The Texas Third Court of Appeal overturned a summary judgment against Privilege Underwriters Reciprocal Exchange regarding two residences made unsafe by an 80-foot backyard slope collapse. PURE had originally denied coverage based on an earth movement exclusion, but the appellate panel ruled the provision does not bar claims if natural and human factors combined to cause the slide. Conflicting assessments from geotechnical engineers Terrance Zich and Andrew Davidoff left the primary cause of the collapse unresolved. Consequently, the dispute returns to the Travis County 250th District Court to determine whether human actions played a role in the failure.
Key points
Insurers face stricter scrutiny in Texas when policy exclusion clauses fail to explicitly…: Insurers face stricter scrutiny in Texas when policy exclusion clauses fail to explicitly account for concurrent natural and man-made causes.
Prior findings of liability and statutory interest awards against PURE were formally vaca…: Prior findings of liability and statutory interest awards against PURE were formally vacated by the appellate panel's decision.
The Travis County 250th District Court must now hold further proceedings to determine the…: The Travis County 250th District Court must now hold further proceedings to determine the precise role human activities played in the collapse.
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A legal dispute over home insurance coverage in Travis County has been sent back to court after a state appeals court ruled that an insurance company must provide evidence about what caused a major backyard landslide before refusing to pay a claim under its standard policy exclusions. According to legal documents published by Justia Law, the Texas Third Court of Appeal in Austin overturned a trial court's summary judgment in _Privilege Underwriters Reciprocal Exchange v. Michael MacDougall and William Heyer_. The appeals court issued its ruling on 30 October. The decision sends insurer PURE back to court to determine whether human activity helped cause two residential backyards to collapse down an 80-foot slope. The dispute began when the rear sections of neighbouring properties owned by Michael MacDougall and the estate of the late George S. Heyer Jr. suddenly collapsed. Large sections of land broke away and slid down a steep slope towards a local creek. The damage left both homes unsafe, with the buildings sitting dangerously close to the edge of the cliff.
Insurer denied claims under standard earth movement…
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