MIAMI –– An insurance company does not have to provide coverage to an interior design company involved in a lawsuit.
Judge Darrin P. Gayles of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida granted Foremost Signature Insurance Company's request for summary judgment on Sept. 11. Gayles found the insurance policy did not cover property damage outside its coverage. In the present case, the alleged damage occurred in the Bahamas.
The lawsuit was initiated by Silverboys LLC, who contracted with Sojo Design, Sofia Joelsson, Xavier Coe and Robert Whittingham to provide interior design services to a vacation home in the Bahamas. Silverboys alleged the designers failed to order certain furnishings and supervise workers. The homeowner also accused the defendants of substandard work.
Gayles ruled the insurance company's policy did not cover such claims in the Bahamas.
"In order for the duty to defend to be triggered, the underlying complaint must also allege that the property damage was caused by an occurrence in the coverage territory,” Gayles wrote in the order.
The defendants argued the work was directed by an office in Miami, so the policy applied. But Gayles disagreed.
“The great weight of case law holds that it is the location of the injuries—not of some precipitating cause—that determines the location of the event for purposes of coverage," the judge wrote. "The location of the alleged property damage in this action is in the Bahamas, outside of the coverage territory.”