Ohio Cas. v. Island Pool & Spa

12 A.3d 719, 418 N.J. Super. 162
CourtNew Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division
DecidedFebruary 9, 2011
DocketA-3216-09T2
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 12 A.3d 719 (Ohio Cas. v. Island Pool & Spa) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ohio Cas. v. Island Pool & Spa, 12 A.3d 719, 418 N.J. Super. 162 (N.J. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

12 A.3d 719 (2011)
418 N.J. Super. 162

OHIO CASUALTY INSURANCE COMPANY, Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
ISLAND POOL & SPA, INC., Defendant-Respondent.

No. A-3216-09T2.

Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division.

Submitted January 4, 2011.
Decided February 9, 2011.

*720 McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter, LLP, attorneys for appellant (John T. Coyne, Morristown, on the briefs).

Michael J. Breslin, Jr., attorney for respondent.

Before Judges PAYNE, BAXTER and KOBLITZ.

The opinion of the court was delivered by

BAXTER, J.A.D.

In this insurance coverage dispute, plaintiff Ohio Casualty Insurance Company (Ohio Casualty) appeals from a January 8, 2010 Law Division order requiring Ohio Casualty to provide coverage to defendant Island Pool & Spa, Inc. (Island Pool) under a Comprehensive General Liability (CGL) policy Island Pool had purchased.[1] Ohio *721 Casualty also appeals from a January 28, 2010 Law Division order awarding attorney's fees of $16,831 to Island Pool. We agree with Ohio Casualty's contention that the judge erred when he rejected its argument that the "ongoing operations" exclusion applied. We reverse both orders and remand for the entry of summary judgment in favor of Ohio Casualty.

I.

Defendant was hired to repaint an in-ground swimming pool at a residence in Tenafly. To perform the repainting project, defendant drained the pool. Once the pool was emptied, defendant installed a temporary pump to prevent subterranean water from exerting upward pressure on the pool. The temporary pump installed by defendant failed during a torrential rainfall on June 3, 2006, and, as a result, the pool lifted out of the ground, cracked and could not be repaired. The incident also caused considerable damage to the adjacent decking and landscaping. Island Pool repaired all of the damage, by constructing a new pool and providing new decking and landscaping, at a total cost of $89,315.65. It submitted these expenses and list of damages to Ohio Casualty and requested coverage and indemnification.

By letter of June 13, 2006, Ohio Casualty notified Island Pool that it was declining coverage for the loss of the pool based upon exclusions j(5) and (6) of the CGL policy. Ohio Casualty did agree, however, to pay $20,075 to replace the landscaping and $11,530 to replace the decking. The carrier agreed to pay the latter expenses because the language of the j(5) exclusion applied only to the "particular part" of the property on which the insured was "performing operations," and because Island Pool was not "performing operations" on the landscaping or decking, the damage to those portions of the homeowners' property was covered by the CGL policy.

The CGL policy issued by Ohio Casualty to Island Pool obligated Ohio Casualty to "pay those sums that the insured becomes legally obligated to pay as damages because of `bodily injury' or `property damage' to which this insurance applies" (emphasis added). The j(5) exclusion in the CGL policy stated:

This insurance does not apply to:

j. Damage To Property
"Property damage" to:
. . . .
5. That particular part of real property on which you or any contractors or subcontractors working directly or indirectly on your behalf are performing operations, if the "property damage" arises out of those operations.[2]

The term "property damage" is defined in the policy as follows:

a. Physical injury to tangible property, including all resulting loss of use of that property. All such loss of use shall be deemed to occur at the time of the physical injury that caused it; or
b. Loss of use of tangible property that is not physically injured. All such loss of use shall be deemed to occur at the time of the "occurrence" that caused it.

Relying solely on the j(5) exclusion, Ohio Casualty moved for summary judgment, seeking a declaration that it was not obligated to provide coverage to Island Pool *722 for the costs Island Pool incurred in demolishing and replacing the pool. Island Pool cross-moved for summary judgment, seeking a declaration that Ohio Casualty was required to afford coverage and that the j(5) exclusion did not apply. In an oral opinion rendered on December 23, 2009, the judge granted summary judgment in favor of Island Pool, reasoning:

. . . Ohio Casualty's reliance on the exclusion based on the insured's continuing operations is inconsistent and illogical. Ohio Casualty concedes coverage for damage[ ] to the decking and landscaping surrounding the pool, which consists and is defined as real property, which was damaged during the insured's uncompleted painting of the pool. . . . [T]he decking and the landscaping was an essential part . . . and a portion of the real property at the premises.

Turning to a discussion of Weedo v. Stone-E-Brick, Inc., 81 N.J. 233, 405 A.2d 788 (1979), the judge observed that, in his view, Ohio Casualty's disclaimer of coverage was based on Weedo and its progeny, which held that an insurer is not obligated to cover a loss that results from its insured's faulty workmanship. The judge then held that Ohio Casualty's reliance on Weedo was misplaced because Ohio Casualty

incorrectly characterizes the pool as the product which was the subject of the faulty workmanship. It was not. . . . Island Pool did not sell or install the pool. It was not hired by the homeowner to repair it. The insured's task was to paint it. The negligence of the insured led to the damage to the pool, the deck and the surrounding landscaping. Said damage to the third-party's property[,] that is, the homeowner[s], was consequential to the negligence of the insured's acts and omissions and is, therefore, covered under the policy.
Island Pool's negligence in painting the pool caused the damage to the pool structure itself. . . . Said damages are consequential damages . . . caused to the real property of [the homeowners], and is, therefore, not affected by the exclusion cited. In my view this ruling is consistent with the holding in Cypreco[3] and Weedo.

The judge also awarded Island Pool counsel fees in the amount of $16,830 pursuant to Rule 4:42-9(a)(6), which authorizes an award of counsel fees to an insured who prevails in an insurance coverage dispute.

On appeal, Ohio Casualty maintains that because there was no dispute about the fact that the damage to the pool occurred while Island Pool's operations were ongoing, exclusion j(5) clearly bars coverage of Island Pool's claim for reimbursement of the cost of demolishing and replacing the pool. It points to decisions of courts in Illinois and Florida that applied the j(5) exclusion on identical facts, American Equity Insurance Co. v. Van Ginhoven, 788 So.2d 388 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App.2001) and Pekin Insurance Co. v. Willett, 301 Ill. App.3d 1034, 235 Ill.Dec. 350, 704 N.E.2d 923 (1999).

Ohio Casualty also argues that the judge was mistaken when he concluded that Ohio Casualty was relying on the principle articulated in Weedo, supra, 81 N.J. at 237, 405 A.2d 788, that contractors are not entitled to coverage of claims for the cost of repairing their own defective workmanship. It points to its statement during oral argument before the Law Division that the *723

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12 A.3d 719, 418 N.J. Super. 162, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ohio-cas-v-island-pool-spa-njsuperctappdiv-2011.