URBAN HOUSING SOLUTIONS, INC., v. ASSURANCE COMPANY OF AMERICA ARTECH, INC., AND SIGNATURE PROPERTIES, LLC v. ZANDER INSURANCE AGENCY, INC., D/B/A ZANDER INSURANCE GROUP AND ASSURANCE COMPANY OF AMERICA (Tenn. Ct. App. March 18, 2009).
Plaintiff entered into an agreement with defendant Artech for renovation of plaintiff’s building. The agreement provided that Artech would obtain builder’s risk insurance naming Artech and plaintiff as the insured under the policy. Artech procured insurance through defendant Zander Insurance Agency, but the policy did not name plaintiff as an additional insured. A loss occurred and the insurance company refused to pay plaintiff’s claim because plaintiff was not named as an insured on the policy. A consent Judgment was entered in favor of plaintiff against Artech (which had become insolvent) and Artech assigned its cause of action against the insurance agency to plaintiff.
The Trial Court granted Zander Insurance Agency summary judgment and plaintiff has appealed. On appeal, we hold that there is a disputed issue of material fact as to whether Artech asked the insurance agency to add plaintiff as an additional insured under the policy which was procured through the agency. We vacate the summary judgment and remand for further proceedings.
Opinion may be found at the TBA website:
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2009/urbanh_031809.pdf
“Urban insists that it established that Mrs. Malakouti asked for Urban to be listed as an additional insured, but Zander failed to take the proper steps to effectuate that request, thus breaching its duty as an insurance agency. The representatives from Zander who testified stated that Mrs. Malakouti did not ask for Urban to be listed, as was evidenced by the form she filled out and sent to Zurich. Mrs. Malakouti testified in parts of her deposition that she did ask for Urban to be listed and that she was seeking coverage for the structure itself in addition to the work being done by Artech, but in other parts of her deposition stated that she only sought coverage for Artech’s work, and admitted that she told them that the owner had other insurance. She also admitted she filled out the form and did not list Urban, but stated that she filled out the form the way she was instructed to by someone at Zander. She testified that she never read the AIA contract and did not know what it required regarding insurance.” Id.
