Question of Insurance Company Estoppel Certified to State Court
10 Ellicott Square Court Corp. v. Mountain Valley Indemnity Co., 2010 WL 5295420 (2d Cir. Dec. 28, 2010)
In this case, the plaintiffs were, respectively, the owner and construction manager of a commercial building project in Buffalo. They contracted with a third firm for interior demolition in the building; the construction agreement required the demolition company to secure insurance to cover legal liability resulting from the demolition project. The company secured a primary policy and an umbrella policy from the defendant, which issued a certificate of insurance naming the plaintiffs as additional insureds. The primary policy specifically required the underlying construction agreement to be “executed” for any injury to be covered by the policy, but before the agreement was signed, a worker was injured and sued. The defendant declined coverage, arguing that the construction agreement had not been executed in time.