Insurance Claim – Coverage

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Essex Insurance Company v. Blue Moon Lofts Condominium Association, et al.

Case No.: 18-3443; 18-3530

Officials: EASTERBROOK, KANNE, and SCUDDER, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Insurance Claim – Coverage

An Illinois state court entered a $1,356,435 judgment against The Structural Shop in 2009, and now TSS wants its insurer, Essex Insurance Company, to pay for it. The terms of TSS’s insurance policy do not cover this claim, however. The policy covers only claims first made against TSS between May 2012 and May 2013, and the lawsuit giving rise to the Illinois court’s judgment was filed against TSS in 2002. Recognizing this reality, TSS has resorted to the common law doctrine of estoppel. Illinois law estops Essex from denying coverage only if the insurer misled TSS into believing it would cover the judgment, TSS reasonably relied on Essex’s misleading statement or act, and TSS suffered prejudice. The district court determined that TSS suffered no prejudice and declined to apply estoppel. The district court also rejected TSS’s alternative theories of recovery. Seeing no error in the district court’s rulings, we affirm.

Affirmed

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Derek A Hawkins is trademark corporate counsel for Harley-Davidson. Hawkins oversees the prosecution and maintenance of the Harley-Davidson’s international trademark portfolio in emerging markets.