West Bend Mutual Insurance Co. v. Trapani Construction Co., Inc.

2020 IL App (1st) 191772-U
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedOctober 19, 2020
Docket1-19-1772
StatusUnpublished

This text of 2020 IL App (1st) 191772-U (West Bend Mutual Insurance Co. v. Trapani Construction Co., Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
West Bend Mutual Insurance Co. v. Trapani Construction Co., Inc., 2020 IL App (1st) 191772-U (Ill. Ct. App. 2020).

Opinion

2020 IL App (1st) 19-1772-U

FIRST DISTRICT FIRST DIVISION October 19, 2020

No. 1-19-1772

NOTICE: This order was filed under Supreme Court Rule 23 and may not be cited as precedent by any party except in the limited circumstances allowed under Rule 23(e)(1). ______________________________________________________________________________

IN THE APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS FIRST JUDICIAL DISTRICT ______________________________________________________________________________

WEST BEND MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY, ) Appeal from the ) Circuit Court of Plaintiff-Appellant, ) Cook County ) v. ) No. 14 CH 00949 ) TRAPANI CONSTRUCTION COMPANY, INC., ) Honorable ) Sophia H. Hall, Defendant-Appellee. ) Judge Presiding. __________________________________________________ ) ) NATIONAL FIRE INSURANCE COMPANY OF ) HARTFORD, ) ) Third-Party Plaintiff-Appellee, ) ) v. ) ) WEST BEND MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY, ) ) Third-Party Defendant-Appellant. ) ______________________________________________________________________________

JUSTICE COGHLAN delivered the judgment of the court. Presiding Justice Walker and Justice Pierce concurred in the judgment.

ORDER

¶1 Held: Insurer had a duty to defend against claims asserting “property damage caused by an occurrence” and a duty to indemnify for a “covered loss made in reasonable anticipation of litigation.” Prejudgment interest properly awarded. 1-19-1772

¶2 In this insurance coverage case, defendant West Bend Mutual Insurance Company (West

Bend) appeals the trial court’s finding that it had a duty to defend and indemnify plaintiff Trapani

Construction Company, Inc. (Trapani Construction) and third-party plaintiff National Fire

Insurance Company of Hartford (National Fire) for damages caused by construction defects under

a commercial general liability policy (CGL). On appeal, West Bend argues there was no duty to

defend because there was no “property damage caused by an occurrence.” West Bend also claims

it had no duty to indemnify for amounts paid to settle the underlying litigation, arguing that the

settlement did not relate to a “covered loss made in reasonable anticipation of litigation.” West

Bend further disputes that Trapani Construction and National Fire were entitled to prejudgment

interest because prejudgment interest was not requested in the complaint and the amount of defense

costs incurred could not be easily calculated. For the following reasons, we affirm.

¶3 BACKGROUND

¶4 The Wing Street of Arlington Heights Condominium (“Condominium”) is a 9-story

residential condominium complex, consisting of 71 residential units. Trapani Construction was the

Condominium’s general contractor. Gregory Trapani was a manager of Village Green, LLC, which

was the developer and seller of the condominium units. Subcontractor A.L.L. Masonry

Construction Company (A.L.L. Masonry) provided masonry work and subcontractor ATMI

Dynacore, LLC (ATMI) installed balcony decks and wall panels at the Condominium. The Wing

Street of Arlington Heights Condominium Association (“Association”) was the governing body of

the Condominium. On April 12, 2005, the Board of Directors of the Wing Street of Arlington

Heights Condominium Association (Board) gained control of the Association after the

Condominium’s completion. The Board was the governing body for the Association.

¶5 National Fire issued a CGL policy to Village Green as the named insured. West Bend issued

2 1-19-1772

a CGL policy to A.L.L. Masonry and ATMI. The West Bend policy included an “ADDITIONAL

INSURED – CONTRACTOR’S BLANKET” endorsement, stating that an insured includes “any

person or organization (called an additional insured) whom you are required to add as an additional

insured on this policy under a written contract or written agreement.” 1 The insurance provided to

the additional insured included coverage for liability arising out of A.L.L. Masonry or ATMI’s

work for that additional insured or the additional insured’s general supervision of A.L.L. Masonry

and ATMI’s work.

¶6 The West Bend policy included the following standard CGL provisions:

“We will 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.

We will have the right and duty to defend the insured against any ‘suit’ seeking those

damages. However, we will have no duty to defend the insured against any ‘suit’ seeking

damages for ‘bodily injury’ or ‘property damage’ to which this insurance does not apply.

We may, at our discretion, investigate any ‘occurrence’ and settle any claim or ‘suit’ that

may result.

***

(b) This insurance applies to ‘bodily injury’ and ‘property damage’ only if:

(1) The ‘bodily injury’ or ‘property damage’ is caused by an ‘occurrence’ that

takes place in the ‘coverage territory’; and

(2) The ‘bodily injury’ or ‘property damage’ occurs during the policy period.”

The West Bend CGL policy defined “occurrence” as “an accident, including continuous or repeated

exposure to substantially the same general harmful conditions.” “Property damage” was defined

1 In the pleadings, West Bend asserted that Trapani Construction was not entitled to coverage under the CGL policy issued to ATMI, alleging that ATMI’s contract with Trapani Construction was oral.

3 1-19-1772

as: “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.”

¶7 After the Board gained control of the Association, it began noticing water infiltration and

damage to the interior of the building’s common areas and owner units. On April 20, 2010, the

Board 2 filed a multiple count complaint alleging construction defects against Village Green,

Trapani Construction, Greg Trapani, A.L.L. Masonry, and others (Wing Street litigation). 3 The

Board alleged that construction defects caused damage to the common areas of the Condominium.

The Board amended its complaint numerous times and added allegations of property damage to

the personal property of unit owners in the seventh amended complaint. On November 24, 2015,

the Board filed an eighth and final amended complaint, 4 which pled the following in relevant part:

“ALLEGATIONS COMMON TO ALL COUNTS

6. The Plaintiff, the Board of Directors of the Wing Street of Arlington Heights

Condominium Association, *** is a proper party for and on behalf of the unit

owners and THE ASSOCIATION to institute the instant proceedings.

COUNT VII BREACH OF IMPLIED WARRANTY OF HABITABILITY (VILLAGE GREEN, LLC, [ ] GREGORY B. TRAPANI)

2 The named plaintiffs are the Board and Association. For simplicity purposes, we will refer to the plaintiff as the Board, because the Board is the governing body for the Association. 3 Wing Street of Arlington Heights Condominium Ass’n & The Board of Directors of Wing Street of Arlington Heights Condominium Ass’n v. Village Green, LLC, et al. (Case Number 2010 L 004330). 4 The eighth amended complaint spanned more than 100 pages.

4 1-19-1772

62. The Board, in its representative capacity on behalf of unit owners, asserts a claim

for breach of implied [sic] warranty of habitability against Village Green, LLC

concerning the construction deficiencies in the common elements as set forth

herein.

67. The defects *** resulted in leaks that have caused substantial damages to common

elements *** .

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2020 IL App (1st) 191772-U, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/west-bend-mutual-insurance-co-v-trapani-construction-co-inc-illappct-2020.