ct. App. 1994).

Opinion

641 N.E.2d 855 (1994)
266 Ill.App.3d 1049
204 Ill.Dec. 425

HOME INSURANCE COMPANY, Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
LIBERTY MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY, a corporation, and Turner Construction Company, a corporation, Defendants-Appellees.

No. 1-92-0563.

Appellate Court of Illinois, First District, Sixth Division.

August 5, 1994.
As Modified on Denial of Rehearing October 28, 1994.

*856 Nicholas A. Riewer and Ciara R. Ryan of Bollinger, Ruberry & Garvey, Chicago, for appellant.

Thomas J. Keevers and Joseph P. Postel of Keevers & Little, Chicago, for appellees.

Presiding Justice EGAN delivered the opinion of the court:

This is a dispute between two insurance carriers, the plaintiff Home Insurance Company (Home) and the defendant Liberty Mutual Insurance Company (Liberty). The dispute centers on the duty of the two carriers to defend a tort claim against their insured.

Liberty issued a liability policy to Turner Construction Company (Turner), the general contractor on a construction site located at 10 South LaSalle Street in Chicago. Turner was also an additional insured in a policy issued by Home to David Architectural Metals, a subcontractor of Turner. Charles Aderholt, an employee of another subcontractor, filed a suit against Turner for negligence and a violation of the Illinois Structural Work Act. (Ill.Rev.Stat.1991, ch. 48, par. 59.) Home provided Turner with a defense in the Aderholt action pursuant to a reservation of rights and requested Liberty to contribute to the defense of Turner. Liberty refused. Home filed a complaint against Liberty seeking a declaration that Liberty's policy obligated it to contribute to the defense of Turner in the Aderholt action.

*857 Both Liberty and Home moved for judgment on the pleadings. The trial judge held that Home was the primary carrier "at least as it related to this claim, and Liberty is an excess [carrier]." He concluded therefore that Liberty was not required to contribute to the defense. In this appeal, Home admits that it has a duty to defend Turner, but it maintains that Liberty must pay a pro rata share of the defense cost.

Our discussion necessarily begins with the parties' policies. The endorsement to the Home policy adding Turner provided as follows:

"It is agreed that:
1. The `persons insured' provision is amended to include as an insured the person or organization named above, [Turner], but only with respect to liability arising out of (1) operations performed for [Turner] by the named insured at the location designated above or (2) acts or omissions of [Turner] in connection with his general supervision of such operations * * *.
* * * * * *
3. Additional exclusions. This insurance shall not apply:
* * * * * *
(b) To bodily injury or property damage arising out of any act or omission of [Turner] or any of his employees, other than general supervision of work performed for [Turner] by the named insured; * * *"

The Home policy also contains an "other insurance" clause which provides as follows:

"Other insurance. The insurance afforded by this policy is primary insurance, except when stated to apply in excess of or contingent upon the absence of other insurance. When this insurance is primary and the Insured has other insurance which is stated to be applicable to the loss on an excess or contingent basis, the amount of the company's liability under this policy shall not be reduced by the existence of such other insurance.
When both this insurance and other insurance apply to the loss on the same basis, whether primary, excess or contingent, the company shall not be liable under this policy for a greater proportion of the loss than that stated in the applicable contribution provision below." (Emphasis in original.)

Liberty's policy is a general liability policy in which coverage is limited by several endorsements, only one of which, Endorsement 21, is pertinent here. That endorsement provides as follows:

"It is agreed that this policy does not apply to that portion of the loss for which [Turner] has other valid and collectible insurance, as an additional insured on a Liability Insurance policy issued to a subcontractor of [Turner] whether such policy is on a primary, excess or contingent basis."

The principal argument of the parties centers on their interpretation of Endorsement 21, that is, whether Endorsement 21 is an "escape" clause or "excess" clause. An excess clause "allows coverage only `over and above' other insurance"; an escape clause "holds the policy null and void with respect to any hazard as to which other insurance exists." (Putnam v. New Amsterdam Casualty Co. (1970), 48 Ill.2d 71, 76, 269 N.E.2d 97.) Home insists that Endorsement 21 is an escape clause, and Liberty insists that it is an excess clause. Liberty concedes that if Endorsement 21 is an escape clause, it would be obliged to contribute its pro rata share of defense costs. (See Western States Mutual Insurance Co. v. Continental Casualty Co. (1971), 133 Ill.App.2d 694, 272 N.E.2d 439.) We have determined that Endorsement 21 is not an excess clause and that Liberty is required to provide a pro rata share of the defense because we have also determined that Liberty and Home are both primary carriers under the tort complaint of Aderholt.

There are two aspects of this case that should be discussed before we address the merits. Home first contends that the trial judge considered extraneous facts and thus went beyond the pleadings; Home also contends that a fact question exists whether Endorsement 21 was in effect at the time of the accident. We reject out of hand Home's first contention. The judge's remarks, of which Home now complains (it did not complain *858 in the trial court), were directed to specific arguments made by the parties and simply reflected the judge's reasons why he rejected Home's claim that Endorsement 21 was an escape clause and that escape clauses were against the public policy of Illinois.

We also reject Home's second contention on the ground that it has not properly presented the issue. Home filed a complaint and attached its own policy and Liberty's policy which included Endorsement 21. Liberty filed a motion for judgment on the pleadings and emphasized that Home's complaint pointedly ignored Endorsement 21. Home responded that the Liberty policy contained an "undated Endorsement no. 21." (Emphasis in original.) Liberty countered with its own motion for judgment on the pleadings and pointed out that Home had pleaded the policy, including Endorsement 21.

Home filed a reply brief, but the judge had not seen the reply brief before the hearing began. After he was given the reply brief, he adjourned to read it. In a footnote in the reply brief Home said that by pleading Endorsement 21 it had "made no implicit admissions with regard to when that endorsement was effective." Home then added that it "regrets mentioning this factual issue as an aside.

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Bluebook (online)
641 N.E.2d 855, 204 Ill. Dec. 425, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/home-ins-co-v-liberty-mut-ins-co-illappct-1994.