Martinez v. American Family Mutual Insurance Co

Citations

• 2017 COA 15
• 413 P.3d 201

Syllabus

Insurance Policy—Coverage—Surface Water—Exclusions. Martinez filed a claim with his insurer, American Family Mutual Insurance Co. (American Family), for water damage to his home caused by hail and rain that collected at the bottom of the home's below-ground window wells. American Family denied the claim because \flooding\ and \surface water\ were excluded from coverage under the policy. Martinez filed suit for declaratory judgment on the coverage issue, among other claims. The trial court granted American Family's motion for summary judgment on the coverage issue. On appeal, Martinez argued that his policy did not bar coverage as a matter of law and, accordingly, the district court erred in granting American Family's motion for summary judgment. The Court of Appeals interpreted the meaning of the insurance agreement and applied the Colorado Supreme Court's definition of surface water and the plain-language definitions of \the earth's surface\ and the precipitation at issue in this case. The Court concluded that the precipitation that fell on Martinez's home and then flowed into the window wells was all surface water, which the insurance policy unambiguously barred from coverage as a matter of law. The summary judgment was affirmed.