PrimeOne Ins. Co. v. Grand Trumbull, LLC

CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedAugust 5, 2021
Docket20-1498
StatusUnpublished

This text of PrimeOne Ins. Co. v. Grand Trumbull, LLC (PrimeOne Ins. Co. v. Grand Trumbull, LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
PrimeOne Ins. Co. v. Grand Trumbull, LLC, (6th Cir. 2021).

Opinion

NOT RECOMMENDED FOR PUBLICATION File Name: 21a0379n.06

Case No. 20-1498

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT

FILED Aug 05, 2021 PRIMEONE INSURANCE COMPANY, ) DEBORAH S. HUNT, Clerk ) Plaintiff-Appellant, ) ) ON APPEAL FROM THE UNITED v. ) STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR ) THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF GRAND TRUMBULL, LLC, ) MICHIGAN Defendant-Appellee. ) )

BEFORE: SUHRHEINRICH, McKEAGUE, and READLER, Circuit Judges.

CHAD A. READLER, Circuit Judge. After a fire damaged a building it owned in

Detroit, Grand Trumbull, LLC filed an insurance claim with its insurer, PrimeOne Insurance

Company. Grand Trumbull sought coverage in the amount of the property’s actual cash value at

the time of the fire, as opposed to the cost to replace the building. PrimeOne accepted liability.

But the parties turned to the courts to resolve whether Grand Trumbull’s payout should be reduced

due to its purported failure to satisfy the policy’s coinsurance provision. The district court held

that the coinsurance provision was satisfied and granted judgment in Grand Trumbull’s favor. We

now affirm.

I.

A. Grand Trumbull purchased a commercial insurance policy from PrimeOne. See

Appendix. The policy language (section E.4.a) explained that should Grand Trumbull file a claim Case No. 20-1498, PrimeOne Ins. Co. v. Grand Trumbull, LLC

for damage to property covered by the policy, PrimeOne would “determine the value of lost or

damaged property, or the cost of its repair or replacement, in accordance with the applicable terms

of the Valuation Condition . . . or any applicable provision which amends or supersedes the

Valuation Condition.” The Valuation Condition (section E.7) defines “the value of the Covered

Property in the event of loss or damage” as the “actual cash value as of the time of loss or damage.”

In addition to coverage for the property’s actual cash value at the time of loss or damage,

Grand Trumbull’s policy (section G.3) also included replacement cost coverage. Replacement

cost insurance is generally understood “to cover the difference between what a property is actually

worth and what it would cost to rebuild or repair that property.” 15A Couch on Insurance § 176:56

(3d ed. 2021). While the policy afforded Grand Trumbull the option to elect replacement cost

reimbursement in the event of loss or damage, Grand Trumbull nonetheless could “make a claim

for loss or damage . . . on an actual cash value basis instead of on a replacement cost basis,” and,

if it did so, it could “still make a claim for the additional [replacement cost] coverage” within

180days of the loss or damage. PrimeOne, however, would “not pay on a replacement cost basis

for any loss or damage . . . [u]ntil the lost or damaged property is actually repaired or replaced.”

The policy also included a coinsurance provision (section F.1) that served to penalize

Grand Trumbull should it fail to maintain adequate coverage at the time it experienced a covered

loss. The provision reads: “If a Coinsurance percentage is shown in the Declarations,” PrimeOne

“will not pay the full amount of any loss if the value of Covered Property at the time of loss times

the Coinsurance percentage shown for it in the Declarations is greater than the Limit of Insurance

for the property.” In the event Grand Trumbull did not possess sufficient coverage at the time of

loss, PrimeOne could reduce Grand Trumbull’s recovery according to a formula specified in the

policy. See Appendix.

2 Case No. 20-1498, PrimeOne Ins. Co. v. Grand Trumbull, LLC

B. After a fire damaged its building, Grand Trumbull filed a claim seeking coverage based

on the property’s actual cash value (rather than the property’s replacement cost). PrimeOne

accepted liability, and the parties agreed that the actual cash value at the time of the fire was

$723,357.67. But they disputed (and continue to dispute) whether the policy’s coinsurance penalty

applied, which, if applicable, would reduce the amount owed to Grand Trumbull.

Based upon the declarations page included in the policy (reproduced in relevant part

below), the parties agreed that the policy set a 90% coinsurance condition, had a $1.3 million claim

limit in the event of loss or damage to the building, and used the term replacement cost (as reflected

by the indication “RC”) in the “Valuation” column.

Covered Limit of Coverage Valuation Co-Ins Cause of Theft Deductible Premium Insurance Loss Building $1,300,000 RC 90% Special Yes $2500 Included

PrimeOne interpreted the policy to require that Grand Trumbull’s coinsurance obligation always

be measured by reference to the building’s replacement cost. For support, PrimeOne pointed to

policy language stating that if replacement cost coverage is “shown as applicable in the

Declarations, . . . Replacement Cost (without deduction for depreciation) replaces Actual Cash

Value in the Valuation Loss Condition.” Using an estimate of approximately $2.15 million for

replacement cost, PrimeOne contended that Grand Trumbull was underinsured and subject to a

penalty because its $1.3 million limit is less than $1.935 million ($2,150,000 x 90%). PrimeOne

thus penalized Grand Trumbull and, in accordance with the coinsurance penalty formula, paid

Grand Trumbull only $482,149.63 for the loss.

Grand Trumbull responded that the coinsurance determination must be based on the

property’s actual cash value, as that was the nature of the claim it submitted. On that front, the

3 Case No. 20-1498, PrimeOne Ins. Co. v. Grand Trumbull, LLC

parties agreed that if the coinsurance requirement is calculated using actual cash value, Grand

Trumbull would not be subject to a coinsurance penalty.

When the parties failed to resolve their dispute, PrimeOne sought a declaratory judgment

that Grand Trumbull’s coinsurance obligation be calculated using replacement cost. Grand

Trumbull responded by seeking a declaratory judgment of its own, requesting a ruling that its

coinsurance obligation be measured using actual cash value. Following the parties’ filing of cross-

motions for summary judgment, the district court ruled in Grand Trumbull’s favor. The court held

that Grand Trumbull’s coinsurance obligation should be derived using the building’s actual cash

value, not its replacement cost, given that Grand Trumbull was seeking only an actual cash value

payout. And because Grand Trumbull maintained sufficient coverage based upon the building’s

actual cash value, no coinsurance penalty applied. The district court therefore awarded Grand

Trumbull $238,708.04—the difference between the actual cash value ($723,357.67) and the

amount PrimeOne already paid ($482,149.63), minus the deductible ($2,500)—plus interest.

II.

With the parties’ dispute now before us, we review the district court’s resolution of the

parties’ respective cross-motions for summary judgment de novo. Craig v. Bridges Bros. Trucking

LLC, 823 F.3d 382, 387 (6th Cir. 2016); see also K.V.G. Props., Inc. v. Westfield Ins. Co., 900

F.3d 818, 821 (6th Cir. 2018) (reviewing de novo a district court’s summary judgment decision

interpreting a Michigan insurance contract). Summary judgment is proper when the moving party

“shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to

judgment as a matter of law.” Fed. R. Civ. P.

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Bluebook (online)
PrimeOne Ins. Co. v. Grand Trumbull, LLC, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/primeone-ins-co-v-grand-trumbull-llc-ca6-2021.