THREE AUTO ACCIDENTS ONE “OCCURRENCE” UNDER CGL POLICY ISSUED TO ROAD CONSTRUCTION COMPANY

Newsbrief

In a dispute between the primary carrier and the excess carrier, a district court in the Austin Division of the Western District of Texas recently ruled that a construction defect by a road construction company that caused three car accidents was only one occurrence and not three under its CGL policy.  Twin City Fire Ins. Co. v. Illinois Nat’l Ins. Co., No. 1:11-cv-00144-ss (W. Dist. . – Austin Div., March 12, 2012) (slip opinion)  The primary carrier, with limits of $2 million per occurrence and $4 million aggregate, argued that the event was only one occurrence.  The excess carrier, with $25 million above the primary, argued that each accident should be a separate occurrence.  In reaching its decision, the court reviewed the relevant policy language and Texas law concerning “occurrence” under a CGL policy.  From its review of the policy and the law, the court stated “CEC’s allegedly defective construction is the only event for which it is liable … once the allegedly defective road project was complete, CEC would be liable for any damages resulting therefrom … there was but a single “occurrence” that could give rise to liability ….” The court entered summary judgment for the primary carrier.

Jump to Page

Necessary Cookies

Necessary cookies enable core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility. You may disable these by changing your browser settings, but this may affect how the website functions.

Analytical Cookies

Analytical cookies help us improve our website by collecting and reporting information on its usage. We access and process information from these cookies at an aggregate level.