Skanska Revisited: Court of Appeals Remands So Trial Court Can Consider “Your Work” Exclusion

Under commercial general liability (“CGL”) policies, Michigan courts had – until 2020 – ruled consistently that an “occurrence” could not include damages for the insured’s own faulty workmanship. Hawkeye-Security Ins Co v Vector Construction Co, 185 Mich App 369 (1990).

However, Skanska USA Building Inc v Amerisure Ins Co, 505 Mich 368, 388 (2020) held that Hawkeye does not apply to current Insurance Services Office (“ISO”) forms, which “underscore a plain reading” of the term “accident,” as opposed to the more restrictive meaning that controlled pre-1986 ISO CGL forms.

The Court’s answer to this question did not, however, resolve the case. Rather, the case was remanded to the Court of Appeals “for consideration of any remaining issues,” including potential application of the policy’s “your work” exclusion. Id. at 390. The Court of Appeals recently considered those issues, but found that they first needed to be considered by the trial court. Skanska USA Building Inc v Amerisure Ins Co, unpublished opinion per curiam of the Court of Appeals, issued December 28, 2021 (Docket No. 340871).

To access the full article: https://bit.ly/3qzna3I