Osborne Constr. Co. v. Zurich Am. Ins. Co.

356 F. Supp. 3d 1085
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Washington
DecidedDecember 20, 2018
DocketCASE NO. C18-0349-JCC
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 356 F. Supp. 3d 1085 (Osborne Constr. Co. v. Zurich Am. Ins. Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Osborne Constr. Co. v. Zurich Am. Ins. Co., 356 F. Supp. 3d 1085 (W.D. Wash. 2018).

Opinion

John C. Coughenour, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

This matter comes before the Court on Plaintiff's motion for partial summary judgment (Dkt. No. 19). Having thoroughly considered the parties' briefing and the relevant record, the Court finds oral argument unnecessary and hereby GRANTS the motion for the reasons explained herein.

I. BACKGROUND

In 2015, developer Renton Heritage LLC ("Renton Heritage") hired Plaintiff Osborne Construction Company ("Osborne") as the general contractor to manage the construction of an apartment complex in Renton, Washington. (See generally Dkt. Nos. 20-1-20-4.) Osborne contracted with Associated Materials, Inc. (d/b/a "Alside") to provide windows and doors for the project. (See Dkt. No. 20-4 at 28-45.) The parties' contract required Alside to add Osborne to its liability insurance as an "additional insured[ ]." (Id. at 43.)

Alside carried commercial liability insurance through Defendant Zurich American Insurance Company ("Zurich"). (See Dkt. No. 21 at 6-22.)1 The policy was subject to *1089two amendments, known as "endorsements," that are relevant to this case. The first endorsement (the "additional insured" endorsement) automatically confers status as an "additional insured" on "any person or organization to whom or to which [Alside]2 [is] required to provide additional insured status in a written contract or written agreement." (Dkt. No. 21 at 13.)3 Additional insureds receive coverage under the policy for liability resulting from "property damage arising out of '[Alside's] products'." (Id. ) The second relevant endorsement (the "SIR" endorsement) provides for a form of deductible known as a "Self Insured Retention" in the amount of $ 500,000. (Id. at 15.) The SIR is "a condition precedent to [Zurich's] liability," and requires payment of up to $ 500,000 for "all covered damages which [Alside] shall become legally obligated to pay," including defense costs. (Id. at 16.)

According to Renton Heritage, the windows and doors provided by Alside leaked. (See Dkt. Nos. 20-5 at 2, 20-6 at 2.) On July 27, 2017, after several unsuccessful attempts to resolve the issue, Renton Heritage sent Osborne a letter titled "Demand for Mediation and Arbitration of Owner's Claim for Liquidated Damages," invoking the dispute resolution provisions set out in the parties' contract. (Dkt. Nos. 20-6 at 4, 20-7 at 2.) On September 15, 2017, Osborne sent Zurich a letter (the "September 2017 letter") captioned "New Claim for Insurance Benefits RE: Renton Heritage LLC v. Osborne Construction." (Dkt. No. 20-1 at 2.) The letter identified Osborne as an "additional insured" on Alside's policy, and stated that Osborne was "mak[ing] a claim for insurance benefits and a full investigation" of Renton Heritage's claims for liquidated damages. (Dkt. No. 20-1 at 2.) The letter detailed Renton Heritage's allegations regarding the damage caused by Alside's products, and concluded: "Osborne hereby makes claim for all benefits due and owing under all applicable Zurich policies. Osborne respectfully requests Zurich to conduct and complete an investigation." (Id. at 3.) The letter indicated that the contract between Osborne and Alside, requiring that Osborne be made an additional insured, was attached. (Id. )

By letter dated October 19, 2017, Zurich denied coverage for Osborne's claim, writing that it "had an opportunity to investigate and consider the tender of defense and request for indemnity made by Osborne ... and will neither defend nor indemnify Osborne." (Dkt. No. 20-8 at 2.) Zurich gave two justifications for its decision. First, it stated that it had "received no contracts, certificates of insurance, or additional insured endorsements that might support Osborne's claim for additional insured status on [Alside's] policies." (Id. at 3.) Second, it explained that because Alside had not satisfied the SIR, "Zurich currently owes no obligation under the policies to ... [Alside] or any additional insured." (Id. ) On October 22, 2017, Osborne emailed Zurich its contract with Alside and requested that Zurich revise its coverage decision. (Dkt. No. 21 at 29.) A Zurich claims adjuster received the contract, *1090and indicated in his notes that Osborne qualified as an additional insured, but Zurich did not issue an updated coverage determination. (See Dkt. No. 21 at 50-51, 69.) In fact, Zurich did not respond at all. (Id. )

On March 7, 2018, Osborne sued Zurich for breach of contract and bad faith. (Dkt. No. 1.) In addition to the complaint, Osborne sent Zurich a copy of Renton Heritage's statement of damages against Osborne in the pending arbitration, submitted in February 2018, totaling $ 4,200,000. (Dkt. No. 21 at 58.) Several days later, Zurich responded, stating that it was "reviewing [its] coverage position in this matter." (Id. at 72.) By letter dated August 24, 2018, Zurich reversed its coverage decision, stating that Osborne's "July 2018 correspondence [was] the first time that Osborne affirmatively asked [Zurich] for a defense."4 (Dkt. No. 21 at 75.) Zurich then offered to appoint defense counsel while reserving its right to later deny coverage for the claim. (Id. at 75-81.) On September 17, 2018, Osborne rejected Zurich's proffered defense as "untimely," opting instead to pursue the claims against Zurich in litigation. (Id. at 87.)

Osborne now moves for partial summary judgment. First, Osborne seeks a ruling that Zurich "unreasonably breached its duty to defend Osborne" when it refused to appoint defense counsel in response to the September 2017 letter. (Dkt. No. 19 at 3.) Osborne also asks the Court to decide that, as a matter of law, Zurich breached its duty to defend in bad faith, and that it is therefore estopped from refusing to indemnify Osborne's claims. (Id. at 15-18.)

Zurich opposes Osborne's motion on several grounds. (See Dkt. No. 27.) First, it asserts that it did not owe Osborne a duty to defend in September 2017,5 both because no arbitration proceeding was pending at that time and because Osborne never explicitly asked for a defense in the September 2017 letter. (Id. at 2-5, 23.) Second, Zurich contends that even if Osborne's initial letter was a sufficient tender, the SIR endorsement unambiguously relieved Zurich of any obligation-including of the duty to defend-until Alside paid $ 500,000 of defense costs. (Id. at 15-23, 24.) Finally, Zurich insists that even if this Court finds that it breached the duty to defend, coverage by estoppel is not appropriate because any breach was not in bad faith. (Id. at 14-15.)

II. DISCUSSION

A. Legal Standard

The Court will grant a motion for summary judgment when the moving party demonstrates that there are no genuine issues of material fact, and that they are entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). The moving party is not required to dispel all doubt as to all facts-rather, they must only demonstrate that there are "no genuine issue[s] of material fact." Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc.

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Bluebook (online)
356 F. Supp. 3d 1085, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/osborne-constr-co-v-zurich-am-ins-co-wawd-2018.