Lippi v. United Services Automobile Assn.

Citations

• 209 Conn. App. 524

Syllabus

The plaintiffs sought to recover damages from the defendant insurance company, alleging that the defendant breached a homeowners insurance policy that insured their residential property. The policy excluded cover- age for ''collapse,'' except as specifically provided for in the policy, which defined ''collapse'' as, inter alia, a ''sudden falling or caving in'' of a building. The plaintiffs discovered cracks in the walls of their basement, and filed a claim for coverage with the defendant. A contractor inspected the cracks and stated that they appeared similar to the cracks associated with the deterioration of concrete caused by the presence of a chemical compound, pyrrhotite, in the mixture used to make the concrete walls. The defendant denied coverage on the basis of a provi- sion of the policy excluding coverage for, inter alia, cracking of walls, floors, roofs or ceilings. The plaintiffs alleged that the defendant breached the policy by denying coverage for the cracks in the basement walls under the collapse provision of the policy. The defendant filed a motion for summary judgment, arguing that the plaintiffs demonstrated no evidence of collapse under the policy. The trial court granted the defendant's motion for summary judgment, concluding that the plaintiffs could not demonstrate that the damage to their property constituted a sudden ''caving in,'' and, therefore, concluded that the defendant had not breached its contract with the plaintiffs. From the judgment rendered thereon, the plaintiffs appealed to this court. Held: 1. The plaintiffs could not prevail on their claim that the trial court erred in concluding that there was no genuine issue of material fact as to whether they were entitled to coverage under their homeowners insur- ance policy because their property did not suffer a collapse as defined in the policy, which was based on their claim that the trial court improperly interpreted the phrase ''caving in'': the phrase ''caving in'' was not ambig-