Wheeler v. Assurant Specialty Property

125 F. Supp. 3d 834, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 114354, 2015 WL 5117770
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedAugust 28, 2015
DocketNo. 15 C 673
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 125 F. Supp. 3d 834 (Wheeler v. Assurant Specialty Property) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wheeler v. Assurant Specialty Property, 125 F. Supp. 3d 834, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 114354, 2015 WL 5117770 (N.D. Ill. 2015).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

SARA L. ELLIS, United States District Judge

Plaintiff Stephen A. Wheeler sought coverage for alleged damage to his house caused by a windstorm from the providers of his home insurance policy, Defendants Assurant Specialty Property d/b/a Assurant and American Security Insurance Company d/b/a Assurant (collectively, “ASIC”). After delays in processing his claim, ASIC determined that only a portion of the claimed damages were caused by the windstorm and denied the majority of Wheeler’s claim. Wheeler now brings this suit, alleging breach of contract, vexatious and unreasonable conduct in violation of the Illinois Insurance Code, 215 Ill. Comp. Stat. 5/155, violation of the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act (“ICFA”), 815 Ill. Comp. Stat. 505/1 et seq., fraud, and unjust enrichment. Before the Court is ASIC’s motion to dismiss Counts I through VI of the complaint [29], which is granted in part and denied in part.1 Because Wheeler sufficiently alleges breach of the insurance policy, accompanied by actions that could amount to unreasonable and vexatious conduct, those claims survive. Wheeler may also proceed on his breach of fiduciary duty claim because that claim may be pleaded in the alternative to his breach of contract claim. But Wheeler’s unjust enrichment claim is dismissed because he has alleged the existence of a valid insurance policy. And although his ICFA claim is not just a reformulation of his breach of contract and bad faith allegations, Wheeler has not met Rule 9(b)’s particularity requirements and so that claim is also dismissed. Finally, Wheeler’s fraud claim is dismissed because he has not sufficiently alleged the required element of reliance.

[838]*838BACKGROUND2

Wheeler owns property at 1317 E. 50th Street in Chicago, Illinois. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. (“Wells Fargo Bank”) holds the mortgage for Wheeler’s property. On May 20,2011, Wells Fargo Bank and Wells Fargo Insurance, Inc. (“Wells Fargo Insurance”) required Wheeler to. obtain insurance for the property from ASIC. The ASIC policy had an initial annual premium of $4,497.00.

On July 11, 2011, a windstorm near Wheeler’s property caused significant damage to the interior and exterior of Wheeler’s house. Wheeler filed a timely claim under his ASIC policy that month. But from then until January 2012, ASIC did little to process Wheeler’s claim and did not hire a professional expert to examine Wheeler’s house. In January 2012, Wheeler contacted ASIC, informing it that he had retained- a structural engineer to examine his house. ASIC’s Raymond Parello responded that he also had. contacted a structural engineer. On March 28, 2012, Parello informed Wheeler that ASIC had hired Alan Moersfelder of Kelsey Engineering and Electric Inc. Moersfelder conducted his inspection on April 4 and provided ASIC-with a report on April 9. He concluded that it was possible'that “much, if not all, of the visible floor, wall, ceiling, and visible structural member damage inside the house is a direct result of the July 10, 2011 weather event” and that it was “very possible that there is additional damage which is not visible.” Ex. F to Compl. at 3. He further noted that it was “difficult to postulate any man-made or natural event, other than a weather event, that could cause the visible damage to the Wheeler residence, cause the visible damage to the trees in the immediate neighborhood, cause the roof damage which has been repaired, and yet not damage other close proximity buildings.” Id.

On April 25, after further discussions with Parello but no concrete action, Wheeler wrote Parello a letter expressing his frustration with the delays in processing his claim. He requested written confirmation from an authorized individual at ASIC that the damages to the house and all related repairs and costs' were covered claims, with 'any exceptions, restrictions, and limitations to be set forth at that time. Wheeler also asked to engage his preferred contractors to perform the repairs instead of accepting those chosen by ASIC and for clarification regarding payment of rental, moving, and storage expenses while repairs were being performed on the house.

Approximately a year later, on March 11, 2013, at ASIC’s request, Wheeler executed a sworn statement in proof of loss regarding-the July 11, 2011 damage to his house, claiming $695,943.00 under the policy.3 On March 27, Parello notified Wheel[839]*839er’s counsel that ASIC was reviewing the materials. In an April 24 conversation with Wheeler’s counsel, Parello represented that the amount claimed was greater than ASIC had expected. Wheeler’s counsel suggested that all engineers and contractors meet to expedite the repairs to Wheeler’s house. That meeting occurred on June 7, but no ASIC representative was present. On June 25, ASIC’s Tom Frankino told Wheeler’s counsel that the claim amount was over his authority and that additional inspections were required. ASIC hired Peter Quinn of Rimkus Consulting to perform the additional inspection, which occurred on July 18. Rimkus Consulting issued its report on August 18, finding that Wheeler’s house suffered no structural damage as a result of the windstorm, although it attributed the damage’ to the roof that had already been repaired and damage to an upper pane of glass in a third floor bathroom window to the storm. Instead, Rimkus Consulting concluded that “[t]he undulations observed in the floor systems, un-level stairs and localized small areas of surface cracks in the ceilings and walls resulted from one or more of the following items: a) Inadequate support for the transfer of dead and live loads from the roof to foundation piers, b) Construction defects, c) Expected natural deterioration over time.” Ex. N to Compl. at 12-13. Based on this report, ASIC rejected Wheeler’s submitted proof of loss on September 6. But because Rimkus Consulting found that a pane of glass in the third floor bathroom window had been damaged as a result of the windstorm' and that damage was not included in the previous allowed payment, the adjuster’s estimate' was revised to include a supplemental payment of $112.83. ' This was added to the previous payment of $16,113.87, which had been made on January 17, 2013. ASIC also noted that $992.95 of recoverable depreciation would be available once repairs were complete. Wheeler never accepted any payments for the claimed covered damage, however. His property is now.in foreclosure proceedings. .

LEGAL STANDARD

A motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6) challenges the sufficiency of the complaint, not its merits. Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6); Gibson v. City of Chicago, 910 F.2d 1510, 1520 (7th Cir.1990). In considering a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss, the Court accepts as true all well-pleaded facts in the plaintiffs complaint and draws all reasonable inferences from those facts in the plaintiffs favor. AnchorBank, FSB v. Hofer, 649 F.3d 610, 614 (7th Cir.2011). To survive a Rule 12(b)(6) motion, the complaint must not only provide the defendant with fair notice of a claim’s basis but must also be facially plausible, Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009); see also Bell Atl Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S.

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Bluebook (online)
125 F. Supp. 3d 834, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 114354, 2015 WL 5117770, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wheeler-v-assurant-specialty-property-ilnd-2015.