T.E. Ibberson Co. v. American & Foreign Insurance

346 N.W.2d 659, 1984 Minn. App. LEXIS 3046
CourtCourt of Appeals of Minnesota
DecidedMarch 21, 1984
DocketC2-83-1780
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 346 N.W.2d 659 (T.E. Ibberson Co. v. American & Foreign Insurance) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
T.E. Ibberson Co. v. American & Foreign Insurance, 346 N.W.2d 659, 1984 Minn. App. LEXIS 3046 (Mich. Ct. App. 1984).

Opinion

OPINION

WOZNIAK, Judge.

This is an appeal from a declaratory judgment determining that exclusions in a comprehensive general liability insurance *660 policy issued by American & Foreign Insurance to appellant, T.E. Ibberson Co., preclude coverage for loss of use claims. The damages claimed arose from an earlier action in which it was alleged Ibberson’s negligent construction of a grain elevator resulted in the loss of the elevator’s use to its owners. We affirm.

FACTS

T.E. Ibberson Company (TEI) is a Minnesota corporation engaged in the business of building concrete grain elevators. Its work is insured by American & Foreign Insurance Company under a comprehensive general liability policy. This policy includes what are commonly known as work product exclusions. Pertinent provisions of the policy and the exclusions read as follows:

The company will pay on behalf of the insured all sums which the insured shall become legally obligated to pay as damages because of
B. property damage
to which this insurance applies, caused by an occurrence, and the company shall have the right and duty to defend any suit against the insured seeking damages on account of such ... property damage, even if any of the allegations of the suit are groundless, false or fraudulent, ... ‘property damage’ means (1) physical injury to or destruction of tangible property which occurs during the policy period, including the loss of use thereof at any time resulting therefrom or (2) loss of use of tangible property which has not been physically injured or destroyed providing such loss of use is caused by an occurrence during the policy period.

(Emphasis supplied.)

This insurance does not apply—
(n) to property damage to the named insured’s product arising out of such products or any part of such product;
(o) to property damage to work performed by or on behalf of the named insured arising out of the work or any portion thereof, or out of materials, parts or equipment furnished in connection therewith;
(p)to damages claimed for the withdrawal, inspection, repair, replacement, or loss of use of the named insured’s product or work completed by or for the named insured or of any property of which such products or work form a part, if such products, work or property are withdrawn from the market or from use because of any known or suspected deficiency therein.

In 1968, TEI completed an elevator for Farmers Elevator Cooperative, an Iowa corporation. In 1980, Farmers hired the Ken Bratney Company to install grain dryers in the elevator. This required Brat-ney to punch holes in the concrete walls. Soon after installation of the dryers, cracks and bulges began to appear around the holes due to structural defects in the walls caused by TEI’s negligence. These defects forced Farmers to close the elevator for an extended period of time to repair the cracks and reinstall the dryers.

In 1981, Farmers sued TEI in Iowa, alleging negligent work by TEI had caused the failure of its elevator. Farmers claimed damages for repair costs, lost profits, and loss of use of the elevator. TEI filed a claim, requesting American to defend them in the negligence action. After investigation, American refused to defend, claiming the policy’s work product exclusions relieved them of any such duty. TEI then filed a declaratory judgment action in Minnesota to establish American’s duty to defend. For the purposes of the action, TEI admitted that only the loss of use claim was at issue.

On cross motions for summary judgment, the trial court granted American’s motion, finding that the work product exclusions negated loss of use claims from coverage under the language of the policy. The trial court held American had no duty to defend TEI. We affirm.

ISSUE

Do the work-product exclusions in the comprehensive general liability insurance *661 policy negate the insurer’s duty to defend their insured against claims for loss of use arising out of an action alleging damages for negligent work on the part of the insured?

ANALYSIS

The narrow issue before this court is whether Farmer’s loss of use of the elevator, TEI’s work and product, is a claim covered under the insurance contract. Both parties agree that there are no disputed issues of fact.

While ordinarily all evidentiary doubts are to be resolved against the party to whom summary judgment has been granted, where the parties have agreed that there is no evidentiary doubt to be resolved, the lower court’s determination is to be sustained unless it is without reasonable support in the evidence. See Telex Corp. v. Data Prods. Corp., 271 Minn. 288, 291, 135 N.W.2d 681, 685 (1965).

An insurance policy is a contract. The court’s function is to analyze the terms of the policy and enforce them in such a manner as gives effect to the intentions of the parties. When the terms of the policy are clear and unambiguous, their plain meaning should be given effect. Gabrelcik v. National Indem. Co., 269 Minn. 445, 447, 131 N.W.2d 534, 536 (1964). If any of the claims asserted against the insured fall within the scope of coverage, the insurer has a duty to defend. Prahm v. Rupp Constr. Co., 277 N.W.2d 389, 390 (Minn.1979).

Work product exclusions, generally found in comprehensive liability insurance policies, are intended to deny coverage to the insured when the insured’s own negligence gives rise to the damage. While one can purchase insurance that will protect a party from its own mistakes, such general liability policies as this do not serve that purpose.

The policy definition of “property damage” includes “... loss of use thereof .... ” TEI admits that the elevator was solely its work and its product.

Exclusion (n) applies to exclude coverage for property damage (including, by definition, claims of loss of use) to TEI’s product.

Exclusion (o) applies to exclude coverage for property damage (including, by definition, claims of loss of use) to work performed by TEI or out of materials, parts or equipment furnished by TEI.

Exclusion (p) excludes coverage for damages claimed for the loss of use of TEI’s products or work if they are withdrawn from use because of any known or suspected defect or deficiency.

The trial court based its decision upon the applicability of exclusions (n) and (o), “the work-product exclusions.” The trial court stated:

There is no question but that the elevator here was the product or work of TEI, nor that the claimed negligence is defectively constructing it. This is exactly the situation the exclusions were intended to cover, and AFI is entitled to rely on them.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
346 N.W.2d 659, 1984 Minn. App. LEXIS 3046, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/te-ibberson-co-v-american-foreign-insurance-minnctapp-1984.