Beginning in or around 2015, many homeowners living in northeastern Connecticut began to notice a series of horizontal and vertical cracks in the basement walls and the foundations of their houses. Subsequent investigation by the homeowners, as well as the State of Connecticut, revealed that the foundational cracking was due to the presence of a mineral known as pyrrhotite in the aggregate utilized in the manufacturing of the concrete used in the construction of the homeowner’s homes. The concrete at issue was manufactured by J.J. Mottes Concrete Company whose quarry, Becker’s Quarry, is in Willington, CT.
Given the cracking and deteriorating conditions of their basement walls and foundations, many homeowners have submitted claims to their homeowners’ insurance carriers seeking coverage for this damage. The principal claim made by the homeowners is that their houses are in a state of “collapse” and therefore, the carriers are obligated to extend coverage for these “collapse” losses. However, under most homeowner’s policies, the cracking at issue is not covered. As such, these claims, for the most part, have been denied. Consequently, numerous lawsuits have been filed by the homeowners against their insurance companies alleging breach of contract and bad faith. In addition, in February 2016, a class action was commenced in the United States District Court in Connecticut.
Daniel Scapellati and Carl Ficks of the Insurance Law Group have defended several insurance companies whose insureds have brought suit alleging breach of contract and common law and statutory bad faith. These carriers include State Farm, CSAA, Kemper, Bunker Hill and Massachusetts Homeland. We have defended these carriers successfully and in many instances, have obtained favorable summary judgment rulings. In the case of State Farm, the first summary judgment ruling we obtained in its favor was appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit where the judgment of the District Court was affirmed. Based on the affirmance of that summary judgment ruling, State Farm successfully moved for and obtained summary judgment in several other cases. Moreover, it was able to extricate itself from the class action lawsuit. Similarly, after obtaining several favorable summary judgment rulings in favor of CSAA, it too was able to extricate itself from the class action lawsuit.