Home Insurance v. Cincinnati Insurance

801 N.E.2d 997, 345 Ill. App. 3d 40, 280 Ill. Dec. 52, 2003 Ill. App. LEXIS 1405
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedDecember 3, 2003
Docket1-02-2956
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 801 N.E.2d 997 (Home Insurance v. Cincinnati Insurance) 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 Insurance v. Cincinnati Insurance, 801 N.E.2d 997, 345 Ill. App. 3d 40, 280 Ill. Dec. 52, 2003 Ill. App. LEXIS 1405 (Ill. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinions

PRESIDING JUSTICE HOFFMAN

delivered the opinion of the court:

In this declaratory judgment action, the plaintiff, Home Insurance Company (Home), appeals from a circuit court order granting summary judgment in favor of the defendant, Cincinnati Insurance Company (Cincinnati), and denying its cross-motion for summary judgment. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

The facts giving rise to this litigation are substantially undisputed. Allied Asphalt Paving Company (Allied) was the general contractor for a renovation project on the Kennedy Expressway in Chicago commissioned by the State of Illinois. The renovation work was subcontracted to Aldridge Electric Company, Inc. (Aldridge), and Western Industries, Inc. (Western). On August 18, 1994, Matthew Fisher, an employee of Aldridge, was injured when he was struck by an automobile while installing lights in an underpass. At the time of the accident, the driver of the car was intoxicated, drove through the construction area and struck Fisher. Fisher filed suit against numerous parties, including Allied and Western, the safety subcontractor for the renovation project. In his third-amended complaint, Fisher alleged that Allied and Western had agreed to assume responsibility for all safety aspects of the project and agreed to follow all statutory and Illinois Department of Transportation directives to protect workers during construction. Fisher further alleged that Allied and Western breached their duty to, inter alia, provide proper safety signs, traffic cones, barricades, warning lights, flagmen, and other traffic control devices at the location where he was working.

At the time of the accident, Allied was named as an additional insured under two insurance policies. Cincinnati had issued a commercial general liability insurance policy to Western, naming Allied as an additional insured, with a $1 million limit of liability for each occurrence. Allied was also named as an additional insured under a policy issued to Aldridge by Home, with a $1 million limit of liability for each occurrence. Each policy contained the following endorsement:

“WHO IS AN INSURED (Section II) is amended to include as an insured the person or organization shown in the Schedule, but only with respect to liability arising out of ‘your work’ for that insured by or for you.”1

Further, under each policy, “your work” was defined as:

“a. Work or operations performed by you or on your behalf; and
b. Materials, parts or equipment furnished in connection with such work or operations.”

Allied tendered the defense of the Fisher action to-both Cincinnati and Home. In a letter dated June 23, 1997, Cincinnati informed Richard Johnson, Allied’s attorney, that it was accepting the defense, but would be reserving its rights to deny coverage with respect to any work or conduct that was not performed by Western on behalf of Allied.

In a letter dated September 14, 1999, addressed to Johnson, Home agreed to accept the defense of Allied.- The letter also stated: “We [Home] will agree to share the cost of Allied’s defense and indemnity with the insurance carrier for Western Industries on a 50/50 basis subject to a review of both policies and any reservation of rights.”

About six to eight months before the Fisher trial commenced in October 1999, Cincinnati settled Fisher’s claim against Western for $40,000. After the trial in the Fisher action commenced, Fisher agreed to settle his suit against Allied for $600,000. Home paid $500,000, and Cincinnati paid $100,000 of the settlement amount.

On November 8, 2000, Home filed the instant declaratory judgment action against Cincinnati, asserting theories of equitable subrogation and equitable contribution. In count I of the complaint, Home sought a declaration that Cincinnati was the sole primary insurance carrier responsible for the defense of Allied in the Fisher action and, thus, was hable to Home for the entire amount Home paid toward the settlement. In count II, Home sought a declaration that it was entitled to recover from Cincinnati the amount it paid in excess of its pro rata share of the Fisher settlement.

In its answer to Home’s complaint, Cincinnati raised three affirmative defenses. It alleged that: (1) Home waived any defenses to coverage by accepting Allied’s defense without asserting a reservation of its rights; (2) Home was estopped from asserting for the first time in its declaratory judgment action that it was only an excess insurer as to Allied and, therefore, lacked any duty to defend or indemnify Allied against the claims in the Fisher action; and (3) Allied’s settlement in the amount of $600,000 was “excessive and unreasonable.”

Cincinnati and Home filed cross-motions for summary judgment. In support of and in opposition to their motions, Home and Cincinnati attached, inter alia, the depositions of Johnson, Allied’s attorney, and David Cunningham, a claims superintendent for Cincinnati. Both Johnson and Cunningham testified as to their opinions about Western’s potential liability in the Fisher action.

On August 20, 2002, the circuit court entered a written order granting Cincinnati’s motion for summary judgment and denying Home’s cross-moron. The circuit court found, inter alia, that: (1) Cincinnati was A'fiad’s primary insurer while Home was the excess insurer; (2) Homf> was not entitled to equitable contribution from Cincinnati because excess and primary insurers do not insure the same risks; and (3) Home waived any defenses to coverage because it did not assert that it had no duty to defend Allied or that it was an excess insurer until filing its declaratory judgment action. Home now appeals.

Summary judgment is appropriate where the pleadings, depositions, admissions, and affidavits on file, when taken together in the light most favorable to the nonmovant, show that there is no genuine issue of material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. 735 ILCS 5/2 — 1005(c) (West 2000). Where the parties have filed cross-motions for summary judgment, they agree that no genuine issue as to any material fact exists and that only a question of law is involved, and they invite the court to decide the issues based on the record. Tri-State Coach Lines, Inc. v. Metropolitan Pier & Exposition Authority, 315 Ill. App. 3d 179, 189, 732 N.E.2d 1137 (2000). Our review of the circuit court’s ruling on a motion for summary judgment is de novo. Morris v. Margulis, 197 Ill. 2d 28, 35, 754 N.E.2d 314 (2001). We may affirm the circuit court’s grant of summary judgment on any basis in the record, irrespective of whether the court relied on that ground. Fabiano v. City of Palos Hills, 336 Ill. App. 3d 635, 641, 784 N.E.2d 258 (2002).

We first address Home’s contention that the circuit court erred in denying its motion for summary judgment and granting Cincinnati’s cross-motion for summary judgment on count I of its complaint.

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Related

Home Insurance v. Cincinnati Insurance
821 N.E.2d 269 (Illinois Supreme Court, 2004)
Progressive Insurance v. Universal Casualty Co.
807 N.E.2d 577 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2004)
Home Insurance v. Cincinnati Insurance
801 N.E.2d 997 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2003)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
801 N.E.2d 997, 345 Ill. App. 3d 40, 280 Ill. Dec. 52, 2003 Ill. App. LEXIS 1405, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/home-insurance-v-cincinnati-insurance-illappct-2003.