Amica Mutual Ins. Co. v. Gilleran

Syllabus

The plaintiff insurance company appealed from the trial court's partial summary judgment for the defendants, J and the insureds, D and G, in its action seeking a declaratory judgment as to whether it was obligated to defend D under a certain automobile insurance policy in a separate negligence action J brought after a vehicle operated by D collided with the vehicle J was operating. The plaintiff claimed that the court improperly concluded that J's claim for damages in the negligence action for the diminution in value of her repaired automobile potentially fell within the coverage provided by the insurance policy. Held: The trial court properly granted in part the motions for summary judgment filed by J and by D and G, as there was a reasonable basis to conclude that J's diminution in value claim potentially fell within the insurance policy's cover- age for destruction of tangible property and, thus, triggered the plaintiff's duty to defend D in the underlying negligence action. This court rejected the plaintiff's contention that diminution in value to a motor vehicle cannot constitute destruction of tangible property under the insurance policy's provision governing damage to a third party's vehicle, as the policy did not specifically disclaim coverage for diminution in value damages in that provision, as it did elsewhere in the policy, and the term \destruction\ in the policy's definition of property damage encompassed partial destruction of tangible property, which obligated the plaintiff to pay damages that may include costs related to the diminution of a vehicle's value. Argued January 5—officially released May 12, 2026