Chinese Drywall and Duty to Defend
Great American JWR
Construction Services and Gulf Reflections Condominium Association,
Case No. 10-61423-CV-Huck/Branstra, U. S. District Court, Southern District of
Florida, Order entered on April 9, 2011. Summary Judgment granted in favor of
contractor and owner and against surety on the sole issue of the duty to defend
an underlying suit in Lee County Circuit Court (Case No. 10-CA-000371) for
damages caused by the installation of Chinese drywall. Applying New York law as
required by the policy, the exclusion for “Faulty work/own work” was rejected
because the drywall installation itself was not alleged to be defective, and
the exclusion for “Products Liability” was also rejected because the
construction was a “service” and not a “product,” and because the contractor
did not “handle” the drywall. Surety was also ordered to reimburse for defense
costs incurred to date, but further proceedings in this case was stayed pending
outcome of the underlying suit. (from RPPTL Subcommittee).
Trenton H. Cotney
Florida Bar Certified Construction Lawyer
Trent Cotney, P.A.
1207 N Franklin St, Ste 222
Tampa, FL 33602
Is insurance a value to the end consumer. When all is said and done do you think the consumer has benifited or lost in the Chinese Drywall issue. The cost to consumer and the public at large is and will be unknown for sometime. As the manufactuer has bestowed upon us a settlement that reads more like a corporate welfare program. Seems to me that the corporate entity has shifted the burden to insurance companies in the supply chain which has greatly reduced the corporations monetary loss. The proposed settlement greatly limits plaintiffs rights for the type of loss that has occured. Plantiffs got sick ,lost their homes, virtually had their life pulled out from under them, and the manufactuer goes to court and applies for corporate welfare, is this a resonable and fair settlement. The public can not afford this welfare program by companies who have lack manufactuering controls and in turn hide the facts concerning the defects which in turn created this devestation in the first place.It is time to reform corporate welfare there should not be any in the guise of justice.
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