Latite Roofing And Sheet Metal, LLC. v. American Home Assurance Company

CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Florida
DecidedJuly 13, 2023
Docket0:22-cv-61578
StatusUnknown

This text of Latite Roofing And Sheet Metal, LLC. v. American Home Assurance Company (Latite Roofing And Sheet Metal, LLC. v. American Home Assurance Company) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Latite Roofing And Sheet Metal, LLC. v. American Home Assurance Company, (S.D. Fla. 2023).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA

Case No. 22-cv-61578-BLOOM/Valle

LATITE ROOFING AND SHEET METAL, LLC, formerly known as LATITE ROOFING & SHEET METAL COMPANY, INC.,

Plaintiff,

v.

AMERICAN HOME ASSURANCE COMPANY,

Defendant. _________________________________________/

ORDER ON PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR PARTIAL SUMMARY JUDGMENT

THIS CAUSE is before the Court on Plaintiff Latite Roofing and Sheet Metal, LLC’s (“Plaintiff” or “Latite”) Motion for Partial Summary Judgment. ECF No. [31] (“Motion”). Pursuant to Local Rule 56.1, Plaintiff filed a Statement of Material Facts in support of the Motion. ECF No. [32] (“SOMF”). Defendant American Home Assurance Company (“Defendant” or “AHAC”) filed a Response in Opposition to the Motion, ECF No. [38], along with a Response to Plaintiff’s Statement of Material Facts, ECF No. [39] (“CSOMF”). Plaintiff filed its Reply, ECF No. [45], along with a Reply Statement of Material Facts, ECF No. [46], and a copy of the insurance policy at issue in Intervest Construction of Jax Inc. v. General Fidelity Insurance Co., No. 09-cv-00894, 2010 WL 11508050 (M.D. Fla.), ECF No. [47-1]. The Court has reviewed the Motion, the Response, the Reply, the Statements of Material Facts, the record in this case, the applicable law, and is otherwise fully advised. For the reasons that follow, the Motion is denied. I. BACKGROUND This action stems from an alleged breach by Defendant of a commercial general liability insurance policy, number GL 179-62-54 (“Policy”), issued to Plaintiff. In its Amended Complaint, ECF No. [5], Plaintiff alleges that it is a full-service roofing company with its principal place of business in Pompano Beach, Florida, id. ¶ 5, and Defendant is a corporation that sold insurance policies in Florida. Id. ¶ 8. Plaintiff purchased the Policy from Defendant, effective January 1, 2007 to January 1, 2008. ECF No. [5-1]. The Policy was modified by a Self-Insured Retention

Endorsement (“SIR Endorsement”), which conditions the application of the Policy’s coverage on “an insured[’s]” payment of the “Retained Limit” of $150,000.00, which applies “only to damages for ‘occurrences’ or offenses” covered by the Policy. See ECF No. [5] ¶¶ 10, 13; see also ECF No. [5-1] 2-3.1 On April 2, 2020, Plaintiff and others were sued by Stock Development and Stock Construction in connection with a multi-building roofing project in Fort Myers, Florida, see Stock Dev., LLC v. Brooks & Freund, LLC, No. 18-CA-004742 (Fla. Cir. Ct. Lee Cnty.) (“Underlying Action”), and one of the defendants in that action, Brooks & Freund, sued Plaintiff in a third-party claim, seeking $9,000,000.00 in damages. Id. ¶ 15. On May 6, 2022, the parties to the Underlying Action settled. Id. ¶ 21. Defendant disputed whether Plaintiff had satisfied the SIR Endorsement.

Id. ¶ 22. For that reason, Plaintiff paid $150,000.00 toward the settlement but reserved the right to recoup the same from Defendant. Id. As a result of that dispute and others that arose from the parties’ differing interpretations of the Policy, Plaintiff asserts a claim for Breach of Contract (Count I). On March 20, 2023, Plaintiff filed the instant Motion seeking partial summary judgment on the issue of whether, pursuant to the Florida Supreme Court’s decision in Intervest Construction of Jax, Inv. v. General Fidelity Insurance Company, 133 So. 3d 494 (Fla. 2014), Plaintiff is entitled to apply third-party payments from other insurers in the Underlying Action toward the SIR

1 The SIR Endorsement sets the “Retained Limit” at $1,520,000.00; however, the Amended Complaint alleges, and Defendant has not disputed, that the “Retained Limit” is $150,000.00. ECF No. [5] ¶ 13 n.2. Endorsement. ECF No. [31] at 1, 2, 8. Plaintiff seeks a ruling that it satisfied the SIR Endorsement because third-party insurance carriers contributed to the settlement in excess of the Retained Limit. See ECF No. [31] at 6; see also SOMF ¶ 8 (“Two other insurance companies contributed a combined, confidential sum greater than $150,000 toward the settlement on Latite’s behalf.”).

Defendant responds that the Policy’s language requires the Retained Limit be paid by Plaintiff and not by third parties. ECF No. [38] at 1-2. A. Background and Material Facts The following facts are undisputed unless otherwise stated. 1. Policy The Policy was in effect from January 1, 2007 through January 1, 2008. SOMF ¶ 1; CSOMF ¶ 1. The Policy identifies the Named Insured as LATITE ROOFING & SHEET METAL CO., INC. and specifies Limits of Insurance for certain categories of coverage. ECF No. [5-1] at 4, 6, 8. Under the section titled Commercial General Liability Coverage Form, the Policy defines “we,” “us” and “our” as the company providing insurance and defines “you” and “your” as “the Named Insured shown in the Declarations, and any other person or organization qualifying as a

Named Insured under this policy.” Id. at 26. The Policy states that Defendant “will pay for those sums that the insured becomes legally obligated to pay as damages because of ‘bodily injury’ or ‘property damage’ to which this insurance applies.” Id. Relevant here, “property damage” means “[p]hysical injury to tangible property . . . or [l]oss of use of tangible property that is not physically injured[,]” id. at 38. The Policy states that “[t]his insurance applies to ‘bodily injury’ and ‘property damage’ only if: . . . [t]he ‘bodily injury’ or ‘property damage’ occurs during the policy period[.]” Id. at 26. 2. SIR Endorsement The SIR Endorsement modifies the Policy, ECF No. [5-1] at 86, and states the following: I. INSURING AGREEMENTS SECTION I - COVERAGES, COVERAGE A - BODILY INJURY AND PROPERTY DAMAGE LIABILITY, 1. - INSURING AGREEMENT, paragraph a. is deleted in its entirety and replaced with the following: a. We will pay on behalf of the Insured those sums in excess of the “Retained Limit” that the Insured becomes legally obligated to pay as damages because of “bodily injury” or “property damage” to which this insurance applies. . . . But:

(1) The amount we will pay for damages is limited as described in SECTION III - LIMITS OF INSURANCE; . . . . ECF No. [5-1] at 86 (emphasis added). Per the Policy, “suit” “means a civil proceeding in which damages because of ‘bodily injury’, ‘property damage’ or ‘personal and advertising injury’ to which this insurance applies are alleged[,]” and “occurrence” means “an accident[.]” Id. at 38. Section III, LIMITS OF INSURANCE, amends the Limits of Insurance and defines the Retained Limit as follows: SECTION III - Limits of Insurance is amended to add the following: The Limits of Insurance for each of the Coverages provided by this policy will apply in excess of a Self-Insured Retention (hereinafter referred to as the “Retained Limit”). A. “Retained Limit” The “Retained Limit”, applying only to damages for “occurrences” or offenses covered under this policy, is $ [150,000.00] per “occurrence” or offense. Subject to the additional Allocated Loss Adjustment Expense, the “Retained Limit” is the most an insured will pay for: 1. The sum of all damages under Coverage 8 because of all “personal and advertising injury” sustained by any one person or organization; or 2. The sum of all damages under coverage A and medical expenses under Coverage C, because of all “bodily injury” and “property damage” arising out of any one “occurrence”. . . . Id. at 87-88. The Policy defines “insured” as “any person or organization qualifying as such under Section II – Who Is An Insured.” Id. at 26. Section IV of the SIR Endorsement states the following: Your bankruptcy, insolvency, inability to pay, failure to pay, or refusal to pay the “Retained Limit” will not increase our obligations under the policy.

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Bluebook (online)
Latite Roofing And Sheet Metal, LLC. v. American Home Assurance Company, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/latite-roofing-and-sheet-metal-llc-v-american-home-assurance-company-flsd-2023.