INSECT DAMAGE NOT COLLAPSE UNLESS TOTAL

Homeowners	Additional Coverage
Dwelling	Direct Loss

An insured homeowner hired a contractor to do routine repairs to her home. During the course of repairs, some support beams in a porch gave way. As a result, an inspection was conducted. It revealed carpenter ant damage to the front and side porches and an attached garage.

Before allowing the insurer to inspect, the insured had the affected areas razed and rebuilt. The insured submitted a claim for the entire expense. Her insurer offered settlement only for the collapsed support beams and denied the razing and rebuilding costs of the remainder of the repairs.

The trial court ruled in favor of the insured. The insurer appealed.

The insurance policy covered Collapse, as an Additional Coverage under the property portion of the policy, if it was a direct loss to the property described and if it was caused ". . . only by one or more of the following: (b) hidden decay; (c) hidden insect or vermin . . ." The insurer contended that, while the insect damage was covered for the portion of the dwelling which had collapsed, the remainder of the repair was not covered as that portion of the dwelling had not yet collapsed. A dictionary definition (Webster's Third New International Dictionary) of collapse was used, which defined that, to be a collapse, the structure must "fall down, cave in, give way . . . sudden failure." The policy excluded insect damage unless that insect damage caused the structure to collapse. Only at the point of collapse did insect damage become covered. Thus, only a very small portion of the repair was a result of actual collapse.

With the testimony of a structural engineer, the insured maintained that the structure was in imminent danger of collapse and would have collapsed if it had not been razed.

Upon review, the appeals court sided with the insurer. The decision was based on the fact that the policy covered only insect damage causing collapse, and that imminent collapse was not covered. The decision of the trial court was overturned.

Clendenning, Plaintiff-Appellee v. Worcester Insurance Company, Defendant-Appellant, MassCt.App. No. 97-P-1577, Filed October 22, 1998. CCH 1998 Fire and Casualty Cases, Paragraph 6578.