Kim v. State Farm Fire & Casualty Co.

262 F. Supp. 3d 1
CourtDistrict Court, D. Connecticut
DecidedJune 26, 2017
DocketCIVIL ACTION NO. 3:15-cv-879 (VLB)
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 262 F. Supp. 3d 1 (Kim v. State Farm Fire & Casualty 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
Kim v. State Farm Fire & Casualty Co., 262 F. Supp. 3d 1 (D. Conn. 2017).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OF DECISION GRANTING DEFENDANT STATE FARM CASUALTY COMPANY’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

Hon. Vanessa L. Bryant,'United States District Judge

Plaintiffs Gueng-Ho Kim and Jae Kim (“Plaintiffs") bring claims for breach of contract, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and claims under CUTPA, through CUIPA, against Defendant State Farm Fire and Casualty Company (“State Farm” or “Defendant”). After Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss, the only remaining claim alleges breach of contract. Defendant has moved for summary judgment. [Dkt, 30.] For the reasons that follow, State Farm’s Motion for Summary Judgment is GRANTED.

I. Background

The house at 121 Windshire Drive, South Windsor, Connecticut' (the “Property”) was built in 1985. [Dkt. 32-2 (Deposition of David Grandpre) (“Grandpre Dep.”) at 78.] Plaintiffs purchased the Property in 2004. [Dkt. 32-2 (Deposition of Gueng-Ho Kim) (“G, Kim Dep.”) at 12.]

Upon purchasing the Property, Plaintiffs purchased a homeowner’s insurance policy through State Farm bearing the policy number 07-BL-5701-1 (the “Policy”) and maintained the Policy throughout the relevant time period. [G, Kim Dép. at 41; see e.g., Dkt. 32-8 (Insurance Policy dated 7/23/2005 through 7/23/2006); Dkt. 36-6 (Insurance Policy dated 7/23/2013 through 7/23/2014); Dkt. 35 (Memorandum of Law In Opposition to Summary Judgment) at 3 (representing no material difference in the language of the two policies as they relate to this matter).] In the Policy, State Farm deleted a provision titled “SECTION 1-ADDITIONAL COVERAGES, Collapse.” [Dkt. 36-6 at 11 (collapse provision), 36 (deletion of collapse provision)1.] The de[3]*3leted provision would have provided additional coverage “for direct physical loss to covered property involving the sudden, entire collapse of a building or any part of a building” with certain exclusions. Id. Consistent with that deletion, State Farm also deleted language excluding coverage for “collapse, except as specifically provided in SECTION 1-ADDITIONAL COVERAGES, Collapse.” Id. at 14.

The Policy also excludes coverage for direct physical loss to property which “consists of, or is directly and immediately caused by [certain enumerated perils] regardless of whether the loss occurs suddenly or gradually, involves isolated or widespread damages, arises from natural or external forces, or occurs as a result of any combination of these.” Id. at 14. The excluded causes include, among others: “wear, tear, marring, scratching, deterioration, inherent vice, latent defect or mechanical breakdown” and “settling, cracking, shrinking, bulging, or expansion ... foundation.” Id. at 14. In addition, the Policy does “not insure ... for any loss consisting of ... defect weakness, inadequacy, fault or soundness in: (1) planning, zoning, development, survey, siting; (2) design, specifications, workmanship, construction, grading, compaction; (3) material used in construction or repairs; (4) maintenance.” Id, at 15. In addition, the Policy also provided that any legal action against State Farm “must be started within 18 months after the date of loss or damage.” Id. at 37.

In addition to purchasing the Policy, when Plaintiffs purchased the Property they hired U.S. Inspect, Inc. to inspect the Property. [Dkt. 36-5 (Inspection Report) at 1.] The July 15, 2004 inspection report revealed foundation damage. The report noted, efflorescence in the basement, specifically “evidence of water penetration through the foundation walls.” Id. The inspection report further advised that efflorescence “is normally remedied by better control of surface water” and would “most likely” be reduced or eliminated by “[p]roper grading of soil around the house and improvements in the roof drainage system.” Id. Plaintiffs indirectly admitted that they read the inspection report and were aware of the foundation damage caused by efflorescence, asserting that it was their understanding that the sellers of the Property completed the remedial measures to reduce surface water around the foundation suggested in the Inspection Report before Plaintiffs closed sale on the Property. G. Kim Dep. at 25.

Mr. Kim testified he had noticed some cracks in the Property’s foundation “from the beginning when [they] bought the house” but upon further reflection clarified that he “didn’t check” for cracking at that time and could not recall whetheslhe concrete was cracked in 2004. Givfphis understanding from the homé inspector’s report that the Property had “no structur'ál problems,” he attributed any cracks to “normal wear and tear stuff’ and “Affenal type uneven, sort of uneven tífcicféte work.” G. Kim Dep. at 46-48. does not recall the condition of the' concrete foundation when Plaintiffs purchased the Property. [Dkt. 36-2 (Deposition of Jae Kim) (“J. Kim Dep.”) at 31.] While the copies provided to the Court are unclear, Mr. Grandpre testified that photographs taken as part of the 2004 home inspection show “a map pattern cracking” in the foundation. [Dkt. 32-2 (Deposition of David Grandpre, P.E.) at 88; Dkt. 32-4 at 21 (photograph in question).]

Mr. Kim testified Plaintiffs first discovered a problem with the Property’s foundation when they attempted to sell the Property in 2014. G. Kim Dep. at 46. A prospective buyer’s real estate agent no[4]*4ticed cracks in the basement wall and notified Plaintiffs, who retained a consulting engineer to examine their basement walls. Id. The consulting engineer, William F. Neal, P.E., employed by Residential Engineering Services, LLG, conducted a visual examination of the Property and sent Plaintiffs a letter reporting his findings on July 3, 2014. [Dkt. 32-3 at 1.] The letter stated the Property’s “basement is almost fully finished which gave [the engineers] partial visual access to the interior of the foundation.” Id. The interior and exterior foundation had “numerous spider-web cracks” and “the foundation walls in several locations are bowing inward ... by as much as 1-1/2 [inches].” Id. Mr. Neal also noted “[h]eavy efflorescence ... in many areas of the basement” which caused water proofing material on part of the interior foundation to “bubble[ ].” Id. Based on those .observations, Mr. Neal concluded “the most likely cause of the foundation distress is Alkali-Silica-Reaction (ASR)” which “is a chemical reaction between al-kalij^ggregate and silica in the concrete mi^’,t$nd “typically causes [the] type of distress [Plaintiffs’ Property was experiencing] 15 to 20 years after the foundation is poured.” Id. Mr. Neal advised that the concrete foundation would continue to deteriorate and the basement walls would continue to bulge inward “until they structurally fail.” Id. He stated no corrective action short of replacing the basement walls would remedy the structural problem. Id.

Plaintiffs filed a request for coverage for property damage due to the state of the Property’s foundation on July 7, 2014. [Dkt. 1-22 (3/16/2015 Denial of Coverage) at 1.] On January 5, 2015, in response to that request, State Farm dispatched a consultative engineer with Corrosion Probe, Inc. to inspect Plaintiffs’ home. [Dkt. 36-8 at (2/4/2015 Structural Inspection & Assessment) at 2.] The engineer noted during the inspection that “the overall foundation wall system appeared stable with no evidence of an imminent collapse of the structure.” Id. at 9.

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Bluebook (online)
262 F. Supp. 3d 1, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kim-v-state-farm-fire-casualty-co-ctd-2017.