In Mays v. “Meridian Sec. Ins. Co. State Auto Ins. Cos.,” No. 4:22-cv-1150-P, 2023 WL 6534213, at *1 (N.D. Tex. Aug. 25, 2023), the Court observed that the homeowner’s policy before the Court in that case provided coverage for loss caused by plumbing leaks:
Plaintiff's policy does cover “loss caused by an accidental discharge of water from a sewer pipe or plumbing system.”
(Emphasis by the Court.)
The defendant carrier moved for summary judgment partly on the basis of an exclusion in the policy for damage caused by “earth movement.” Mays, 2023 WL 6534213, at *1.
What the plaintiff alleged was apparently as simple as this: Plumbing leaks caused soil erosion under the home’s foundation, resulting in the claimed loss. Mays, 2023 WL 6534213, at *1.
In addition to denying coverage on the basis of its “earth movement” exclusion, the defendant carrier candidly alleged in its motion for summary judgment that the parties’ experts differed in their opinions as to whether the leaks in question caused the foundation movement in question. Further, the defendant did not concede that the plumbing leaks were the cause of the foundation movement. Mays, 2023 WL 6534213, at *1.
For this reason and on this record the Court ruled that there were genuine issues of material fact and denied the carrier’s motion for summary judgment in this case. Mays, 2023 WL 6534213, at *2.
Property Insurance Coverage Issues: Exclusions are discussed at length in Chapter 7 by Dennis J. Wall in Volume 1 of Catastrophe Claims / Insurance Coverage for Natural and Man-Made Disasters (Thomson Reuters June 2023 Edition). Earth Movement Exclusions in particular are addressed in § 7:9.
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