Klass v. Liberty Mutual Ins. Co.

Citations

• 341 Conn. 735

Syllabus

Pursuant to statute (§ 38a-316e (a)), ''when a covered loss for real property requires the replacement of an item or items and the replacement item or items do not match adjacent items in quality, color or size, the insurer shall replace all such items with material of like kind and quality so as to conform to a reasonably uniform appearance.'' The plaintiff, whose real property was insured under a homeowners insur- ance policy issued by the defendant insurance company, filed in the trial court an application to compel appraisal following damage to the roof of his home. The defendant had accepted that the damage to the roof was a covered loss under the policy and issued an estimate to replace the slopes of the roof that had missing shingles. Thereafter, the plaintiff's contractor provided an estimate that contemplated replace- ment of the entire roof in order to match the front and rear roof slopes, which was more costly than the defendant's estimate. As a result of the parties' different estimates, the plaintiff notified the defendant that he was demanding appraisal under the policy, which provided that any dispute as to ''amount of loss'' is to be resolved by a panel comprised of a disinterested appraiser selected by each party and an umpire selected by those appraisers. The trial court initially denied the plaintiff's application to compel appraisal, but, after the plaintiff filed a motion to reargue and reconsider, and the court granted that motion, the court rendered judgment granting the plaintiff's application. The defendant appealed, claiming, inter alia, that the dispute between the parties was ultimately a coverage dispute and that it was therefore improper for the trial court to compel appraisal before it resolved the legal issue regarding the coverage dispute. Held: 1. The trial court did not abuse its discretion in granting the plaintiff's motion to reargue and reconsider, as the court's decision to grant the motion implied that it agreed with the plain