Insurance Claim

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WI Court of Supreme Court

Case Name: 5 Walworth, LLC v. Engerman Contracting, Inc.

Case No.: 2019AP001085

Officials: Brian Hagedorn, J.

Focus: Insurance Claim

This is an insurance dispute over damages allegedly caused by the deficient construction of an in-ground pool. The pool cracked and caused vast amounts of water to leak into the surrounding soil. In the end, the homeowner had to demolish the entire pool structure and construct a new one. Two of the insurers in this case issued commercial general liability (CGL) polices to the general contractor, and the other issued a CGL policy to the supplier of the shotcrete pump mix used to construct the pool. In this suit by the homeowner, all three insurers seek summary judgement declaring that their policies do not provide coverage to their insureds.

The Supreme Court upheld the court of appeals’ decision in an insurance dispute regarding damages resulting from the faulty construction of an in-ground pool. The Court ruled that portions of the Wisconsin Pharmacy Co. v. Nebraska Cultures of California, Inc., 876 N.W.2d 72 (Wis. 2016) case, which required “property damages” to be inflicted on “other property” for initial coverage under a commercial general liability (CGL) policy, are overruled.

In this case, the homeowner had to demolish the entire pool structure due to damages caused by cracking. Two insurers, who had issued CGL policies to the pool’s general contractor, and a third insurer, who provided a CGL policy to the pump mix supplier, sought a declaration that their policies did not cover the homeowner’s claim. The Supreme Court determined that none of the insurers were entitled to summary judgment in this particular situation and remanded the case back to the circuit court for further proceedings.

Remanded

Decided 06/20/23

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