Judge Patrick Border issued a Minute Order yesterday granting summary judgment to insureds in an enormous ongoing construction defect litigation class action lawsuit. The Minute Order, which I will attempt to include in a later post, does not identify the reasoning for the decision, but this is a big, post-Group Builders, post-legislation case that requires insurers to continue to provide their insureds with a defense in this construction litigation action. Congratulations to counsel for the insureds -- this is a very important win.
Prior to the Group Builders decision, the world of insurance coverage in construction defect cases was grey. Insurers claimed they had no duty to provide coverage for construction defect claims, and certainly not to pay any judgments, and insureds claimed they did. Most stepped up to the plate and provided coverage for defense, and often contributed to settlements, but at a hugely discounted rate since they were simultaneously denying the duty to to provide any such coverage. The Group Builders decision has forced the question of coverage for construction defects to the forefront of the industry, and at some time or other, the axe is going to fall. One way or another this matter will be addressed by the Hawaii Supreme Court.
Submitted by Anna Oshiro
