Williams Consolidated I, Ltd./BSI Holdings, Inc. v. TIG Insurance Co.

230 S.W.3d 895, 2007 Tex. App. LEXIS 6008, 2007 WL 2178509
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJuly 31, 2007
Docket14-06-00075-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 230 S.W.3d 895 (Williams Consolidated I, Ltd./BSI Holdings, Inc. v. TIG Insurance Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Williams Consolidated I, Ltd./BSI Holdings, Inc. v. TIG Insurance Co., 230 S.W.3d 895, 2007 Tex. App. LEXIS 6008, 2007 WL 2178509 (Tex. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

OPINION

KEM THOMPSON FROST, Justice.

This case arises out of an insurance-coverage dispute under a commercial general liability policy. The insurer and the insured filed cross-motions for summary judgment as to the insurer’s duty to defend and indemnify the insured against claims of a third party seeking to recover for damages allegedly suffered as a result of work performed by the insured. The trial court granted the insurer’s motion for summary judgment and denied the insured’s motion for summary judgment. We conclude that the trial court erred in granting the insurer’s motion and in denying the insured’s motion as to the duty-to-defend issue, but did not err in denying the remainder of the insured’s motion.

I. Factual and Procedural Background

Appellant/plaintiff Williams Consolidated I, Ltd./BSI Holdings, Inc., d/b/a Williams Insulation Company of Houston, Inc. (hereinafter “Williams”) obtained general commercial liability insurance from appellee/defendant TIG Insurance Company (hereinafter “TIG”) in connection with work performed in Williams’s business. TIG issued a commercial general liability policy that had a coverage period beginning on August 1, 1999 and ending on May 1, 2001 (hereinafter “CGL Policy”). Subsequently, on June 5, 2002, Mark and Carol Mokry filed suit against Williams asserting claims related to its performance of work as a subcontractor on the 1991 construction of their home.

The Mokrys, who also sued the home builder, alleged, among other things, that during the construction of their home, the vapor barrier was wrongly installed on the interior face of the exterior wood-framed wall. They claimed that this improper installation caused moisture to condense on and within the cavity, leading to the growth of mold and mildew. The Mokrys alleged that the design, construction, and installation of the vapor barrier was not in accordance with the plans and specifications and was not performed in a good and workmanlike manner. As a result, the Mokrys asserted, mold grew in their home. They became aware of mold in 2000, and on September 8, 2000, the Mokry family moved out of their home because of health concerns relating to the presence of mold. The Mokrys claimed that the mold contamination caused them illness and forced them to leave the dwelling. They also sought damages for alleged losses resulting from the destruction of certain possessions and the remediation of their home.

*899 Williams requested that TIG provide a defense and indemnification relative to the Mokrys’ claims. TIG denied that it had a duty to defend Williams or to indemnify Williams. TIG based this denial on the “Prior Ineident(s) and Prior Construction Defects Exclusion” in the CGL Policy (hereinafter the “Exclusion”). Williams then filed suit, contending the following in its live pleading:

• TIG issued the CGL Policy in Texas.
• On June 4, 2003, TIG denied Williams’s demand for defense and indemnity as to the Mokrys’ claims.
• The Mokrys’ claims have been settled, and Williams was forced to pay $47,500 of its own money to settle the claims, as a result of TIG’s refusal to provide indemnity.
• Williams seeks a declaratory judgment that (1) TIG had a duty under the CGL Policy to defend Williams as to the Mokrys’ claims and (2) TIG has a duty to indemnify Williams as to the Mokrys’ claims.
• Williams seeks $47,500 in damages for breach of the CGL Policy.
• Williams seeks its reasonable attorney’s fees under Chapter 37, or in the alternative, Chapter 38 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code. 1

Williams moved for summary judgment, contending, among other things, the following:

• As a matter of law, TIG breached its duty to defend Williams against the Mokrys’ claims.
• TIG breached its duty to indemnify Williams against the Mokrys’ claims causing Williams $47,500 in damages.
• TIG cannot dispute coverage based on the Exclusion because TIG has not received the necessary permission from the Texas Department of Insurance to use the Exclusion, as required by former article 5.13-2, section 8 of the Texas Insurance Code.
• As a matter of law, TIG must pay Williams’s reasonable and necessary attorney’s fees under Chapter 37 or Chapter 38.

TIG also moved for summary judgment, contending, among other things, the following:

• Based on the Exclusion, TIG does not have a duty to indemnify Williams against the Mokrys’ claims as a matter of law.
• Williams has offered no evidence that the alleged damaging process did not begin at the Mokry residence before the CGL Policy first took effect.
• As a matter of law, TIG does not have a duty to indemnify Williams against the Mokrys’ claims because of uncon-troverted evidence that mold formed in the Mokrys’ home within two years after the Mokrys’ 1991 move-in.
• Because the CGL Policy was not delivered or issued for delivery in Texas, TIG was not required to obtain permission from the Texas Department of Insurance to use the Exclusion.
• TIG is not liable to pay Williams’s reasonable and necessary attorney’s fees under Chapter 37 or Chapter 38 because it owes no duty to indemnify.

The trial court granted TIG’s motion for summary judgment without specifying the grounds and denied Williams’s motion. Challenging the trial court’s rulings, Williams asserts the following issues on appeal:

*900 • As a matter of law, TIG breached its duty to defend Williams against the Mokrys’ claims, and even though Williams’s defense costs were paid by another insurer, this issue is not moot because it is relevant to whether Williams is entitled to attorney’s fees under Chapter 37.
• As a matter of law, TIG breached its duty to indemnify Williams against the Mokrys’ claims causing Williams $47,500 in damages.
• The Exclusion is invalid because TIG has not received the necessary permission from the Texas Department of Insurance to use the Exclusion, as required by former article 5.13-2, section 8 of the Texas Insurance Code.
• Even if the Exclusion were valid and did apply, the proper inquiry under that Exclusion would not be when mold first formed in the Mokrys’ home but rather when “property damage” first occurred or began. Because TIG produced no such evidence, the trial court erred in granting its motion for summary judgment.
• As a matter of law, TIG must pay Williams’s reasonable and necessary attorney’s fees under Chapter 37 or Chapter 38.

II. Standards of Review

In reviewing a traditional motion for summary judgment, we take as true all evidence favorable to the nonmovant, and we make all reasonable inferences in the nonmovant’s favor.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
230 S.W.3d 895, 2007 Tex. App. LEXIS 6008, 2007 WL 2178509, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/williams-consolidated-i-ltdbsi-holdings-inc-v-tig-insurance-co-texapp-2007.